DURHAM — A new Durham comprehensive plan aims to preserve the community’s rural small-town character and its small-town numbers.

The town is hosting a public hearing Monday, March 25, to review a draft of the comprehensive plan, which would replace the one adopted in 2002 if approved at the April 6 town meeting. 

Comprehensive plans are general outlines that serve to focus and guide the growth and development of a community.

Town officials conducted surveys and hosted meetings throughout the past year to help nail down what issues were important to residents and gauge the direction the town hopes to go in the next decade.

In 2002, Durham designated a part of the town as a “growth area” to concentrate development and help prevent sprawl, said George Thebarge, a part-time town planner who helped write the draft. Durham, a town of about 3,800 people, has no “downtown hub” to speak of, but chose the area encompassing the community center, fire department and school as the town center.

At the same time, residents also adopted a growth rate ordinance that would limit to 45 the number of building permits issued in a given year. With Durham situated near Lewiston-Auburn, Bath-Brunswick and not far from Portland, residents have been concerned about too much growth. However, this has not been an issue, Thebarge said, as, since the 2008 recession and the Brunswick Naval base closure in 2011, permits have hovered around 15 per year.

When creating the updated comprehensive plan, Thebarge and the plan committee members considered three options. The first would double down on the growth area and implement a public water system to help support centralized growth. The second would continue the status quo, with permits on two-acre zoning but better management of development and abandoning the growth area designation through an exemption request. The third plan would see regulation rollback and let people essentially build on whatever size lot they wished as long as it was supported by the plumbing.

The second plan was preferred, Thebarge said and will focus on the three main goals: keeping the small-town character, preserving and promoting agriculture and forestry and respecting property rights while managing growth.

The town will likely be approved for the growth center exemption due to its lack of downtown, Thebarge said, but towns without one cannot legally have a growth ordinance limiting the number of building permits.

The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the Eureka Community Center.

hlaclaire@timesrecord