As 2023 ends, it’s time to reflect on another year gone by and look forward to the work to be done in 2024. This past year was exceptionally busy, driven by both community needs and an ambitious list of Town Council goals. While the Council advanced a number of studies, plans, and ad-hoc committees, the year was largely dominated by the Town Council’s continued work on modifications to the Rate of Growth Ordinance as well as the proposed K-8 consolidated school.
The Scarborough school project aimed to solve a number of challenges that the elementary school population has been contending with for decades, none more significant than overcrowding and a reliance on portable classrooms. The deal was complicated by the lack of available land parcels of the requisite size, project cost, many in the community’s desire to retain neighborhood schools, and the complexity of the land option agreement.
While the ballot referendum failed to pass, likely due to a combination of these factors, I remain proud of the effort to support the school’s needs and ultimately putting a viable solution forward to the voters to decide. If there is a silver lining in the referendum, it is that the community has a firm understanding of the challenges facing our schools. Looking forward, we need to identify the solution that best meets the needs of the schools and the taxpayers. Undoubtedly, this matter will continue to be an area of focus in the coming year.
Earlier in the year, the Town Council passed a new Rate of Growth Ordinance. This replaces the Growth Management Ordinance to contend with Scarborough’s growth and development and residents’ concerns with the same. This work places new parameters on residential development and directs growth to our designated growth areas, while preserving the rest of Scarborough. The Town Council directed staff to monitor residential growth on an annual basis and will consider the overall ordinance in two years, if not sooner. The Town is also making tangible efforts to manage the impacts of growth, specifically traffic, through investments in studies and adaptive traffic signals.
Conservation is a key component of the Town’s growth management strategy and was another prominent goal for the Town Council this past year. They unanimously agreed to a resolution to support “30×30”, an initiative to conserve 30% of Scarborough land and water by 2030. This initiative, like so many others, is driven by our talented and dedicated volunteer committees and boards, with support of our capable and dedicated professional staff. Spoiler Alert: I expect those actively involved in conservation will be recommending another land bond in 2024 to ensure that we have financial resources available when conservation opportunities are available.
We expect the work in the upcoming year to be driven by new and ongoing council goals, a renewed effort for a school solution, understanding and responding to the community needs reflected in the 2023 community survey, and a need to invest in the retention of our experienced staff in an increasingly competitive market. We expect many of these initiatives will receive attention and will require financial support through the FY25 budget. Scarborough has been an exciting place to live and work and I look forward to another year of serving the community and making it a better place into the future.
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