BRUNSWICK

Tedford Housing will have to wait to move forward on its new shelter.

Brunswick councilors agreed Tuesday to extend its moratorium blocking the location of shelters in town for six months; Councilor Steve Walker was the lone member to oppose the delay.

The town plans to use the time to fix its zoning ordinance, which doesn’t define shelters or regulate where they can be located.

Prior to the vote, Frank Strasburger of Tidal Run Lane said he is most concerned about what he said are 75 kids within Brunswick School Department who are homeless.

“What does that mean? Where are they?” Strasburger said. “Well in the summer and the shorter seasons some of them are living in tents. They can’t do that in the winter so they have to find someplace else, so they’re living in cars, they’re couch surfing with friends and those situations don’t tend to last very long. There is one kid in our school system who is living in a sliding board tube.”

The sense of urgency was echoed by Walker.

Walker said there was no need for an emergency resolution “just because we fell apart in the planning department.”

“I can’t vote for it,” Walker said. “I understand the legal issues and I know we’re stuck, but I just can’t sleep at night saying we’re going to put this off six months knowing the conditions of people out there on the streets of Brunswick.”

The council has created a task force to tackle the issue, and Councilor Suzan Wilson added there is nothing preventing the town from acting faster.

“Sadly, the wheels do move slowly,” Wilson said. “If there are issues that are related specifically to zoning, the council task force will be sending direction to the planning board which then has to go through its process of public hearings as well.

“I think that everybody understands that this is a severe situation,” Wilson said.

Jim Bridge of Pasture Way is spokesman for the 62 Pleasant Hill Coalition, a group of neighbors who live near the proposed resource center site. He spoke in favor of the moratorium to allow the council to correct problems with the zoning ordinance.

Bridge also urged the council to include two Brunswick citizens from Tedford’s board and two from the coalition on its task force.

Instead, the council’s task force will include only three councilors, in order to expedite zoning changes.

The task force will review the town’s comprehensive plan, the zoning ordinance and develop definitions for shelter housing. They also must determine appropriate zones within town for shelter housing, and develop performance standards and other regulations to govern them.

Council Chairman John Perreault noted the meetings will be open to the public and said people will have the opportunity to weigh in during the process.

Councilor Jane Millett opposed the formation of the task force because it didn’t include other stakeholders.

dmoore@timesrecord.com