Selectmen had asked that changes be made to three areas during a review last summer.
OTISFIELD – After learning the proposed Comprehensive Plan updates are suggestions and not regulations, residents at a hearing Thursday night favored the document.
The plan is a revision of the 1991 town document.
Comprehensive Plan Committee member Stan Brett said the document needed to be broadened and strengthened.
After securing a planning grant from the state, selectmen appointed nine members to the comprehensive planning committee during the summer of 2001. Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments provided technical support in developing the plan.
When selectmen reviewed it last summer they had three areas they asked the committee to make changes to. One change was to include a capital improvement plan. Brett said this lays out anticipated expenditures over the next 10 years.
Committee member Win Webster told residents the section of the plan that called for the formation of a Town Government Study Committee allows everyone to be on the committee, except selectmen.
Land use [growth management] was the final area the selectmen asked the committee to include in the plan.
“We thought a lot about this,” Brett said. “People at the forums clearly said they want Otisfield to stay as it is.
“The state calls for a growth area,” he continued. “We discussed growth area and we didn’t put in a growth area. It’s an excellent plan, a good plan for Otisfield.”
Selectman Gerry Robinson said he would contact AVCOG and ask for 50 copies of the plan, which will be available at the town office. It is also available online at www.otisfieldcomprehensiveplan2003.org. The online plan was put together by the committee and outlines the changes in the plan.
Discussion then turned to a portion of the plan about protecting scenic vistas.
Residents asked how designating a scenic vista will affect how they can develop their property. Brett said the Planning Board can make suggestions to enhance a scenic view but noted it is up to the property owner whether the suggestion is followed.
“This plan is just a guideline for the next 10 years,” Brett said.
Residents asked whether the selectmen approve the plan, and Robinson said they do. A question was raised about minimum lot size, and Brett said it was not changed from two acres, which is in Planning Board regulations and not in the comp plan.
Residents will vote on the plan at the annual town meeting Saturday, March 6.
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