Could Wiscasset’s long-held, ex-Maine Yankee land become a “Great American Neighborhood” with 110 units for a range of incomes and life stages? In a July 25 letter to Town Manager Dennis Simmons, Economic Development Director Aaron Chrostowsky proposes the town ask Lincoln County for American Rescue Plan Act funds to plan the use of the town’s nearly 300 acres along Back River between Old Ferry, Birch Point and Westport Island Bridge roads for a “Great American Neighborhood,” walkable and linked to Old Ferry Boat Landing and Chewonki Foundation’s Cushman Preserve, and integrating “fiber-to-home technology, clean energy and green infrastructure.”

 

“The town has a real opportunity to do something transformative,” Chrostowsky wrote. July 30, selectmen were set to hear how the planning funds could be pursued. A July 19 letter from Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission Executive Director Emily Rabbe gives towns until Aug. 16 to submit a letter of interest in seeking some of the $1.5 million in ARPA funds the county is putting into its “Lincoln County Affordable Housing Investment Process.” The county must decide by Dec. 31 where the remaining funds go, and must spend them by Dec. 31, 2026, Rabbe said. Submitting the letter of interest does not guarantee a town gets the funds, she noted.

 

Simmons tells selectmen in his manager’s report, after July 30 they only meet once more before the county’s deadline, so, if the board is interested, “we must act quickly.”

 

In an email response to questions, Chrostowsky on Monday gave some history on the concept the potential project centers on. He said the New Urbanist movement created and spread “many now-common development patterns and strategies, including mixed-use development, transit-oriented development, traditional neighborhood design, integrating design standards into affordable housing, and designing complete and beautiful streets. The State of Maine Planning Office developed a guidebook of design principles for building livable residential communities called “The Great American Neighborhood,” available at https://www.maine.gov/dacf/municipalplanning/docs/guidetolivabledesign_greatamericanneighborhood_3-31-2005.pdf

 

“This project will not only help solve the housing affordability gap in the county but also endeavor to be climate resilient by being energy efficient, using clean energy, and using green infrastructure. The development will attempt to incorporate several parcels for future development (of) businesses in the clean energy and technology sectors. This is in response to RePower Wiscasset’s proposed Clean Energy Park. This is why I am advocating for a higher level of land use consultant to conduct the regulatory analysis and develop the master plan. The land use consultant will outline any of the property's constraints and develop a site plan.”

 

RePower Wiscasset’s Peter Arnold said in a new phone interview, the town has said the next step toward the possible energy park would be a site analysis. The Old Ferry Road acreage has been RePower Wiscasset's focus for the clean energy park idea.

 

On housing, Rabbe told towns the county has a focus on workforce housing for first responders and town employees, to help fill those “critical” jobs. And she said using town-owned land can serve as the local match for the ARPA funds the county is looking to spend. 

 

Chrostowsky’s letter cites findings in the county’s May 2023 “Lincoln County Housing Needs Assessment,” that Wiscasset has the potential for another 17 single-family homes, 22 attached single-family homes, 61 multi-housing units and 10 accessory homes. The land off Old Ferry Road has enough room for all 110 of those units, Chrostowsky said. “We can build to accommodate various income types and people at different stages in their lives. Different housing areas would be developed in different phases” by developers specializing in them, he said.

 

He reiterated the project’s potential to be “transformative” for Wiscasset on housing, job growth and the tax base. “I’d ask that you yield some patience; good things don’t come easy!”