ORONO, Maine — Residents are invited to weigh in early next month on what they believe Orono should look like in the decade ahead and what steps the town should take to get there.
Hosted by the town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee, the opportunity to provide input will come during what Evan Richert, the town’s planner, billed as an “issue spotting” session scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, in the Town Council Chambers.
The panel, appointed by the Orono Town Council and comprised of more than a dozen members from many walks of life, wants to hear from the public about issues and opportunities in their neighborhoods, downtown and other business districts as well as housing, economic development, town services, transportation, recreation, open space, relations with the University of Maine and any other topic that relates to the planning of Orono’s future.
This meeting won’t yet be about solutions or policies, Richert said. Rather, the committee first wants to understand the community’s needs. After the committee completes its fact-finding and analyses of those needs, it will return for another public meeting early in 2013 to test the best approaches to meet them, he said.
The information will guide the committee as it writes a draft of Orono’s next comprehensive plan, a document that Maine cities and towns are required to update every 10 years, said Phil Ruck, who chairs both the comprehensive plan panel and the town’s planning board. He said the comprehensive plan group hopes to present the draft to the town council for adoption within the next 12 to 18 months.
Ruck said last week that it is important that residents participate in the town’s long-range planning.
“We want to hear from them, understand what the issues are, and the more people who participate, the better the plan will be. The trick is to get the public involved,” Ruck said. “The success of the comp plan depends on getting good participation, so we need everyone in town to participate.
Ruck said next month’s issue spotting session could serve as a springboard to other discussions, including neighborhood meetings.
The session will begin with a summary of what the committee has learned to date about trends in Orono’s population, economy, and housing. Ruck will chair the meeting and Jane Haskell of the Cooperative Extension Service will serve as facilitator.
Ruck said the comprehensive plan committee meets on the first Thursday each month, and the public is welcome to attend.
For more information about the comprehensive plan update and other development and planning matters, visit http://planning.orono.org/comprehensive_plan_update.