Selectmen have pulled articles from the town meeting warrant because no hearings were held.
POLAND – The idea that her 98 acres off Empire and Lewiston Junction roads could be rezoned for commercial and industrial use put Reba Wilmot on edge.

At 84-years-old, Wilmot said she only wants to live in peace and privacy. “As long as I’m alive, I don’t want anything commercial under my nose,” she said. “I don’t care what happens to it after I’m dead.”

Wilmot wasn’t the only landowner who objected to changing the area’s current zones of farm and forest, and rural residential. Carl Duchette, chairman of the Planning Board, said Friday that he had received several calls from residents who objected to potential industrial and commercial developments.

“There are several people who are vehemently against this,” said Duchette. “We are definitely hearing from people.”

They can rest easy, for a while. The Board of Selectmen has deleted a draft article from the town meeting warrant, which would have asked voters for approval of the zoning change. That article was among five that the board pulled because there hadn’t been public hearings. A sixth article was pulled because of duplication.

Board Chairman David Corcoran pushed for the deletion of land-use changes slated to be brought up at the annual town meeting on April 24. Corcoran insisted that public hearings be held first on the issues.

Although unrelated to land use, a proposed barking dog ordinance also was one of the articles pulled from the town warrant. Code Enforcement Officer Art Dunlap pointed out that the board needed to be consistent with its position on public hearings and ordinance changes.
Only place left’
The Planning Board had looked at the potential for development in the area where Poland abuts Auburn because of the large, intact parcels and its proximity to Auburn’s sewer system, said Duchette.

The zoning proposal would have directly affected five large parcels and indirectly affected dozens of residential lots among and adjacent to the large tracts, according to a town map.

“I’m glad they stopped it,” said Wilmot. “I don’t want anything bothering me out here. We need our fresh air. If they got into commercial stuff, it would be a mess out here.”

Town officials have been dealing continually with issues of residential growth and demand for services weighed against the lack of commercial development and the revenue that business would bring with it.

“If there’s going to be any commercial development, that’s about the only place left in Poland,” Duchette said. “I don’t think we would have another opportunity.”

Duchette noted, however, that recent public feedback indicated to him that the proposed zone change is unlikely to ever receive town approval. Any decision would be at least a year off and wouldn’t happen before a series of public hearings, he said.

Neighbors of Wilmot said that they would never have known about the proposed change if she had not shown them a letter, dated March 29, that she received from the town. Sally Bartlett, who lives on Empire Road, said she received no notification but would have been affected by the change.

“If we didn’t know Reba, we would have never known about this,” said Sally Bartlett. “I hope that if this ever comes up again, that they would notify all of us out here so that we have a chance to say what we think.”