Bangor planning board recommends against reclassifying Ohio Street after heavy public opposition

The Bangor Planning Board on Jan. 6 recommended that the City Council not adopt a staff proposal to change the land development code definition of Ohio Street from a minor arterial to a major arterial, a definitional change that staff said would not make immediate physical changes to the road but would affect which conditional uses could be proposed there in the future.

At the close of public comment and after board questions, the board held a roll-call vote on a motion phrased as 'ought to pass.' The motion failed 4–3: members Brush, Hune, Jonas and Whitford voted no; members Hayes, Hobson and Chair Jonathan Boucher voted yes. The board's recommendation of 'ought not to pass' will go to City Council, which—if it wishes to overturn the board's recommendation—would need a two-thirds majority.

The proposal under consideration would remove Ohio Street and State Street from the minor arterial definition and add Ohio Street to the major arterial definition. Planning officer Anya Collette told the board the change was primarily definitional and was prompted by an applicant inquiry about siting a recreation center; she said it would "introduce some new uses to Ohio Street depending on the zoning" but would not itself change property zoning or the city's growth boundary.

Residents who spoke at the public hearing urged the board to reject the change. "It is clearly not necessary to change Ohio Street to a major arterial street in order for these uses to exist," said longtime resident Joe Pratt, who read from a handout and listed existing commercial and institutional uses on Ohio Street that he said were already operating under legal nonconformities. Several residents also said they had received late notice of the hearings and expressed frustration about the timing.

Technical objections were also raised. Jeff Forney, who filed written comments dated Jan. 5, cited the Maine Department of Transportation average annual daily traffic counts and said the highest measured segment at Griffin Road was 9,660 vehicles per day, below the 10,000 threshold Collette cited in the major-arterial definition. "Ohio Street in its current form does not meet either of those conditions," Forney said, urging the board to rely on traffic data in deciding whether to redefine the road.

Staff replied that only a limited set of uses would be affected in the rural-residential portions of Outer Ohio Street (Collette said examples included direct farm sales, places of worship, large landscaping services and boarding houses) and reiterated that nonconforming uses could remain but that they might face limits if they sought expansion. Collette also pointed to the city's comprehensive plan and growth boundary as the primary controls on where infrastructure and intense development can occur.

Board members repeatedly emphasized the difference between changing a definition and changing zoning. Several members who voted no said Ohio Street does not meet the code's traffic and infrastructure criteria for a major arterial and that the public comment record showed strong opposition. One member urged that State Street (which staff acknowledged is already a major arterial in practice) could be cleaned up in a separate amendment if needed.

The board's recommended action will be forwarded to the City Council for consideration at its next meeting, which staff said is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. The council can accept the board's recommendation by simple majority or override it with a two-thirds vote.