BRUNSWICK

A lot has changed in Brunswick since 1997, when the town’s zoning ordinance was passed.

Businesses have come and gone, the Brunswick Naval Air Station closed and new businesses are starting to grow in its place. More than 50 amendments have been made to the zoning ordinance since 1997, resulting in confusing and inconsistent wording.

Now, officials are attempting to clarify and modernize Brunswick’s zoning through a rewrite that will also change zoning boundaries to make them consistent with the 2008 comprehensive plan.

“It’s very much a work in progress,” said Planning Board Chairman Charlie Frizzle, speaking to the town council on Tuesday.

He said the Zoning Ordinance Rewrite Committee — or ZORC — has, since July, begun meeting with every Brunswick board, committee and commission, in addition to organizations such as the Brunswick Downtown Association, Bowdoin College, the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, as well as developers that regularly deal with the planning board.

Starting Sept. 11, ZORC will be meeting in neighborhoods that will be particularly impacted by the rewrite, including those in the downtown area, those on the west side of the New Meadows River and abutters to Bowdoin College.

Frizzle noted that, under the draft rewrite, the downtown will become a focal point for growth with higher densities.

The former Zone 3 farm and forest zone will fall under the coastal protection zone, according to the draft rewrite.

“That’s going to have a significant impact on property owners there,” Frizzle said.

The rewrite also seeks to impose “neighborhood protections standards,” he said, where zones that allow heavy mixed uses — and large buildings, such as those at the Bowdoin College campus — abut residential areas.

Larger forums geared toward the general public will take place Sept. 24 and Oct. 1.

To spread the word, notice of the forums are being included with tax bills. However, Councilor Jane Millett noted that those notifications exclude renters, however, many of which live in the downtown area.

Brunswick resident Richard Fisco on Tuesday said there needs to be more citizen participation, but added that the draft was based on a template that was being “imposed” on the town. He also criticized the draft ordinance as “unreadable.”

“If this was a Parker Brothers game, no one would play it because they wouldn’t understand the rules,” Fisco said.

“It’s a complicated document and requires a lot of cross-referencing,” said Millett.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

Schedule of ZORC forums

— Town Core, Sept. 11, 6-8 p.m., Town Hall Council Chambers

— New Meadows/Coastal, Sept. 17, 6-8 p.m., Southern New Hampshire University

— Bowdoin College and College Abutters, Sept. 18, 6-8 p.m., Curtis Memorial Library

Town-wide, Sept. 24, 6-8 p.m., Brunswick Junior High School

Town-wide, Oct. 1, 6-8 p.m., Southern Maine Community College