BRUNSWICK

Because parts of the town’s zoning ordinance are outdated, poorly defined or ambiguously worded, the town is girding for a comprehensive rewrite.

Planning Board members discussed the start of the process — which involves hiring a planning consultant, deciding how large the rewrite committee should be and who will comprise it — Tuesday.

A request for quotes will be distributed to planning consultants by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Anna Breinich, the town’s director of Planning and Development, will begin to assemble the committee that will interview candidates.

Part of the overhaul process will consider — at least theoretically — whether Brunswick should continue with a use-based planning model or switch to a formbased structure.

Use-based guidelines group similarly-oriented businesses or industries together, and specify where in a municipality they are permitted to operate.

Form-based zoning mixes different uses within a single area, but holds them to a design standard rather than an industrial limit regading what they produce or sell.

The latter standard makes for a more diverse economic area, but theoretically could result in otherwise incongruous groupings of storefronts in a single area, said Town Planner Jeremy Doxsee.

It’s not likely that a change is in order. Neither Doxsee nor Breinich ever has worked in a community where formbased zoning was practiced.

Also under consideration is whether the Village Review Zone should be expanded and, if so, by how much.

Additionally, the Planning and Village Review boards must determine if the zone should be oriented toward preservation of historic architectural features or bound instead to a code of design standards.

The VRZ process began in February 1985 with a draft Architectural Review Zone. When the Town Council adopted its municipal Zoning Ordinance in September 1986, it also established the VRZ to prevent improvements that would “damage” buildings within the zone “on an architectural level,” according to then- Town Planner Mat Eddy.

Bowdoin College initially requested the VRZ be expanded in 2008 to include the Chamberlain House and Museum.

However, a typographical error in the order and five years of ensuing chaos and interpretation yielded no final disposition of the request.

Among other things, board members hope the impending ordinance revision will clarify the VRZ’s purpose and boundaries.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com