NORWAY — The update to the town’s comprehensive plan has been tentatively approved, Town Manager David Holt said.
The revised plan was approved by voters last week and submitted to the State Planning Office for its approval. It’s part of the requirements for the town to be eligible to receive up to $400,000 in state grants to renovate the first-floor storefronts of the Opera House.
Senior Planner Phil Carey informed Holt in a recent memo that, “based on my review and the comments received from key agency partners, I am confident that, at the close of the statutory comment period on July 8th, (the State Planning Office) will find the proposed Norway Comprehensive Plan Update, dated May 2011, to be consistent with the Maine Growth Management Act.”
Holt said he submitted the application before the July 1 deadline.
The document, which plots a growth plan, had to get voter approval so the town could apply for the highly competitive Communities for Maine’s Future Bond to help restore the storefronts. If successful, the Norway Opera House Corp. will raise the necessary $400,000 match.
“Norway’s application now meets all the preliminary criteria and our application will be scored,” Holt said.
“It has been a lot to get done in a short time period and I am pleased that we have cleared all the hurdles to get this far,” he said. “Many other towns have submitted excellent applications so there is no guarantee of success but at least Norway has qualified to compete.”
Holt has said if the grant application is successful, the tentative plan would be to sell the Opera House to the Norway Opera House Corp. for $1 and use the grant to fix up the storefronts by next summer. Work that must be completed includes plumbing, electrical, mold removal, new doors and bathrooms, sprinklers and other items. The nonprofit corporation could then rent out the storefronts.
Voters already authorized the Board of Selectmen to take the Opera House property by eminent domain after a portion of its roof collapsed in 2007 and the owner left it in unstable condition. A hearing to determine the amount the town must pay Barry Mazzaglia of Londonderry, N.H., is expected to take place in Oxford County Superior Court in Paris next week.
ldixon@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.