The committee has selected some key topics to discuss at Wednesday’s forum.
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

EUSTIS – A committee that has been gathering input to establish a vision for Eustis and Stratton Village is seeking townspeople’s direction on the future.

Members of the Comprehensive Planning Committee plan to hold a third forum to get feedback on the ideas that the committee has developed as priorities with residents’ input.

The meeting starts at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Building.

Fergus Lea, planning director for Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, has been working with the town to update its Comprehensive Plan.

The committee has analyzed the input from the first meeting and has reviewed data on the people, the economy and natural resources of the area, Lea said.

They have selected some key topics to discuss at Wednesday’s forum, including downtown Stratton and Eustis Village improvements, trail systems, and land use and regulations.

Improvements to the town could make the areas more interesting and provide a more compelling place for travelers to stop, Lea said, and could come in a variety of forms, including better signs, more green space, walking opportunities, and landscaping. A major improvement discussed is creating a park on the island in Stratton Brook, directly behind downtown.

The committee said it thinks that snowmobiling and other trail use can be one basis for further economic development.

The committee has identified the need for specific trails but would like to hear what residents and landowners feel is needed, Lea said. One significant question is the dual use of trails by motorized vehicles and for nonmotorized sports, in both winter and summer.

Members want to make sure residents are in agreement with the priorities they have chosen to develop in the plan, he said.

The town, like others in Franklin County and Maine, is going through a “significant economic transition,” Lea said.

Following years of declining population, Lea said, the population has increased at a moderate pace over the past two decades and the number of housing units has been growing even more rapidly with seasonal units making up most of the growth.

In 1980, Eustis had 582 residents and the population grew to 622 people from 1980 to 1990, Lea said. And from 1990 to 2000, the number of people in town increased to 685.

In 1980, there were 614 housing units and that number grew to 754 units in 2000, he said.

Most of the people moving to the area are recreationists. Many have retired and moved away from bigger cities.

The committee’s findings show that Eustis has reasonably affordable services and reasonably affordable places to live, he said.

“Eustis is approaching Rangeley in the percentage of housing that is seasonal,” Lea said.

Eustis had 266 seasonal housing units in 1980 and there were 405 seasonal units in 2000, Lea said.

It’s gone from 44 percent of Eustis’ housing units being seasonal in 1980 to 54 percent in 2000, he said.

The committee also found there has been a significant decrease in the number of forestry and manufacturing jobs over the past 10 years, he said, and many more workers have become involved with recreation and other service sector jobs, including various government and health service jobs.

There was a 22 percent decline in manufacturing and forestry jobs, which were replaced with smaller increases in recreation, entertainment, government, health services, finance and real estate, Lea said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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