Chapter 12: Canaan's Local Goals and Policies

Though those are the conditions we expect in twenty years, it does not mean we are powerless to choose or change the future. Nor do we have to wait for state government to tell us what to do. We have the power and authority to make the Canaan of twenty years from now a better place, by encouraging good development, limiting bad development, and making town government more efficient and more responsive to its citizens.

This chapter is about issues and goals. We need to solve the problems we have now and those we expect to crop up in the future. It's taken 50 pages, more or less, to describe how Canaan has dealt with its problems past and present. Our current problems are more complex than those of the past, and our future ones will be even more so. That means some tough decision-making by all the townspeople. If the problems are not simple, the solutions won't be, either.

LAND USE AND DEVELOPMENT: If we want to maintain Canaan's small town feel and community character, we must encourage orderly development of the village and rural areas.

How is Canaan going to develop over the next twenty years? That is perhaps the key issue that affects all others. The pace of development, and its location, will dictate much of what we see over the next two decades, including impacts on the environment, the cost of government, and most importantly how we feel about living in Canaan. Our public opinion survey showed what we have always expected: we mostly like Canaan because it is rural and quiet, with lots of open space and not much traffic. Will we feel the same when the population is doubled, and the roads look like suburban Waterville?

Fortunately, with development we can have our cake and eat it, too. We can use the home rule authority of the town to work with landowners and developers to create new development that adds to the character and quality of life in Canaan, not detract from it.

The principal tool for local government to affect private development is land use regulations. Regulations can be used to control aspects of a development that would add to our tax burden, degrade the environment, or ruin the neighborhood. This does not mean zoning, and the town chooses not to establish zoning. It does mean using the existing regulations and authority of the town to assert limited control over the way private land is developed, in the interest of the taxpayer. In establishing and revising these regulations, the following policies are adopted:

1. The town should implement the land use plan and revise its existing regulations to guide new development towards areas where it is encouraged.

2. Commercial development of a certain size should be subject to local review in the same way as subdivisions are. This becomes even more important since the state has passed a law passing much of the responsibility for "site location" permits to municipalities.

3. All development should be treated fairly and equally. This applies regardless of whether they are subdivisions, mobile home parks, single lots, or commercial activities and buildings.

4 The Town should monitor development and be ready to modify the plan in response to changing growth and development patterns.

TOWN SERVICES: If we want to provide good services without raising taxes, we need to implement an efficient system of public services and facilities that will accommodate growth and development.

How (and how much) we develop has an enormous impact on the cost of government. In essence, some development makes government cheaper; Some makes government more expensive. To meet the goal of providing more efficient public services, we have to anticipate what our needs will be as a result of the development, and as a result of normal evolution of the town. Most of these needs will be the result of simple growth. More people mean more solid waste, more fire calls, more road maintenance, longer town office hours, not to mention a larger elementary school. Logically, that can be covered by the increased tax revenue from tax base.

But there are also leaps ahead in public service requirements expected of larger towns, that will add costs for us all. Canaan is already the largest town in Somerset County without a town manager or administrative assistant. Except for Palmyra, Canaan is also the largest town without a paid local police force. We can see these in our future. There are also state mandates based on population: At 2,000 people, we are required to appoint a building inspector (we have already done so); At 2,500, in five years, we will be required to assume local review of DEP Site Location applications.

Even without growth, there are some serious bills facing us. We will have to build a shed for salt storage in the next five years. We also have to replace some public works vehicles..

The bottom line is that larger towns cost more, not less, to run, and we are growing. In a recent Kennebec and Somerset County study, the average town of 1,800 paid $279 per capita in property taxes. But the average town of 2,300 paid $431 per capita. Unless we plan smart, that is what we have to look forward to.

