Max Johnstone thought he’d stay in Canada after graduation. But, being from Harpswell, he’d started to miss Maine. Besides, there was the promise of a job. As part of his studies at Carleton University in Ottawa where he’d studied public affairs and policy management, he interned at the Midcoast Economic Development District in Damariscotta. So, Max came back. And a job materialized in the Waldoboro’s planning department, just in time to work on Waldoboro’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan. Today, six years later, Max is a senior planner for Midcoast Council of Governments. Three of those days he works for Waldoboro as its Director of Planning, overseeing projects like AD Gray, Sylvania, the revitalization of downtown and the ever-present Comprehensive Plan. On the other two days he gives technical assistance to whatever town in the district needs it. Max will tell you he’s really good at improvising. And evaluating information. But it’s ideas that set him on fire. That’s why his door is always open for anyone to drop in and share thoughts. Ideas are the fuel for this planner who then takes all the information out there and weighs it with everything else. Because there are grants and opportunities to be had.
A lot of people like Waldoboro just the way it is. A lot of the same people say they would welcome the return of business and good jobs. But here’s the conundrum: it’s the towns that invest in themselves, the towns who take the risk – they are the ones where businesses go.
For me, it’s workforce housing. That’s because there are too many businesses already who can’t find workers, because there’s no housing for them. And I know too many people who can’t find a bloody place to live.
When I came to Waldoboro in July 2017, I was living with my parents in Harpswell. I started immediately looking for somewhere closer. But most of the places I saw were small spaces above a garage. The rest were as far away as Harpswell. I was starting to wonder if I would have to leave this job. I was not going to drive the two hours to and from Waldoboro in the winter. Anyway, one day – it was October — when I was having my lunch, I was looking at Facebook Marketplace. Someone was advertising an apartment in Damariscotta. From the pictures I could tell the space looked nice. It even had tall ceilings which I liked because I’m 6’1”. I messaged them immediately: “I’ll take it.”
They told me the internet was only DSL. I said: “I don’t care. Just give me the place.” They had so many replies that they had to take their ad down after fifteen minutes. I was the first person to respond so they gave me first dibs. If I hadn’t randomly been looking at Facebook during my lunch hour, I probably wouldn’t be here. That’s why housing is so important to me.
The Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission just published a study saying that Waldoboro needs 150 more units, given the demand. Well, with AD Gray, we have 36 coming down the pipeline, but I don’t know where we’ll get the rest. On the other hand, if a small percentage of people created an accessory dwelling unit on their property, the whole problem would go away.
In terms of housing, short-term rentals present a challenge. I’d love to get something on the books about them, but whenever I bring it up, I always get push-back. Honestly, it’s such a hot button issue.
Of course I want someone who lives here and has the extra room or attic to be able to do that! The extra income could help with a new roof or get someone out from under taxes. I would just like them to register the space, say, for $25 a season, which they’d more than make back in a single night.
But for the person who’s never set foot in Waldoboro and wants to buy a place to rent out every week or weekend in the warmer months? That’s a commercial business, and they should be paying commercial fees. Not to mention that they’ve taken another house away from our housing stock.
We have ordinances for everything including short-term rentals. Our ordinances are there because people showed up at my meetings and helped craft them. They are the people who even stay after my meetings. They are the ones who will fight longer and harder on these issues. Some people tell me they aren’t happy about certain ordinances. I say: “Come to my meetings. Tell me what you want changed. Stick it out with me.”
When I first got here, I had a list of things I was going to do. I’ve had to learn that everything takes a long time. It’s almost six years later, and they are still on my list. Sometimes it feels so defeating. I guess that’s the challenge. Because it’s not like the movies where someone gives a motivational speech, and the townspeople rally together and get the project done. It takes a lot of effort. It takes cooperation from people. Take AD Gray.
On April 10th, we held a forum to discuss the design and plans. We’d advertised in the paper and someone wrote an article about it, too. But the people in its neighborhood felt they hadn’t been notified. So, we scheduled another forum on April 27. And to make sure everyone knew about it, we sent out letters inviting them.
The process takes a long time because people would be angry if I tried to speed things up. If I wanted to, I could say, “I’m done. We’ve had 50 information sessions, and we’re not doing one more.” But I’m not that guy. The VOA are not those people. Julie is not that person. Because we all know that people need to be heard. What people want is transparency and accountability.
Leave a Reply