2007-07-12 Land Use Planning Committee Meeting Minutes

Bowdoinham Land Use Planning Committee
Meeting Minutes, 07-12-07.
T. Woofenden (rev. 07-19-07)

Meeting called to order at 6:05 p.m. Present: Ellen Baum, Paul Beltramini, Bob Bremm, Tony Cox, Kay Evans, Billie Oaks, Bill Shippen, Todd Woofenden, Brent Zachau, Steve Ciembroniewicz, Sara Dolan

1. Reviewed minutes of last meeting.
2. Reviewed draft Operating Norms. This document may be modified as the Committee sees fit.
3. Reviewed and discussed draft list of issues, considerations and concerns.
4. Discussion:

Scope of Work: Committee members posed the question of whether we envision continuing with the earlier process of re-working specific ordinances (subdivision, land use and site plan review) or if we are considering re-working the entire set of ordinances, or some other project.
The Chair’s perspective:

  • Land use falls into a larger domain of growth planning: residential and commercial construction, zoning, protection of valued resources, infrastructure, regional considerations, etc. These are interrelated, and difficult to address in a piecemeal fashion.
  • The project definition should describe a project that results in a ordinances that are consistent and effective in guiding the Town toward desired growth patterns.
  • Since planning the project requires answering the scope-of-work question, the Committee’s initial task is to understand the growth planning needs in Bowdoinham.
  • We might then recommend (a) fixing the current ordinances, (b) replacing them, or (c) a combination of updates and replacements. We will decide this based on our understanding of the goals and an evaluation of the functional requirements for achieving the goals.

Process: Committee members discussed how we determine the scope of the work.
The Chair’s perspective:

  • To understand the needed scope of work, we need to consider:
    • Growth Goals: The results the Town wants to achieve.
    • Drivers and Constraints: Critical considerations that define the boundaries of work.
    • Issues and Concerns: Issues and details that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The general approach is to list goals, drivers, constraints, issues and concerns related to growth planning in Bowdoinham, so that we can define a project that addresses the right set of objectives. The project definition describes what we think has to be accomplished, and the drivers and constraints that will apply to the project.

Looking Forward: When the Select Board signs off on the project definition, we then build a set of functional requirements for accomplishing the goals – which is a list of all the details of what the resulting ordinance(s) have to address. From this list we create a set of project steps. The project steps will include research, interviews, public input sessions, meetings with subject matter experts, technical writing, quality assurance measures, sign-offs, etc.

The temptation is to move directly to working on needed changes: say, identifying known problems in the ordinances and proposing changes to fix them. The risk in not spending the time to prepare a complete project design first is that we will proceed with work and find out mid-course that even if the work succeeds, it won’t solve the larger problem of managing growth effectively. We might gain some improvements, but we might inadvertently make other matters worse, or fail to address key needs.

Note, however, that the Project Definition only needs to have enough detail to describe a project and to ensure that success in the project as defined will in fact address the Town’s growth management goals. The project plan is where the details are identified and managed.

Approaches to growth planning. The Committee discussed various general approaches to growth planning, and the need to be well informed in proposing an approach for Bowdoinham.
The Chair’s Perspective:

There is no reason not to start right away in investigating the various approaches to growth planning. In a sense this is jumping ahead, but meetings with key experts on various approaches will be well worth our time, and certainly something we want to do, anyway.

However, this work doesn’t remove the need to define and rigorously plan the project. The successful project has to address the specific, unique needs and wants of Town residents and the nature of the Town itself. We can’t follow a general approach to growth planning, no matter how appealing it may be, absent a clear and complete understanding of the context and issues that are unique to this Town and this project.

Next Steps:

  • Review/Add to Issues List. Please review the updated raw issues list (attached), and propose additions (via Sara Dolan). These can be general or specific.
  • Note Your Time Constraints. Each Committee member, please submit a note on your general availability, how much time you feel you can spend on the project, and any specific areas of particular interest. The goal is to understand our time resources.
  • Review the Draft Project Definition. For the sake of moving forward quickly, I am appending a proposed project definition, for the Committee’s consideration at the next meeting.
  • Plan Meetings with Subject Matter Experts. Committee members expressed a strong interest in early discussions with subject matter experts on general approaches to growth management. Let’s coordinate this effort:
    • Please email the Chair (via Sara Dolan) with a list of subject matter experts you would like to contact, so that we don’t duplicate efforts.
    • Plan for informal, discussion-style meetings, which will be publicly noticed. Location should allow for residents to attend, if they want, but can be an informal location.
    • It isn’t necessary for the full Committee to be present, but at least one Committee member should be present to take notes.
  • Create a draft budget. We need to develop a rough sense of possible budgetary needs. Those who would like to participate, please notify the Chair (via Sara Dolan).

Next meeting: Thursday, August 2, 6:30 p.m. at the Coombs Municipal Building (agenda to follow)
Meeting adjourned, 7:01 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Todd Woofenden, Chair.

Attachments: Draft Project Definition (rev. 07-19-07), Draft Issues List (rev. 07-16-07)