The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Maine Town Documents Maine Government Documents 2004 A Comprehensive Plan for the City of Caribou Caribou (Me.). Planning Board Caribou (Me.). City Council Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs Repository Citation Caribou (Me.). Planning Board and Caribou (Me.). City Council, "A Comprehensive Plan for the City of Caribou" (2004). Maine Town Documents. 213. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs/213 This Plan is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine Town Documents by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Comprehensive Plan for the City of Caribou January 2004 Prepared with the technical assistance of: Northern Maine Development Commission 11 West Presque Isle Road, Caribou, Maine 04736 1-207-498-8736 1-800-427-8736 A Comprehensive Plan for the City of Caribou Adopted by the Residents On: City Council: Dr. Reginald Reed, Mayor Christopher Bell, Deputy Mayor Sandra Huck JoAnne Willett Kenneth Murchison Lucinda Hebert Wilfred Martin Planning Board Members: Tim Ring, Chair Shawn Manter, Vice Chair Mark Bouchard, Secretary David Corriveau James Cavagnaro Miles Williams Steve Wentworth The Planning Committee would also like to thank the following individuals for their valuable assistance on this Plan: Steven Buck, City Manager David Ricker, Code Enforcement Officer Jay Kamm, Planner Department Heads for the City This Plan was funded, in part, with funds available through the Maine State Planning Office and funds appropriated by the residents of the City of Caribou. 2 Table of Contents Page Introduction 4 Inventory and Analysis Demographics 6 Land Use 16 Transportation 31 Public Facilities and Services 51 Fiscal Capacity 75 Housing 82 Local Economy 97 Natural Resources 118 Cultural and Historic Resources 128 Goals, Policies, and Strategies Goals, Policies, and Strategies 141 State Growth Management Goals 143 General Development Goals 144 Landowner Rights and Responsibilities 145 Land Use 147 Transportation 151 Public Facilities and Services 155 Municipal Finances 160 Local Economy 137 Housing 162 Natural Resources 169 Cultural and Historic Resources 173 Recreational Resources 176 Proposed Land Use Plan 182 Capital Improvements program 187 Regional Coordination 189 3 Introduction Planning is an organized method of finding out what a community’s needs are, and then setting up goals and policies to address those needs in a manner that will allow for future growth within the community, while making it a better place to live. The Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act of 1988 established a cooperative program of comprehensive planning and land use management among the municipalities, regional planning councils, and the state. The focal points of the Act are: 1. The establishment of state goals to provide overall direction and consistency to the planning and regulatory actions of the municipalities and the state 2. The establishment of technical and financial assistance programs through the state planning office and regional planning councils to encourage and help communities develop comprehensive plans, and 3. The establishment of a process for the review of the comprehensive plans by the State Planning Office and regional planning councils to ensure that they are consistent with the Comprehensive Planning Act. Part 1 of Caribou’s Comprehensive Plan addresses the past and present resources, analyzes recent trends, and identifies potential problem areas. This section provides the overall community profile of such things as transportation, public facilities and services, natural and cultural resources, housing, land use, the local economy, and the city's fiscal capacity. Part 2 of the Plan is the regional coordination program. Caribou is unique in many ways, however, the community shares its natural resources and public facilities with surrounding towns and likewise utilizes other communities’ services and resources. This portion of the plan identifies those natural resources and public facilities that extend beyond the city's borders and develops implementation actions for the joint management of each. Part 3 of the plan will discuss specific goals, policies, and strategies. These policies relate the findings of the inventories in the first part of the plan to the state, regional, and local goals. It is this portion of the Comprehensive Plan that residents can assist in the shaping of Caribou. The strategies discuss those programs, activities, and regulations that Caribou will undertake in the future to make sure that the goals and policies are met. 4 Demographics Caribou’s Vision Caribou will constantly strive to be a dynamic community that is economically, culturally, and socially inviting; a community that promotes and aggressively pursues innovative business and economic development; a community that welcomes, supports, and responds to a diversity of new people and new ideas; a community that recognizes children as our future and shares collective responsibility for the nurturing and education of each generation; a community where family ties are strong, self respect and respect for others is instilled, where trust and courtesy is a way of life, and where the pace of life is consistent with these ideals; and a community that celebrates the values and lessons of a multi-cultural heritage that serves as its strength and as its foundation in a progressive, modern world 5 Demographics Introduction Demographic analysis and projections are the basic elements of any comprehensive plan; all other components of the plan depend on the current and projected population. The information generated from the demographic projections enhances the capacity of the town to prepare for the impact of future growth on such things as land use, housing demand, public services, and economic development. According to the 2000 US Census, the population of Caribou was 8,312 people. Statistical data contained in the following section uses the 1990 and 2000 US Census data. Following 2000, statistics are based on figures compiled for the Maine State Planning Office by the University of Southern Maine. This model, REMI (Regional Economic Model, Inc became available in 2002. The REMI model will be used for State and County population statistics and projections whenever possible. The demographic information included in this section encompasses the following: permanent population, age and sex of population, educational attainment, occupations of population, total number of households, household size, and household income. Also included in this section is an analysis of the data presented. The first portion of this section includes an assessment of the Maine population, Aroostook County population, and the population of communities located in the central Aroostook area. The following comparative communities used in the assessment include: Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle, Woodland, and Washburn. These communities will frequently be used to compare regional statistics versus local data. The analysis, which follows, is an approximation of future growth, no projection or estimate can be exact because there are many independent variables which could affect the final estimates, such as an industry closing down or, for that matter, a very large industry relocating in town. Therefore, the projections are intended to reflect the general direction and size of changes. Changes in age groups should be viewed with the same importance as the total change in population. State of Maine Maine has experienced a steady rise in the population level since the turn of the twentieth century. Since 1970, the state had increased in population by 239,000 persons, in 1990 accounting for an increase of 24.0 percent. In 2000, the state’s population had risen to 1,274,923 according to the US Census. In 2005, a population of 1,300,000 is projected for the State. In the year 2010 the population of the state is projected at 1,330,117, and 1,371,022 for the year 2015. The US Census is used for data reference until the year 2000 for State and County figures. After 2000, population data is from the REMI model which has incorporated the use of the Treyz model in its statistical processes. The Treyz model is comprised of a "census undercount adjustment" and will account for population that is either miscounted or left out entirely in the Census counts. Additional data indicates that none of the growth since 1970 occurred in 6 Aroostook County. Aroostook County, with its vast areas of open land and the largest land area for potential growth, experienced a population decline. Aroostook County According to US Census figures and a REMI projection model, from the turn of the century until the 1960's, the population of Aroostook County was on a steady rise, from 60,744 people in 1900 to 106,064 in 1960. However, since 1960 the population of Aroostook County has been slowly declining from this peak to 73,938 in 2000, closely paralleling the 1920 population. The County is expected to decrease again by the year 2005, with 73,303 people. Population is expected to increase slightly to a projected 73,537 people in 2015. Sub-Regional Population Based upon the 2000 US Census and the 2002 University of Southern Maine’s REMI projections, Caribou will lose 150 additional people by the year 2010, resulting in a projected total population of 8,162. However, REMI projects an increase of 233 in 2015 resulting in a population of 8,395. REMI also projects that each of the selected municipalities, with the exception of Woodland) will continue to lose population through 2010. However, the trend is projected to change between 2010 and 2015 in Caribou and each of the selected municipalities. There will be projected population growth, albeit small, in those communities. The projected population loss in Caribou of 17.7 percent between 1980 and 2000, parallels, but is slightly lower than the County's figure of a projected 22.5 percent population decrease by the year 2010.