By Becky Coffey, Harbor News Senior
Staff Writer:
WESTBROOK:
In a town known for
lively meetings with spirited debate, last week’s town session to kick-off an
update of the 18-year old Plan of Conservation and Development instead
demonstrated surprising consensus about the town among the 75 residents
attending. Representing all major town neighborhoods those attending seemed to
agree about those town assets of which they were proud and of those things for
which they were sorry. Differences of opinion mainly rested on the priorities
they placed with respect to topics and concerns that the planning process
should address.
The meeting,
scheduled by the town’s Planning Commission and coordinated by town planner Meg
Parulis, was facilitated by the town’s contractor, Planimetrics.
As residents arrived
at last week’s session, they were each asked to go to one of the four table
stations arranged in the multi-purpose room of the Mulvey Center.
At the first table
was a town map on which residents were asked to place a green dot to mark where
they lived. The second table–the “Prouds Table”–displayed another town map on
which residents were asked to place green dot stickers at locations of town
assets of which they were proud. At the third table–the “Sorrys
Table”–residents were asked to put red dot stickers at locations that had
something for which they were sorry.
When finished with
this work, residents were asked to then reach into their envelope and put the
five sheets–labeled in denominations of 5, 10, and 20 points–into the table’s
ballot boxes labeled with topics typically addressed as part of a Plan of
Conservation and Development. With only 50 points available, those attending
were forced to make choices and rank the many topics by the priorities they
placed on them.
While the ballots
were being tallied, Jason Vincent of Planimetics stood in front of the crowd
and asked residents first to volunteer their reasons placing green dots at
certain sites on the Prouds map and then their reasons for placing red dots on
sites that had qualities about which they were sorry.
Revealed through
this process by green dot clusters were aspects of the town in which the
residents take pride: its beaches, marinas, water, and open spaces; the town
library; the Town Green; its historic homes and small-town character; and the
town’s high school/middle school and athletic facility complex.
Perhaps most
revealing was the aspect of the town for which the residents were sorry: that
the design and size of the new large Walgreens on Boston Post Road in the town center is
not consistent with the scale with the other smaller-scale historic structures
surrounding the Town Green. Though most agreed that the store was too large in
scale for the site, others in the audience also noted that the structure
improved on the long-abandoned gas station and deteriorated strip mall that was
that location for many years.
One suggestion that
received a number of nods was that the town might want to develop a set of
design standards to guide future developments and structures to preserve the
character of village area near the Town Green and similar areas. Several
speakers also said the town should improve connections between key public
assets like the Post Office, the town schools, the library, the Town Green, the
Mulvey Center, and the train station. Sidewalks, bicycle paths, and design
elements were all suggested as a way to unify this corridor.
Most appeared to
agree that the outlet mall location was an appropriate location for existing
and future business development.
Others placed a high
priority on creating more housing options in town that the local workforce
could afford.
Last week’s kick-off
was only the first of several public sessions the town will schedule to air
town residents’ ideas of their vision of the town’s future.