ALFRED — It has been just a month since Alfred residents approved amendments to the zoning ordinance intended to encourage development along the town’s major arteries, and already, there have been some inquiries.

Whether those inquiries turn into immediate action or do so over time is an unknown, but town officials say making the changes for smart growth was a good decision.

Voters at a special Town Meeting Feb. 6 approved an ordinance amendment that creates three mixed use zones along routes 4, 111 and 202, and cancels out the old village growth district. Minimum lot size requirements have been reduced, and lot coverage has increased.

As well as creating three mixed use zones, the amendment also sports a reorganized land use table, said Planning Board Chairman Rich Pasquini, and  design standards.

Jim Allaire, the town’s Codes Enforcement Officer, said since the change he’s had two inquiries about a long vacant property near the intersection of routes 4, 202 and 111, someone else is looking at a piece of land on Route 202 and more.

“There’s been a couple of (people) kicking tires on the old jail, asking questions,” said Allaire.

Allaire pointed out that over the last year or so, he’d had three or four phone calls about the possibilities of turning old barns into event venues — but under the old land use table, that was not an option. Now, he said, it is, with Planning Board approval.

And he pointed out that now, someone who has a farm, for example, can promote the farm with events, or sell their wares.

“Now, we have a code that if you want to do (a project), we can tell you how,” said Pasquini.

Alfred’s population was 3,019 in 2010, according to a community profile on the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission website. It is the shiretown of York County, and is the home of York County government. The demographic noted that in 2010, 71.7 percent of Alfred’s 1,350 households were owner occupied.

The ordinance amendment was an outgrowth of the comprehensive plan process. Pasquini and Allaire said the proposal was intended to be on the Nov. 6, 2018 ballot, but that the amount of work involved meant a postponement until February.

Two of the three mixed use zones are designed to promote residential, commercial and industrial use while the third is to promote a blend of residential and retail space.

The changes, said Lee Jay Feldman of the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, encourages development to occur along the state route corridors without being intrusive.

“The growth depends on if business wants to be there and if so, it will be quicker, but as planning goes, this could be a 20 years process,” said Feldman.

“I’m excited about it,” said Pasquini.

“This is to help the next generation,” said Allaire.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.