VINALHAVEN — The small group working for nearly two years to update the town’s comprehensive plan is nearing the finish line. Town officials hope soon to submit the draft of the plan, which inventories assets and identifies threats and opportunities, to the state for it to review for compliance with statutes.
Andrew Dorr, the Vinalhaven Island Fellow through AmeriCorps and the Island Institute, has worked with town officials to develop a new draft of the plan. It is available online at townofvinalhaven.org.
The land use ordinance was adopted in 1983. The last time the plan was updated was 1988; at 25 years old, the plan is considered out of date.
In 2000, Dorr said, the state asked the town to update the 1988 plan. A large committee, with about 50 members, “spent the better part of four years working on it,” he said.
In 2005, though, the plan was defeated by voters. Some of the concerns, Dorr has learned, were a cap on building permits, rules about set-back requirements related to wells and septic systems and the definition of an acre, which had been 40,000-square feet but was proposed to change to the actual measure, 44,000-square feet.
There is an important distinction to make between a plan and zoning. Comprehensive plans focus on what exists currently in a town, examine land use regulations, may suggest goals related to economic development, housing and preservation, and may identify threats to existing activities and community assets.
A zoning ordinance creates districts with different regulations dictating such things as lot size, uses and building size.
Dorr said there is no move to create a new zoning ordinances, though some amendments may follow adoption of the plan.
Driving the update of the 1988 plan, he said, is the leverage it will give the town when it applies for state Community Development Block Grants. Applications for funds for various infrastructure improvements are scored, and 15 points are tied to the application’s connection to the comprehensive plan. Since Vinalhaven’s plan is out of date, Dorr said, “that’s 15 points we’d never get.”
The smaller committee this time working on the plan includes Dorr, Town Manager Marjorie Stratton, Kris Davidson and Sue L’African of the town Chamber of Commerce, and Kathy Warren, business manager at the school.
Some the issues that have arisen as the draft has been developed, Dorr said, are concerns about identifying historically significant properties. Some residents worry that if a property is identified as such, owners might be constrained from making changes. No such regulations are anticipated by the plan, he said.
Another issue of interest is the plan’s encouragement of developers to set aside prime farmland.
“We’re starting to see some farming and locally grown foods,” Dorr said, “and once that land is built on, you’ll never get it back.”
Similarly, the plan encourages woodlot owners to manage their trees. In the 1930s, he said, most of the island was tree-less. Now, older growth spruce has dominated undeveloped areas. In the fall, evidence of insect infestation potentially threatening the health of the forest was discovered, Dorr said. Fire hazards also are a concern.
The plan often relies on phrases like “to encourage” and “to coordinate,” he said, to suggest directions for town leaders, but not dictates.
Though the updated draft plan does not cap building permits, as the 2005 version did, it does raise concerns about housing that will allow older residents to “age in place” and to attract young adults.
The plan continues to emphasize the need to protect the vibrant commercial activities that characterize Carver’s Harbor. But vigilance and forward thinking are needed, Dorr suggested, in relating a recent conversation he had at the town office with a property owner inquiring about developing apartments in a harbor-front building.
Though not many people are attending information meetings about the plan, Dorr wants to be sure residents understand it before he submits it for state review.
“I want them to ask questions now,” Dorr said of the draft.