The Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission, invited to attend the Maine Department of Transportation and Wiscasset Downtown Advisory Committee’s meeting on March 27, discussed the commission’s long-held concerns about changes to the downtown historic district.

John Reinhardt, commission chair, wanted to invoke the federal historic preservation standard, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires a review for any changes to historic property and provides time to refute the decision made by MDOT. Although the project is not accepting federal dollars, which would have required MDOT to undergo a Section 106 review, the state Historic Preservation Commission, a consultant on the project once a final project is approved, considers Section 106 and many other historic preservation criteria to identify historic properties, assess project effects and provide  recommendations, according to the state commission’s website. Wiscasset’s Planning Board can request a review, which would be responded to within 30 days.

Reinhardt’s other concerns involved designing and managing historic roads from the outset of the planning process, and balancing sound engineering with preservation. “We need to make history matter in the decision-making process,” he said.

Commission member Susan Blagden wondered what the next step would be if the traffic plan did not work, and asked about heavier traffic on the side streets and the effect on the foundations of historic buildings. Gordon Kontrath said in his experience, increasing traffic weight  on roads not designed for the weight caused serious problems. He was also concerned about rerouting emergency traffic down the side streets.

James Kochan brought up several other states’ experiences in redesigning a main highway that is also Main Street in a historic town. According to the reports he cited, sidewalks are too wide in the proposed plan and the street shouldn’t be shrunk from 80 to 36 feet, because that makes snow removal on the sidewalks difficult and leaves businesses without a means to enter their buildings in the winter months. He also said there is no room in the plan for a bike path, even though Route One through Wiscasset is the designated bike route.

Although Kochan saw much he liked, he didn’t agree with eliminating all street parking, and said he would like to see a plan during a peak week in the summer to try it out, using bollards and other barriers to prevent parking on Route One and see if the traffic control measures work before construction begins. Richard Thompson related his experience of living in New Orleans and having a historic preservation society save the French Quarter from permanent loss, if a proposed six-lane highway went in along the Mississippi River. “Once you change it, you can’t bring it back,” he said.

Other members of the audience were not as worried. “Voters are tired of the town putting up roadblocks,” said Ken Kennedy Patterson of Water Street. “We’ve already got a lot of things downtown – loading zones, handicapped zones – that weren’t there” in the early 20th century, he said. “We had a plan a few years ago that would have been great for the town in the state’s right of way, a wharf where a certain business could have had a great location, but the business refused to move to the wharf. We’re sick of this. The townspeople voted for you to deal with this. Our Historic Preservation Commission can’t even get someone to set the clock properly.”

Katharine Martin-Savage said the town should consider the ramifications to businesses. “It’s MDOT’s job to move traffic. It’s Wiscasset’s job to take care of what we have and make sure our businesses are taken care of.”

MDOT’s Ernie Martin introduced Kent Cooper, who would design the aesthetic portion of the project. Kent had been involved with the possible wharf project years ago that was abandoned when Red’s Eats refused to move to a state right-of-way along Railroad Avenue, and he spent the last few years working on a seven mile stretch of Route One through Ogunquit. “I work with you on everything but the roadbed,” he said. “I want it to look nice, and be a place people want to be.”

He said a lot of the work he does isn’t necessarily beautification, although he has worked with towns to plant trees and select lighting, but rather, he works with issues such as erosion control, which might include plantings, and street signs that are clear and can get people where they need to go. Cooper won a national award for a project he worked on in Naples. “I want historic preservation, but not ‘pickling’,” he said, pointing out that the historic buildings have to be useful to the community or they become derelict very quickly.

Police Chief Jeff Lange presented the parking subcommittee’s recommendations for amendments to the parking plan.  Their recommendations included:

• On Main Street, loading and unloading parking by the Chinese restaurant, loading and unloading only on the north side of the street between Water and Middle, and angled parking only in front of Marston House (101 Main Street).
• On Fort Hill Street, no parking on the east side of the street to the carriage house, parking remains near the post office and the first space is handicapped, and re-angled parking on Fort Hill just past the post office.
• On south Middle Street, no parking on the west side, and no parking on the east side up to the parking lot. In the parking lot behind Treats, no parallel parking next to the building, and one space would be handicapped.
• On south Water Street, no parking on the east side from Main to the beginning of the CEI building, five spots after that, with the first designated as handicapped. No parking on the west side from Main to after Big Foot Alley.
• On Railroad Alley, the first spot on the west side of the street designated handicapped, and one handicapped space in the proposed lot.
• On north Water Street, no parking on the east side for the whole street, truck loading in the first five spots on the east side. On the west side, no parking from Main to Alley, but parking allowed after Alley for the rest of the street.
• On north Middle Street, no parking on the east side from Main to the old alley, and no parking on the west side from Main to Lincoln.
• On Lincoln, no parking on either side of the street.

These recommendations have yet to be approved by the committee or MDOT. The subcommittee also recommended no parking meters for the first year, but in the second year, the new lots on Water Street and the parking lot on Railroad Avenue would have metered parking. Lange also suggested a fee structure that would give downtown residents permits to park in lots on Middle Street and other locations. He said parking fees would be based on the fees charged in surrounding communities.

The committee meets again on April 10 and 24 at 5 p.m. at the municipal building. The committee will hold a public hearing on May 8 from 6 - 8 p.m., location  to be announced.