Waldoboro has room for commercial growth, but lacks safe access onto its major commercial route, Planning and Development Director Bill Najpauer said, June 28.
“We have a unique situation here,” Najpauer said. “A lot of our prime land is on Rt. 1.”
He said traffic density and the high rates of speed on the major arterial highway make it difficult to provide access to those needing to enter, exit and cross that road.
Access to signaled crossings makes land adjacent to state Rts. 32 and 220 prime for development, Najpauer said. He said a sewer expansion west of Rt. 1 on Rt. 220 could be possible because there is already a pumping station beyond the railroad lines.
“Also, the hill toward Ralph’s Homes has potential for a gravity sewer line,” he said. “The trick there is also traffic access.”
Najpauer said it might be possible to funnel traffic along a feeder road, parallel to Rt. 1, but that would require inventive problem solving to create access near established residential areas.
“We’re dealing with a slow economy,” Najpauer said. “We need to identify Waldoboro’s economic niche.”
Najpauer said the town’s location between established service centers in Rockland and Thomaston to the east, and Damariscotta to the west, means Waldoboro is not a good candidate for big box development.
“One of our strengths is that we have a very established fiber and artistic base,” he said. “We also have a very high self-employment rate.”
He said the prevalence of clammers and other fishermen indicates an opportunity to expand in the area of value added seafood production.
“A couple of months ago, people sat down to talk about a resurgence of the Waldoboro rug.” The style of sculpted, hooked rugs, named after the town, was popular in the 1930s.
According to the website at antiquesandthearts.com, the women of Waldoboro “… created some of the most highly regarded and sought-after hooked rugs of the past century.”
“The works are characterized by central ovals, borders, lush floral, basket, leaf, wreath, fruit, animal, scroll and geometric motifs in clipped or unclipped, raised designs and shadings,” the website states.
Waldoboro Rugs can be found in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Mass.
Blogger Gene Shepherd, of Anaheim, Cal., refers to Waldoboro as, “one of our fiber art “holy” places.”
Najpauer said a similar discussion could begin soon, within the community, about creating a brand identity for Medomak River clams.