We have just a few choices. We can use the personnel and equipment we have more efficiently, and plan what we need for future needs. We can do without, beginning a downward spiral of poorer services. Or we can increase the local budget, which means raising taxes. In an effort to improve efficiency and plan for the future, we adopt the following policies:

1. Ensure that paid town personnel make the most efficient use of their time and effort.

2. Prioritize and plan for major local expenditures by developing a capital improvements plan..

3. Take advantage of opportunities for supplementing local funding with state, federal, or private grant opportunities.

ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: If we want good, local jobs, we must improve and encourage local economic opportunities.

Economic opportunity is a key component in growth. Without a constantly growing job market, any population growth we have will be unstable. In fact, as Chapter 9 illustrated, we need almost one new job for every two new residents.

Nevertheless, we should not expect the town of Canaan to be responsible for creating all the new jobs necessary. In 1990, 690 workers lived here but only 230 jobs were located here. And 1/3 of those jobs were held by non-residents. Local jobs do have some advantages: it keeps the money in town, creates less commuter traffic, and results in more tax base. So we do not pursue local job growth through necessity but by choice.

Local government can have a role in creating jobs, by promoting the town as a place to do business, and by having rules and regulations that are "business-friendly." The first step, though, is determining what assets we have to sell ourselves. We are not going to be attracting any business that needs rail lines or sewer service. In fact, the chance of us attracting any single large business is remote. But we should recognize that we have a lot of small business opportunity, especially associated with the village, and that small business in America creates more jobs than large business ever has. And not just any small business; Canaan has a great opportunity to use its natural assets -- location on Route 2, Lake George Park, Sibley Pond, and other open spaces -- to focus on recreation and tourism-oriented business. This focus is reflected in the following policies adopted:

1. Revitalize and promote Canaan village by cooperating with local merchants and by developing a Downtown plan that addresses sidewalks, parking, signs, landscaping and business development..

2. Promote Canaan as a tourist and recreation destination.

3. Promote existing and potential local small business.

4 Continue to support regional economic development efforts that will provide job opportunities, similar to the Town's commitment to the Oakland Development park.

5 Develop and install gateway signs for the community upon entering the village and at other central corridors.

HOUSING: If we want decent housing opportunities, we must encourage affordable, safe, and sanitary housing development in Canaan.

Housing is one of the basic human needs, so basic that government has never had much to do with it. But protecting the health and well-being of citizens is an essential government function, and when the quality of housing affects that, we need to get involved in a limited way.

Also, we believe that our children and our parents are a vital part of our community. It would be a loss if they were forced to move to Skowhegan or another big town, because there were no homes left in Canaan that they could afford.

Government, at least in Canaan, is not about to start building or managing housing for its citizens. But there are many things that we can do to see that our citizens have decent and affordable homes, including the following policies:

1. Strictly enforce basic sanitary requirements for all housing, including the requirement for all housing units to have subsurface waste water disposal.

2. Promote and encourage any plans to build housing for first-time buyers or elderly citizens, especially in or near the village.

NATURAL RESOURCES: If we want to enjoy where we live, we must preserve the quality of our land and water resources, including our lakes, streams, and ponds, groundwater, wetlands, mountainsides, and wildlife habitat.

Living in a small town of great natural beauty, it is easy to take our environment for granted. Yet Canaan's land and forests provide the base for an income for many of the town's residents, as well as for growth and development. Maintaining environmental quality is what preserves productive forest and farm land, drinkable water, our recreational attractions, and the overall natural beauty of town.

Development, too, is both desirable and inevitable. One of the functions of natural resource planning is to ensure that development, when it comes, comes without the tradeoff of destroying our natural environment. It is possible, but it requires foresight.

As the town develops, we must consider the neighbor's well water, the lakes and open spaces that attract tourists, and the wetlands which soak up floods, resupply our groundwater and provide wildlife habitat.

