John Mann, a representative of the developers, said the plans would be “rolled out” at a meeting with the Board of Selectman.
The announcement came during the selectmen’s meeting June 16 while the board and the audience were debating requests for proposals for consultants to help the town rewrite zoning codes.
In an interview following the meeting, Mann, the representative of Piper Village LLC, said the developers are working hard to put together a project that will meet the approval of the town.
“There is no point in bringing in a project that the town doesn’t want,” Mann said.
Mann said Frank Roberts, the project’s architect, is preparing a PowerPoint presentation to reveal the initial concept for the long awaited project based on what the town said they wanted, during a more than year long series of community meetings.
“We have incorporated their ideas and this is our first chance to show what could be done,” said Mann.
Selectmen and others have wondered what Mann and the developers plan to build on a parcel they control that is located roughly behind the Damariscotta Hardware parking lot off Bus. Rt. 1
Since Oct. 2009, the town has sought, through a long and complex process, to determine the future development in the town.
The process was funded by a grant from the Orton Family Foundation as a way to obtain community consensus on development following the wrenching fight that divided the town before it finally blocked Wal-Mart from building a store on the edge of town.
The town’s request for proposals from consultants seeks someone to write form-based codes and other land use strategies to implement the recent Heart & Soul plan adopted by the Damariscotta Planning Advisory Committee. The DPAC plan for the Piper Village area envisions a mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses.
Form-based codes are an alternative to conventional zoning designating the appropriate form and scale of a development rather than distinctions in types of land use such as dwellings per acre, setbacks and other regulations.
As the selectmen debated the proposal for a consultant to devise codes, Selectman Josh Pinkham and audience members urged the board to make several changes in the request including noting the town will hold a referendum on any form-based codes for the Piper Commons project. That proposal was adopted.
Others, including Selectman David Atwater and businesswoman Mary Kate Reny questioned the DPAC planning process itself as being biased in favor of form-based codes. Atwater also questioned why the process was being rushed. “Are they trying to hide something?” said the selectman, who’d served as the chairman of DPAC for two years before assuming his present post.
Others, including Sarah Maurer, criticized a request from the town to require the developer to pay for the consultant’s services. Maurer and others asked whether this would be a conflict of interest.
Town Manager Greg Zinser noted the town has no funds to pay for a consultant. He said the consultant would report to the town and represent the town and not the developer.
Mann told the selectmen and the questioning audience members he did not care if the town adopted form based codes or other regulations.
“We have a piece of property. How can you help us develop our property? If the (new town regulations) are commercially viable, it will happen,” he said. “If the town votes the (developers’ proposals) down, we are done… We are going to develop within your code. If we can do it within the code, we will. If not, we won’t.”