At their Nov. 22 meeting, the Waldoboro Board of Selectmen adopted the town’s Downtown Master Plan.
Following presentations by the Waldoboro Economic Development Committee and the consultants hired to create the plan, the board voted 4-0 (Selectman Ted Wooster absent) to adopt the plan with little discussion.
In process since last year, the plan outlines the benefits of various improvements to the Waldoboro downtown village area and provides information for business and property owners about state and federal programs designed to reward revitalization efforts.
The Downtown Master Plan is part of the town’s Comprehensive Plan, and its creation was called for in the town’s visioning project conducted last year.
The Downtown Master Plan was created with the consulting firm Lachman Architects & Planners for $22,500. The project was paid for with a combination of grant money from a federal Community Development Block Grant, Gateway 1 Startup money the town received through the Maine Department of Transportation, and money from the town’s Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account.
The only town funds in the project are less than $10,000 from the Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account, which is an account set aside for the creation of a new Waldoboro Comprehensive Plan, and can only be used for activities related to the plan’s creation. There was about $100,000 in the Comprehensive Plan Reserve Account when the Downtown Master Plan was approved, town officials said.
The plan calls for the village to be submitted for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, which comes with a variety of tax incentives for property owners, as well as a marketable distinction for the town, supporters said.
“The purpose of the plan is to be a roadmap for implementing the community’s desire for an economically and socially robust downtown area that compliments the unique character of the town as a whole,” said a description written by Lachman Architects & Planners. “Much of Waldoboro’s downtown village and riverfront has changed considerably over the past 40 years. Fire, loss of business, Rt. 1 and the growth of commercial development along Rt. 1 have negatively impacted the downtown area.
“Waldoboro’s village has historically been the heart of civic and commercial life within the Town and remains an indispensable part of the community.”
