This city map shows the new boundaries between voting wards as of the redistricting approved last month. The most notable changes are between Wards 1 and 5. Contributed / City of Westbrook
Westbrook residents heading to the polls Tuesday, June 14, might find themselves in a different voting ward.
Boundary lines for the five Westbrook voting wards have been shifted based on population changes revealed with the release of 2020 U.S. Census data. The redistricting ensures the wards have relatively equal populations, according to City Clerk Angela Holmes.
Voting for all wards will take place at the Westbrook Community Center next week, so the redistricting isn’t expected to cause problems, Holmes said.
The new ward lines do not have an impact on current members of the Westbrook City Council, who are elected by wards.
The “cores” of the wards have stayed the same, Holmes said, but some ward lines have been adjusted to include or exclude pockets of housing to even the out with the other wards.
“We looked to make each ward as compact as possibly with contiguity, making sure we weren’t splitting wards into separate chunks,” Holmes said. “We tried to maintain the core of the prior districts, and we also do not use partisan data, so we were strictly looking at census blocks.”
WARD 1
Previously making up the northern border of Ward 1, Methodist Road is now part of Ward 5, with the rest of Ward 1 remaining relatively the same.
The population of Ward 1 grew by more than 1,000 since 2010, which City Planner Jennie Franceschi attributed mostly to new senior housing projects, like those on Liza Harmon Drive, and housing subdivisions on Methodist Road.
Ward 1 now includes the eastern area between the Westbrook Arterial Highway to the south and East Bridge Street to the north, with the center of the ward divided by the Presumpscot River.
WARD 2
Ward 2 is the southern portion of the city, with its northern borders mostly along Main Street, western border along Saco Street and eastern border along Portland and the Westbrook Arterial Highway to the north.
In Ward 2, the population grew from about 3,600 to 4,600, with population growth concentrated around the Blue Spruce Farm project off Spring Street.
“The other phenomenon that is not as well seen is you’ve got significant historic neighborhoods in that Ward 2 area that had an aging population that was holding onto their homes,” Franceschi said. “What we’ve seen over the last decade is these neighborhoods turn over, going from a retired couple to now a family and adding more people. We are definitely seeing that level of influx of folks coming into this area through those types of changeovers.”
WARD 3
Ward 3, the southwestern part of the city with it’s northern border closest to William Clarke Drive, won’t see change, with the northern border remaining along the Presumpscot River and eastern borders along Saco and Brackett streets.
Population in Ward 3 grew less than other wards, from 3,859 to 4,263.
WARD 4
Ward 4’s borders are also mostly unchanged. Ward 4 is in the northwest portion of the city, running along the border of new Ward 5 along Methodist Road.
Ward 4 saw growth from 3,372 people to 4,129 over the 10-year period, which Franceschi relates to a number of small developments as well as the larger 72-unit, multi-family project off Cumberland Street.
“There is also a smattering of other smaller scale subdivisions along Methodist road but nowhere near the density (growth) we are seeing in the core of the community,” Franceschi said.
WARD 5
Ward 5 saw the second biggest change with the addition of the former Ward 1 territory that ran up Methodist road. Ward 5 is the northernmost ward in the city, with a downtown southern border. Ward 5 reaches the top of the city limits border Falmouth, with western borders with Ward 4 along Methodist Road, the former borders with Ward 1.
Population growth is related to the Brydon Farms condominiums off Brighton Road/Route 302 and Winslow Green condominiums off Pride Street.
“That area has definitely increased, as well as some smaller scale subdivisions along Duck Pond Road and limited growth on 302,” Franceschi said.
She said she is pleased that most of the city’s growth is toward the center of the city.
“While we have growth throughout the community and in a whole variety of housing opportunities, we are seeing that attraction to the core where we have services and utilities and infrastructure to support that,” Franceschi said. “The implementation of the ordinances and overlay provisions to entice growth are working in the area, where we want to see growth.”
ELECTION DAY
The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Community Center at 426 Bridge St. for all voters.
Voters in House District 126, which covers all parts of Ward 2 and 3 south of the Stroudwater River, bordering Scarborough to the southwest, will decide between Jean-Marie Caterina and Drew Gattine in a Democratic primary. The winner will face Republican Leslie Smith of Saco for the House seat in the Nov. 8 election.
The district, formerly House District 24 but recently renamed as part of the state’s recent redistricting, also covers covers Saco and north and west sections of Scarborough.
Voters also will weigh in on the proposed school budget, which is $43.9 million, up $1.8 million, or 4.3%, over this year’s.
New city revenue helps offset the increase in the school budget. If approved by voters, it and the already approved municipal budget will increase the property tax rate by 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. That would mean a tax bill increase of $62.48 for the owner of an average-priced home of $231,400, according to Mayor Mike Foley.
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