Falmouth begins long-term planning process, with out-of-state help
Photo / William Hall
The Falmouth Town Hall, built in 1899, is sited between two corridors of recent commercial growth in the town, along U.S. Route 1 and Maine Route 100. The town is beginning an overhaul of its comprehensive plan for the first time in nearly a decade.
The town of Falmouth is beginning a $63,000 research and opinion-gathering project in preparation for overhauling its comprehensive plan for the first time in nearly a decade.
Input gathered by a Minneapolis consultant will help create a “vision and values statement” and inform an update of the town’s long-term plan, last revised in 2013. The process got underway last week with the launch of an online survey, Town Council Chair Amy Kuhn told Mainebiz Wednesday.
The 39-question survey runs through December and asks for input on topics including future commercial growth in Falmouth, the demand for affordable housing, where new development should occur, and more.
The questions are part of a four-phase project that will also include focus groups, background research, scenario-testing, a community “summit” and ultimately a report of recommendations to guide Falmouth over the next 10-20 years, according to the town website.
The recommendations are expected to be complete by June.
“We’re doing everything we can to cast a wide net and get participation,” Kuhn said.
Unlike the 2013 planning process, this one includes outside help. The consultant, FutureIQ, provides research and planning services to governments and corporations worldwide, and says it has conducted over 300 large- and medium-scale “visioning projects” for communities across North America and Europe.
Falmouth issued a request-for-qualifications for the work last December, and by February had received 13 responses from consultants, planners, architects and others. All but three of the responses were from Maine businesses or Maine-based teams.
Despite its location 1,500 miles away, FutureIQ has previously worked on Maine planning projects including one for the Moosehead Lake region. The firm impressed the town council with a proposal for a “transparent and democratic” research process, Kuhn said.
Although a budget wasn’t required by the RFQ, the consultant was the only respondent who provided a set of numbers anyway. The town recently approved the $63,000 flat fee FutureIQ proposed, Kuhn said.
“We started out thinking we’d be looking mostly at [applicants] from Maine,” she added. “But FutureIQ’s response really knocked it out of the park.”
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