PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle Planning Board has set Thursday, Oct. 21, as the date for a public hearing in which city residents could potentially address concerns and give feedback on a proposed 10-year comprehensive plan.
For the past two years, Presque Isle has been working with the Northern Maine Development Commission to revise its former comprehensive plan, which covered the decade of 2007-2017.
Unlike plans for specific initiatives or projects, the comprehensive plan outlines the city’s general goals for the next decade regarding forestry and land conservation, affordable housing, economic development, road improvements and other investments.
The comprehensive plan will also include a section for growth maps, areas of the city where officials see potential commercial, industrial, agricultural or residential growth.
Unlike zoning regulations, the growth maps do not officially designate city areas as only fit for certain types of development. Rather, the maps are the city’s attempt at predicting and preparing for where economic growth might occur.
The growth maps help the city determine which areas might be fit for rezoning in the future, according to Galen Weibley, director of economic and community development.
“We wouldn’t want to rezone an area for commercial use if we don’t think commercial development is likely to happen there,” Weibley said.
During the most recent planning board meeting on Sept. 16, Weibley presented the city’s proposed changes to the current growth maps, which were created in 2007 as part of Presque Isle’s former comprehensive plan.
Proposed changes include extending a business growth area from the intersection of Central Drive and Parsons Street to the beginning of State Road, due to that area’s inclusion in the new Tax Increment Financing District. The new maps might also remove a section of business growth from the new truck bypass to just past the Nordic Heritage Center.
“At the time these maps were created, the city thought there might be hotels built near Nordic after the Biathlon, but that never happened,” Weibley said.
UMPI professor Chunzeng Wang is currently creating digital and print copies of the proposed growth maps, which will be available online and at city hall prior to the public hearing, Weibley noted.
The hearing will occur at 6 p.m. Oct. 21, at the Sargent Family Community Center during the planning board’s next meeting. After discussing feedback, the board could approve the plan and send the materials to city council for their approval or table the vote to request more changes to the plan from NMDC.
