Town-wide
rezone tabled New Council will address in a month
By Elizabeth Prata
Gray--Three new Council members were sworn in Tuesday
night at Stimson Hall in front of about thirty people
who had come to watch, speak, or just support the
new Council membership.
Denise Duda had defeated long-time resident and former
Council member Audrey Burns's bid at the polls on
June 14. Andy Upham and Skip Crane were the two new
members elected in a three-way bid for the two remaining
seats, defeating incumbent Richard Hall.
After the swearing-in, the new Council faced the same
issues that the new members had spoken to as citizens
just weeks earlier. The town-wide re-zone proposal,
which had been getting much attention from the citizens,
was up for a Second Reading. New ordinances must pass
a First Reading at which people can speak to the details
of the proposal, and then a second reading at a public
hearing. If there are no substantive changes made
at Second Reading, the proposal, if passed, would
be enacted.
Gray Business Association (GBA) member Leo Credit
spoke at length about the virtues of the rezone, which
includes tweaking boundary lines, adding new uses
to some zones, deleting uses in others, and making
a new zone in one area. He warned the Council against
'paralysis through analysis,' citing the length of
time the community has taken in creating its updated
Comprehensive Plan, and attention to the rezone, about
five years combined. Mr. Credit said that the Council
should pass the proposal tonight and in so doing,
follow the vision that has been carefully outlined
by citizens and Councils past.
Gray businessman Chris Dombrowski also spoke in favor
of the proposal. He also cited facts and figures to
support his contention that it was time to pass the
rezoning. SAD 15 (Gray and New Gloucester) spends
less than other area towns on education but has higher
mil rates. Residential growth is increasing, while
"Business growth in Gray is stagnant at best.
Increased business growth is the key to relieving
the tax burden on residential taxation," Mr.
Dombrowski said. He said that though there are many
small businesses springing up with very small payrolls,
the bigger businesses are leaving, and he cited Dunlap
insurance departing for Pineland in New Gloucester,
Pine Tree Networks leaving for Buxton and then Pineland,
and Enercon expanding to Auburn.
Former Council Chair Pam Wilkinson introduced herself
as the 'Ghost of Comprehensive Plans Past' and spoke
at length to the virtues of the proposal. She said
that Gray has 27,000 acres of land, with only about
1,100 acres zoned for business. "That is minuscule,"
Ms. Wilkinson said. She urged the new Council to pass
the proposal. "There never will be the perfect
zone to pass, there will always be tweaking,"
but, she said, the current proposal is sound and represents
much hard work and thought.
Richard Moon had the opposite opinion. He said that
there have been many areas of town zoned commercial
for years and yet there are empty buildings in them
all. He urged the Council to consider sound zoning
approach and avoid a crazy hodgepodge.
Gray resident Fran Monroe asked the Council how the
zoning can go forward if the center has no boundary.
The Village Aquifer Protection Zone is the center
of the zoning pinwheel and if that zone has not been
addressed she did not see how the others that stem
from the center could be viable. "The Center,
which needs the most overview, has gotten the least
amount of attention," she said.
Julie Sheets urged passage, as did Bill Getz, while
Wayne Cleaves was wary of changes without having the
notorious traffic in Gray center addressed first.
Council members had concerns, too. Vice-Chair Andy
Upham liked the idea of the rezones that would support
business. However, he disliked the typos, indistinct
boundaries on both the map and text description, and
omissions that he considered critical to wide-spread
understanding and appropriate application. "The
language needs to say exactly what we want it to say,
and if it doesn't, it is a huge obstacle for me."
Ms. Duda said that she has been following the re-zone
process for two years, and "this is a good document,
though it needs a bit of work. Even its supporters
say it needs work. If the document has problems, let's
fix them, with the VAP needing the most work."
Councilor Matt Sturgis urged passage. He said that
three GBA members gave compelling arguments with substantiations
as to why the proposal should pass. "This should
go forward," Mr. Sturgis said.
Mr. Crane said that he was uncomfortable passing a
document that has a center zone with no clear delineation.
"I'm a big picture guy and this is my biggest
concern. I would like the VAP to be set before we
move forward."
Chair Gary Foster agreed, and the Council voted to
table the proposal to a date no later than July 19.
The vote was 3-2 with Ms. Duda and Mr. Crane opposed,
with Mr. Crane saying that he was opposed because
he did not think that the VAP would be set by then.
In
other business, Manager Mitchell A. Berkowitz reported
that the challenge to the validity of Town Meeting
lodged by citizen Jim Monroe was deemed insubstantial
by Town Attorney William Dale. Mr. Dale, in a letter,
and cited Statute 30-A, section 2524 3(b), "When
a vote declared by the moderator is immediately questioned
by at least 7 voters, the moderator shall make it
certain by polling the voters or by a method directed
by the municipal legislative body." Mr. Dale
said that since the Moderator's decision was not questioned
by at least seven voters, that the challenge was not
correct.
