Maureen Pelletier, Andy Orazio and Maura Herlihy were deep in conversation at last week’s “Curated Grazing and Great Conversations,” a Friends of Downtown visioning event.
Photo: Cat Ingraham
By Renée Morin
About 40 residents of Sanford-Springvale gathered at Memorial Gym on May 29 to share ideas about the future trajectory of the city. Two events were held concurrently: one organized by members of the city’s Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, and the other organized by Friends of Downtown.
Friends of Downtown unveiled the results of its Heart & Soul project. The group has devoted many hours over the last few years to surveying residents on their experiences working or living in the city, and what they would like to see going forward.
The most common sentiments were distilled down to simple statements, such as “Sanford is a safe, supportive community where people feel connected to one another.” These phrases were hung up around the room, and attendees could rank how much they agreed with the sentiment using different colored stickers. Additionally, there was space for attendees to leave their own comments or ideas, and tables for people to sit down for more in-depth discussions.
At the other end of the room, the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee had its own display set up. Attendees were given different colored stickers to mark different locations on maps of Springvale and Sanford. The stickers were used to indicate which areas people want preserved, and where they want to see redevelopment or growth. There was also a separate area where people could leave suggestions.
Code Enforcement Officer Jamie Cole explained that the comprehensive plan being developed is representative of Sanford residents’ feedback to the committee. The purpose of this event was to get comments from residents who hadn’t been heard from yet. Cole described the turnout as “better than expected” and said that attendees contributed a variety of good discussions and ideas. Questions and ideas around affordable housing and redeveloping the mills were prominent in his discussions with attendees. The contributions of these attendees will be used to inform development of the city’s comprehensive plan going forward.
Mary Hastings, small business advocate for the Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council, said she was pleased with the number of positive comments received in the process.
“We need to do better communicating the good and great things Sanford has to offer,” she said. “We need to correct the past stigma that incorrectly paints a depressed community riddled with drugs and homelessness.”
Hastings said the Heart & Soul statements she read had some common threads: “That we are a close-knit community, neighbors helping neighbors, and an overall sense of pride. People feel optimistic about the future, as more noticeable chain restaurants and retail stores have begun to open up.”
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