To the Editor:
Next week at town meeting, Newcastle residents will have an opportunity to bring “New Urbanism” style form based code zoning to Newcastle when they vote on a proposition to allocate $60,000 to augment the $60,000 voted last year for refreshing the 2006 comprehensive plan and rewriting the town’s land use ordinance.
Voters will also have the opportunity to authorize selectmen to bypass the town’s bidding ordinance and enter into a sole source contract for these planning services with a form based code consultant created by the town attorney called Maine Design Workshop.
This very talented group would be about twice as expensive as other service providers in this field, but would bring to Newcastle the modern zoning motif unfortunately rejected by Damariscotta voters.
