Pownal residents will vote Feb. 14 on an updated comprehensive plan that looks to preserve the town’s rural character while balancing growth and change.

A comprehensive plan is a document required by the state unique to each town that crafts and adopts one. The plan’s goal is to set guidelines and gather community input for future development.

Pownal is approximately 23 square miles, characterized by dirt roads, farmland and the roughly 700-acre Bradbury Mountain State Park. According to the 2020 Census, the population of Pownal is approximately 1,566 people, up 6% from the 2010 count of 1,474 people.

“The town is a really traditional Maine community,” Select Board Chairperson Jon Morris said. “It’s still based on relationships, and it’s still based on neighbors. It’s still based on a positive identity of coming from Pownal.”

According to Morris, the plan has been in the works for two years and reflects the input of residents through data gathered by the town. The last plan was put together 14 years ago, Morris said, and this one will guide town endeavors for the next 10 years.

The plan encourages the preservation of natural resources, farmland and recreational spaces, while also supporting a limited and controlled amount of economic, commercial and housing development.

“Growth is going to happen. Old people die, sell off land, there is not this tie to the land that there used to be,” said Morris. “The comprehensive plan is trying to figure out a way to sort of come to some consensus of what that should look like.”

One strategy outlined in the plan, for example, would be to explore tax incentives for landowners to encourage preservation. Another would be updating codes and land-use rules to support open space.

Surveys conducted by the town reaffirm a strong desire by the majority of residents to keep Pownal rural.

Over 94% of respondents, or 340 people, indicated “strong support” or “support” for the preservation of open space, farmland and recreational spaces.

About 53%, or 192 people, would like to see the home building growth rate decrease and 29% preferred to keep it the same.

Town documents indicate that 53 new homes have been built in Pownal since 2016, translating to an average of 11 new housing permits per year. Just over 73% of respondents, or 264 people, agreed Pownal should limit the permits.

Over 73% of respondents said Pownal should allow farming, commercial gardening and nurseries anywhere in town, while over 82% said the town should discourage fast food restaurants with drive throughs.

Goals like limiting tax burden, encouraging an all-age friendly community and exploring ways to fund, renovate and build a new fire and rescue as well as public works facilities are also included in the plan.

The Pownal Select Board unanimously approved the comprehensive plan in January.

Additional Items on the Ballot

In addition to the comprehensive plan, three other items will be up for vote on the ballot.

Article three asks voters whether to adjust some language in the town’s animal control and welfare rules. Specifically, changing the word “mammal” to “animal,” which according to Town Administrator Becky Taylor-Chase gives the animal control officer more tools with enforcement.

Article four asks voters whether to change the town’s compensation guidelines from an ordinance to a policy, which would give the select board the ability to govern staff pay-rates without a town meeting vote. Taylor-Chase said the article is intended to give the select board more flexibility in light of the current labor market.

Article five asks voters to approve an amendment to the public and private roads ordinance, which Taylor-Chase said would correct and update the visual diagrams of the roads to match the written descriptions.

The town meeting and vote will be held at the Pownal Elementary School at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14.

For more information, visit pownalme.org.