Thanks for giving me a window on a community of people working hard to balance the things that matter most: a healthy town government that provides needed services and a tax base that is made up of neighbors you’d be happy to rub shoulders with.

Molly mentioned greenhouses, they would be great - year round local food is about as basic as it gets - it can be sustainable and provide jobs. Following Gretchen’s thread of “if I were loaded”,and Linda’s dream - I’d add an indoor botanic garden to go along. Wouldn’t have to be huge, but it could have a theme (something families HAD to take their kids to…and buy the t-shirt, and purchase a membership to, and rent for their next birthday party…more jobs), and a restaurant (the 236 Diner?), and programs and it would be a place people would come to because our winters are so long and not everyone can afford to go to Florida to see green things growing during those long months, but they could come to South Berwick, have dinner, buy fresh produce. Greenhouses cost more to cool than to heat, and there are green ways to heat…if we were innovative enough in the overall plan, there might even be some kind of funding available, being on the crest of the green wave and all…(Do I hear derisive snorting?? Why yes, I believe I do…that’s okay. It’s just a dream.)

Aside from the start up costs - would people object to such an enterprise in our backyards? Any solution to sustaining the town and ourselves will take lots of creativity - this town has a very deep well of creativity.

Thanks again, Molly - for giving us this way to share thoughts…

Myself, I couldn’t agree with you more, Wendy. If we want to open up downtown property to development, B1 is certainly not the way to go.

It’s the heart of the town, so it deserves a lot more consideration. There are a lot of good ideas showing up here - now we just need to make sure they get passed on to the right people.

B1 zoning means “anything goes.”

As JCH, Linda, Jack and others point out, when Main Street from Dunkin Donuts to Sewall Road was previously zoned for business, residential (R1) zoning was substituted by the town council about 2000 in response to the so-called Rite-Aid scare, when a developer proposed a project that might have badly impacted the heart of the downtown in terms of traffic, demolition of historic buildings, ruining village character, etc. As Jack mentions, performance standards were actually developed in response to this scare, but unfortunately the town council didn’t implement them; they just replaced business zoning with the R1 zoning.

In other words, when business zoning wasn’t protective enough, the town put in R1 without performance standards. Now we have the problem that some of property owners say R1 is too restrictive. In responding to them let’s not make the same mistake all over again. Implementing a blanket B1, once again omitting performance standards, could open the downtown to changes most residents would hate to see.

Let’s do it right this time: propose business zoning WITH PERFORMANCE STANDARDS (design review and/or form-based zoning) simultaneously.

Why are we even considering B1 zoning now, without passing performance standards at the same time?

Form Based Zoning would be incorporated in the land use ordinance, to be implemented by the Planning Board much as any project in a zoned district is. It would,as such, have the same safeguards including due process and local appeals. The devils are admittedly in the details, but if done correctly, FBZ could accomplish what most people (from most sides) want the Town to accomplish.

Particularly in the area between Dunkin Donuts and Sewell Road, this area begs for a thoughtful and forward thinking zoning approach; and not a blanket application of B1.