LEWISTON — The latest draft of the city’s new Comprehensive Plan looks more like a magazine than a municipal planning document.
That’s the idea behind the draft report, the culmination of last summer’s Planapalooza, according to City Planner David Hediger.
“It’s a much different plan than you are going to find anywhere else in the state,” Hediger said. “We want people to read it and really get excited and get behind it.”
The full color plan became available for download on the city’s website Monday afternoon in a 35-MB PDF. Hediger said a printed copy is available for review at the Lewiston Public Library.
“It obviously looks better in color, and I do not have the capacity to print back-to-back color,” he said. “The printed copies we’ve made have ended up costing $50, so I can make printed copies available, but I’m going to have to charge for them. That’s why I’m posting it online and making a copy available at the library.”
The draft is full of photographs, colorful graphics and tables and informational call outs. It’s well suited for reading on a computer or tablet, he said.
It’s divided into two sections, “Today” and “Tomorrow.” The first section uses statistics, maps and demographics to describe the city as it is now.
“The second half is basically looking at where we want to go,” he said. “Quite frankly, there are some big ideas in this plan. From the state’s perspective, a comp plan is good for 10 years. But from a local perspective, this is a 20- or 30-year plan.”
The city is taking public comment on the report now through Sept. 26. The city staff and members of the comprehensive plan committee will review those comments and host a public hearing on the draft in November.
A final draft is expected to go to the City Council for a public hearing later this winter.
The report was written by Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative LLC based on the June 2013 Legacy Lewiston Planapalooza.
The Planapalooza process featured three formal public meetings last summer with nearly 40 hours of impromptu private meetings at a Lisbon Street storefront. Planners from the group opened their studio to Lewiston residents, letting them stop by to offer their opinions, check up on their progress and critique their work.
To download the draft of the “Legacy Lewiston Comprehensive Plan,” go to the city’s Web site, www.lewistonmaine.gov/comprehensiveplan.
The 232 page document is a 35 mb PDF file.
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