FAYETTE — Natural resource protection topped the list for Fayette residents polled by officials looking for areas of focus as the town prepares to update its comprehensive plan.

The Comprehensive Plan Committee this week reported the results of a survey it conducted in advance of the plan’s revision.

Residents also said they wanted Fayette’s water quality and rural character protected.

The town contracted the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments to assist it in rewriting the comprehensive plan. The current comprehensive plan was written in 1997.

Nick Aschauer, a community planner with KVCOG, said 174 people responded to the survey. He said that was about 20% of the town’s population of those age 18 or older. Of those who took the survey, 65% were older than 55.

Of the survey respondents, 40% were not in favor of seeing development in Fayette or would approve of little development, Aschauer said, while 25% were in favor of developing more of a village center. 

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The town’s rural character is considered its strength — having a big retailer or chain business come to the town, which could create jobs, was not what residents wanted, according to the survey results. But residents at a meeting Tuesday said they wanted to prepare the town for its future. 

At Tuesday’s gathering, called a “vision meeting,” about 50 residents reiterated the survey results, and expressed a need for better internet access in the town. 

“How do we prime our town for the 22nd century?” said Nancy Cronin, vice chairperson of the Board of Selectmen, who said she was attending the meeting as a resident. “The way work looks like today is not what it is going to look like in 10 years.”

“We are no longer an industrialized economy, we are an informational economy,” Cronin said. “What we build here has to allow us, from our little living rooms, to compete on the global marketplace.”

One benefit to having the updated comprehensive plan is that it puts the town in a better position when applying for grants, according to Aschauer.

In addition, a comprehensive plan guides a town’s planning when it comes to policymaking, development and resources, and is an expression of residents’ vision for their community.

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While it is not a legally binding document or an ordinance, the comprehensive plan provides the legal basis for local ordinances.

The committee started the drafting process in April. It intends to put the finalized draft before voters at the 2020 town meeting.

A public hearing is expected in April 2020, at which residents can review the draft.

The committee meets from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at Fayette Central School. Meetings are open to the public, and those who wish to provide input during a meeting may contact committee Chairperson Kirstie Ludwig or Aschauer in advance of that meeting.


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