Do-It-Yourself Code in Damariscotta

We all research other places for ideas and examples but how often do those places come to us?

That was what happened last month in Damariscotta, ME when Patricia Sears (Newport City Renaissance Corporation’s Executive Director) and Paul Dreher (City of Newport’s Zoning Administrator) came to town to share their experience developing Form Based Codes in a small New England city. The fieldtrip was an outgrowth from CommunityMatters’10 where folks from the two communities first met.

Many towns across New England are expressing interest in Form Based Codes. Like Damariscotta, these towns are curious about this promising tool but also have many questions about just what the codes mean on the ground. Organizations like CNU New England are a resource for communities but often townspeople want to hear directly from other like-communities as to the pros and cons and just what it takes to adopt a good code.

That’s where Paul and Patricia came in. They led community members in a do-it-yourself code workshop, presented their city’s experience at an evening meeting and held another Q&A session the following morning. About 70 people participated in these activities.

Patricia and Paul pointed to the need for ongoing opportunities for community members to provide input into the code writing. In Newport that meant weekly Friday morning meetings for 6 months in order to come up with a “community supported code.” These meetings were short (one hour) and resulted in clear action in the code’s development.

Community participation has been very important to Damariscotta in its own Heart & Soul Community Planning project and the Town is currently considering how to incorporate what it likes about Newport’s process as the Town considers changes to its own regulations.

I’m looking forward to following how this town-to-town sharing affects what Damariscotta does next!