NORWAY – Jeffrey VanDecker is busier than ever.

Norway’s code enforcement officer said Friday that as of the end of September, he has issued 2,105 building permits for the year. That includes permits for housing, electrical and plumbing.

Last year he issued just 39 permits for modular and stick-built homes combined. With two months to go in 2003, he has already written 38 home permits. In October alone he issued 13 home permits.

“They say you don’t know what urban sprawl is until you see it,” VanDecker said, “I think we’re seeing it up close.

“A couple of years ago, if you went past Poland toward Oxford Hills you were looking at a 20 percent discount in real estate,” he said. “It seems that people have figured that out.”

VanDecker said projecting the growth rate out for 10 years, the town of Norway could become the city of Norway.

He attended Planning Day, a seminar of statewide planners and CEOs in Auburn on Thursday.

He said he fears that Norway may be heading in the direction Falmouth and recently, Durham, have been heading.

“Mike Fitzpatrick of Durham said his town used to be farmers and timber harvesters,” VanDecker said. “It’s changed to a bedroom community for Portland and Lewiston-Auburn areas. It has a different flavor now.”

Norway, yesteryear

From 1974, when Norway began tracking permits, to 1976, 44 building permits were sought for new homes. The number dipped to 26 from 1981 to 1983.

Home permits spiked from 1987 to 1989, with 69 being sought. The mid-1990s saw an overall decline. Town Manager David Holt said the decline was surprising, but so was the fact that Norway has 100 or so fewer people according to the 2000 census than in the 1990 census.

Towns surrounding Norway grew during those years.

Now, home building seems to be surging here again.

From 2000 to 2003, VanDecker has issued 94 permits for new homes, with 39 in 2002 and 2003 and 26 in 2001.

Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments Planning Director Ferg Lea said Norway had a lot of development potential because of its views and proximity to lakes. He said many rural roads have property with good development characteristics: flat land or land with a gentle slope.

Fueling growth

VanDecker said he believes lot size and price are two factors fueling Norway’s growth.

“I think the house size, which has to be 20,000 square feet with only 100-feet of road frontage, is part of what is feeding this,” VanDecker said. “Many of the towns around us have 2-acre minimum lot sizes.

Price is another factor.

“People pay between $80,000 to $100,000 for lots in the Falmouth and Durham area,” VanDecker said. “In our area, lots can be had in the $10,000 to $35,000 range.”

Holt said the eight towns of Oxford Hills have their own personalities, and Norway’s is that of a residential town.

“Norway used to be just a mill, farms and a village,” Holt said. “Now there’s only a couple of farms left.”

Holt worked on the comprehensive plan for Norway in the 1980s and recalls concerns about growth.

But business downsizings and mill closures eased the town into a gentle depression and people were moving out. That went against what town officials had thought would happen during the 1990s.

Lea said for the past 10 years property owners in Norway have not been selling much land. That’s changing. The result is more development.

VanDecker said he is not sure what the town will do, if anything, about its rate of growth, or if anything needs doing just yet.

“We could put a cap on building permits, but that is just a temporary fix,” VanDecker said. “Some towns do zoning. Some limit permits in targeted areas and rural areas.”

For now, he sees growth continuing.

“Interest rates are down and people are going for it,” he said.

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

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