Some parts of town will be more suitable for development than others, and some forms of development have more potential impacts than others. What we need to do is work with development, to see that landowners and developers do what they want to do, but in such a way that it does not damage the overall value of their land, their neighbor's land, or the waters that belong to all of us. The following policies are adopted to promote this idea:

1. Reduce the impact of development on erosion and pollution in lake watersheds. All development will be subject to basic erosion and stormwater standards

2. Protect our underground aquifers.

3. Regulate development of our shorelands and wetlands.

4. Preserve and enhance wildlife habitat, including deer wintering areas. Development proposed within an identified significant wildlife habitat area will be subject to review in order to ensure that the resource is not damaged.

5 Develop phosphorus standards for all development located within the watershed of our Ponds.

FARMING AND FORESTRY: If we want to keep the land as a pillar of the local economy, we must preserve so far as we can, farming and forestry as a viable activity.

Like its neighbors, Canaan grew up as an agricultural community. The land provided a lifestyle and source of income for our grandfathers, and basically built this town. There are still some who say that our whole economy begins with the land, whether it's food or lumber or stone.

Forestry is still alive and well in Canaan. The majority of land is forested, including large tracts of industrial forest land. Hundreds of acres are set aside in Tree Growth, and there are always some active harvesting operations. If there is a threat to the forest, it is occasional poor cutting practices.

Farming is, on the other hand, dying rapidly. There are only remnants left of former large farms. Most of the best land is either being built on or threatened by development. Large farms are not supported by this economy, though in several places small, labor-intensive farms with specialty crops are gaining.

Short of the State-mandated tax programs for farms and tree growth, there is little the town can do to support these enterprises. But there is nothing we should do to hasten their decline. The following policy is adopted to make that clear:

1. All resource-related activities -- agriculture, farmstands, wood-cutting and sawmills, to name a few -- shall be exempt from local regulation, except Shoreland Zoning.

2 Develop performance standards for housing proposed adjacent to agricultural uses that will allow farming operation to continue without being subject to complaints of nuisances due to noise and odors.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION: If we want to remember where we came from, we must preserve physical reminders of our heritage.

Part of Canaan's sense of community is our appreciation of the past. This is evident through our efforts to preserve the village, our support for the town's museum, and other things going on in the community. We must continue to preserve both the artifacts and the sense of history in Canaan, through adoption of the following policies:

1. Preserve artifacts from the town museum and seek to relocate them as soon as possible.

2. Protect historic structures and archeological sites throughout town.

3. Preserve the historic sense of the village area.

4 Any development proposed within an identified archeological or historic site or place will be reviewed by the State Historic Preservation Commission prior to construction.

OUTDOOR RECREATION: If we want to keep Canaan a fun place to live, we have to preserve its outdoor recreation opportunities.

Recreation is an essential part of our lifestyles. For children, all of life, it seems, is recreation. And we have a responsibility to see that our children have good recreational opportunities. But adults, too, have recreational needs. They are much more diverse, from adult basketball, to hunting and fishing, to taking quiet walks around the village. And much of what we call recreation are really means for bringing us together as a community. Whether or not we provide recreational opportunities to local residents is our own decision, and one that we make every year at Town Meeting.

Recreation isn't just a good way to pass the time; It's a money-maker. Canaan's outstanding recreational assets have great potential to draw tourists. Lake George Regional Park, Morrill Pond, Sibley Pond, our many streams, open areas, local hiking and snowmobile trails all combine to make this a potential tourist destination if we can preserve and market the opportunities. We need also to consider opportunities for local citizens: hiking, hunting, fishing, and organized sports.

The following policies are designed to preserve our own opportunities for outdoor recreation as well as recognize its potential for economic development.

1. Support Lake George Regional Park.

2. Promote and enhance local recreational assets.

3. Encourage the establishment of local businesses oriented to recreation.

4 Develop a local booklet that describes all of the recreational attraction in the Town.

5 The Town should maintain a working relationship with regional groups such as the tourist associations in order to promote Canaan.

Chapter 13: Canaan Action Plan

A crucial part of our recommendations is a plan for how we will spend our money on things we will need as a town. It's a long list. We need to start now, either saving or looking for alternative sources of funding. The table below shows what we need, and how we plan do deal with it.