Residents voice opinions on village area in Standish

Standish residents moved a step closer toward a new village area last week.

The Standish Village Implementation Committee hosted a public workshop Nov. 20 for residents to look at and give opinions on three concepts for the village.

The meeting was the second workshop to include residents. The first was presented in June.

Representatives of GrowSmart Maine, a non-profit statewide planning organization, used keypad polling and small group discussion to get the viewpoints of the 30 residents in attendance. 

The beginning of the three-hour workshop involved keypad polling: electronic pads with buttons for residents to press and gather information, which is collected in a computer, to get information from residents attending the workshop. They were then split into three smaller groups where a representative from the committee would sit and discuss positives and negatives of each of the three concepts the committee had. 

The first concept involved one village center zone. The center would begin in the Colonial Marketplace area on Ossipee Trail, moving up toward Standish Corner and also moving one mile west further down Route 25. It also involves a surrounding lot subdivision and residential development, with two business commercial zones, with the development spread out along Route 25. Each commercial building would be set back 50 feet from the road, and would be no bigger than 30,000-square-feet. The concept also involves basic streetscapes, which would be basic sidewalks next to the street and a shoulder for bicycles.

A second concept involves a larger, mixed-use zone, meaning buildings added along in the area would be of different styles and types. It would include a new residential development neighborhood nearby to support business in the village area. Buildings added in the village area would be no bigger than 15,000 square feet, with diverse architecture and pedestrian friendly streets, which involve bigger sidewalks with planted trees.

The third concept differed slightly from concept two, including buildings with sizes up to 3,500 square feet. The buildings would also be street oriented, meaning they would not be pushed back at any length from the street. It would also involve new neighborhoods with a mix of housing types to support new businesses and pedestrian friendly sidewalks.

Designs of the concepts on the Standish Village are available at www.growsmartmaine.org

Maine Model Town Director for GrowSmart Maine Bruce Hyman said during the meeting the ideas are merely concepts and not proposals.

The final portion of the workshop brought the residents back together as one big group to answer more keypad polling questions, asking what residents thought about the workshop and their opinions of each of the concepts.

Hyman said the workshop is part of the “Model Town Community Project,” a pilot project designed to help engage residents in the planning of the village.

“It started out of frustration,” he said. “Communities were developing good comprehensive plans, but the implementation process would fall flat. The process takes two to three years, so people get planning fatigue. This is designed to keep the energy alive during the planning process.”

Hyman said Standish was selected in 2007 because of their readiness to implement the town’s Comprehensive Plan.

Standish Town Councilor Carolyn Biegel, who is part of the implementation committee, said the plan included growing business while still maintaining the town’s character.

“We hired Mitchell Rasor from MRLD in Yarmouth to help develop a master plan, and [the Village Implementation Committee] are looking at ideas with the master plan for the village,” she said.

Rasor said the workshops are part three of a four-step process of implementation.

“At the beginning of last year we adopted the master plan accepted by the community,” he said. “This year we have been working with the implementation committee about pros and cons of the master plan. Right now we have the community workshops, which help us refine what we want and the people want in the master plan. The last step is to refine it down to a final master plan, which we hope to have by early next year.”

Biegel said feedback from participants of the workshop has been positive.

“We had a different crowd for the second workshop than the first which I think is encouraging, because more input from residents means more overall satisfaction,” she said.

Hyman said he felt the workshop was well received.

“I think the people who where there had the mind set of ‘what’s next?’ They’re getting a pretty good review of the range the village would grow in 10, 20 and 30 years,” he said.

Hyman said the next workshop, which will likely be around the third week in January, will focus on “gateway” of the village, around Colonial Marketplace.

Rasor said he believes the process is going in the right direction.

“From the keypad polling from the workshop, 70 to 90 percent of the group said we were in the right direction in trying to protect the rural character while still making a vibrant, walkable village area,” he said.

Standish resident Cherie Nash said the workshop was very informative.

“I think we have to have change in the village area,” she said. “It’s looking really grubby and needs color.”

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