LEWISTON — City officials will be working under a new comprehensive economic development plan and new design guidelines for downtown buildings as they also look toward “recovery” from the pandemic.

After months of planning — and coming up with metrics for measuring the success of each category — the City Council on Tuesday approved an economic development plan that focuses on five key factors.

The plan lays out specific actions to create a vibrant downtown, support existing businesses, attract new businesses, and address workforce development and community development.

While city staff began the work before the coronavirus pandemic, Economic Development Manager Misty Parker said in the short-term, the strategies will have to be molded to meet more immediate needs during COVID-19.

“We’re in the beginning of a recovery, and those strategies need to be in line with a recovery,” she said.

“As I’m looking through the outcomes, it’s a very different world right now with COVID,” Councilor Stephanie Gelinas said.

During a presentation to the council, Parker outlined how city staff will attempt to quantify their efforts through metrics, which will be shown to the council during biannual reports.

For downtown growth, that will include things such as new businesses, public and private investment, housing units or the number of special events that took place.

For a related goal — ensuring a safe, clean downtown —  staff will look at police calls for service as well as “customer and business perceptions.”

Councilor Lee Clement said the downtown’s “image” is an important factor in economic development, stating, “When it comes to image, perception is reality.”

The bulk of the plan is aimed at core economic development principles: growing the city’s tax base by attracting new and diverse businesses, increasing quality job opportunities, housing choices, and increasing the median family income.

The “vibrant downtown” section includes a specific proposal to create an omnibus tax-increment financing district to fund the revolving commercial loan program to support gap funding for building rehabilitations.

Parker said in order to measure workforce development goals, the city will use metrics such as median household and family incomes, and the number of residents with a college degree.

For community development, the plan looks to increase the types of housing available to residents, increase resident utilization of green spaces and work toward a “safe community.”

Councilor Safiya Khalid said recreation programs should be built into the community development goals.

“When I think about community development, I see a place where all residents can come together,” she said.

The City Council also unanimously approved the “Design Lewiston” initiative Tuesday after a lengthy process that saw a delay in its final reading due to a legal review.

The project, which puts a number of design standards in place for new downtown development, was given initial approval by the City Council on Sept. 2, but officials were asked on Sept. 16 to delay a second reading until October.

Doug Greene, deputy director of planning and code enforcement, has said the main goals of the initiative are to simplify the development process while encouraging higher-quality development.

All new projects in the downtown district will be subject to building standards for consideration, such as entrances and windows, parking access and design, landscaping and an overall design that shows “compatibility and harmony with surrounding buildings.”

Greene said Tuesday that the legal review was beneficial, with some language removed, but the changes “don’t minimize what the Design Lewiston project is all about.”

Also on Tuesday, the council approved the first reading of a related rezoning of downtown properties from downtown residential to the Centreville district, which staff said will encourage development of vacant or underutilized sites.

The Centreville district is the city’s most urban with no density limits. The rezone targets 56 properties along Ash, Blake, Bartlett, College and Oak streets.

The proposal was spurred by a development plan from Lewiston Housing, which is looking to expand on the Ash Street side of its Blake Street Towers housing complex at 70 Blake St.

Officials there are looking to build a three-story, 40-unit apartment building using vacant land on the property that they say is underutilized parking. When looking at the proposal, city staff saw multiple parcels between the site and the Centreville boundary that they believe could be more suitable for redevelopment under the Centreville standards.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Maine CDC investigating COVID-19 outbreak at Applebee’s in Auburn

Next »

Bail set at $50,000 cash for Auburn woman accused of attempted murder