On May 18th join the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee for its 6th companion event with a series of activities connecting people to the water and celebrating National Public Works Week and the 50th Anniversary of the Safe Water Drinking Act

The draft comprehensive plan’s vision statement says, “The Town of Yarmouth is a small, vibrant, coastal community where residents have a strong sense of connection to the town and to each other,” but not everyone feels that connection to the Casco Bay Coast or understands how our built infrastructure – sewers, roads, land use, stormwater - impacts it. Much of the feedback received during the public comment period has centered around this challenge. 

7:15AM Gulf of Maine Research Institute coastal flood monitoring meet up before high tide at the Town Landing off Old Shipyard Road. Learn more at https://investigate.gmri.org/project/coastal_flooding 

9AM Rewild Yarmouth’s “Family Fun Day: Birds, Bees, and Blooms!”
Spring is here, and so are opportunities to learn about how we can use our yards and gardens for good. Sustainable landscaping can help keep our air and water clean, support native ecology, and be a rewarding way to learn more about the natural environment. Stop by for kid-friendly crafts and activities, free native seedlings, and get your hands dirty planting native plants at Picnic Point in Royal River Park (the off-leash dog area)! Learn more at https://www.yarmouthclimateaction.org/events 

10:00AM – 12PM Tour the Yarmouth Wastewater Treatment Plan at 155 Whitcombs Way
Come and tour Yarmouth’s Wastewater Treatment Plant and learn about how the plant works to provide high quality wastewater collection and treatment to protect our beloved Casco Bay. Fifteen spots will be available for 30-minute tours of the town’s wastewater treatment plant. The event is best suited for ages 10-years and up, and all children must be accompanied by an adult. Register for a tour at
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084CA4A92EA4FFCE9-49583103-tour 

12:30PM – 2:30 Free 1-Hour Canoe Rentals on the Royal River
Explore the beauty of the Royal River from the water with a free canoe rental from Yarmouth Community Services. Four canoes are available to rent for an hour, along with life vests and paddles. Reserve your slot here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084CA4A92EA4FFCE9-49609115-yarmouth

The Plan Yarmouth team is excited to announce that the public release of the first draft of Yarmouth’s Comprehensive Plan update is less than two weeks away. Stay tuned!

Even as we look to the future with the plan update, we remember the past and how it shapes Yarmouth today. The next Plan Yarmouth companion event, Rooted Narratives, will feature live stories on the power of place and what it means to belong in a place too. What better venue to hear live stories than Yarmouth’s historic library, Merrill Memorial Library at 215 Main Street.

Rooted Narratives will be held on the 3rd floor of the library and doors open at 5:30pm with live music and snacks from Maggie Mae’s. Numerous local storytellers and performers are part of the event:

Host: Kymberly Dakin-Neal
Local author, performer, and winner of the national Audie Award for Narration

Live Music: Music With Friends
A musical collaboration from Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee member, John Auble, and friends.

Keynote Reader: Abdi Nor Iftin

Selected Readers:
Edward E. Ainsworth
Jennifer Dupree
Elisha Emerson
Gro Flatebo
Daphne Gregory-Thomas

We gratefully acknowledge the community effort to bring this Plan Yarmouth companion event to fruition: the brave writers who submitted, the library for hosting us, and the volunteer panel of local writers, teachers, professionals, and performers, who reviewed the submissions:

• Abdi Nor Iftin, award-winning author and performer

• Ann Swardlick, Yarmouth Arts Alliance volunteer and communications professional

• Betsy Puelle, theater director and drama teacher at Yarmouth High School

• Charlotte Agell, author/illustrator and a recent teacher at Yarmouth’s Harrison Middle School

• Chris Sullivan, Executive Director of the Royal River Community Players

• Islandport Press, an award-winning publisher dedicated to stories rooted in Maine and New England

Event Recording

Tour starts at Latchstring Park (Corner of Main St & West Elm St)

Yarmouth’s motto is “our latchstring is always out.” As housing and rental prices have risen above the means of many who already live and work in the community, members of the Yarmouth Affordable Housing Committee (YAHC) have considered various options to address affordable housing and the idea of new innovations in housing, where housing could go, and what it might look like in town. The YAHC and Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee have collaborated on this companion event to illuminate the spectrum of densities of the existing housing stock, particularly of the historic structures that comprise so much of the Town’s cultural value of the village character and historic preservation.

What do you envision when you think about homes? Or housing density? You may be surprised to learn about the town’s historic patterns of settlement and the existing homes in the town that have multiple dwelling units, some of which have been maintained for hundreds of years. View our Visualizing Density guide here.

The walking tour will dive into several historic homes with their owners to learn about the history, new and old changes to the structure to accommodate changing uses, and how they fit into the existing neighborhood. The route will take us down East Elm Street, Main Street, Church Street, Hillside Street, Bates Street, Cumberland Street and West Elm Street. Participants will also receive a booklet with additional details and resources on history, architecture, innovations in housing, and historic preservation.

Registration is appreciated to Julie Dubovsky, Assistant Planner at jdubovsky@yarmouth.me.us.

Where will future growth and development happen in Yarmouth, and what will that development look like? How much development should we expect? Join us to share your perspective on different scenarios for future land use in Yarmouth.

This event will be held in the Patriot Insurance Multipurpose Room at 701 Route 1 in Yarmouth. Please enter from the parking lot side of the building.

Need a place to go work after school drop off? Tired of running to Falmouth for printing jobs? We heard loud and clear at the 9/18 Economy Community Conversation that the numbers of residents working from home is growing – now at 16% - and it could be so much better to do so easily in town. So come meet your fellow Work-From-Homers and entrepreneurs for breakfast brainstorming fueled by strong coffee and delish pastries at the new Fox & The Fiddle café at 317 Main! A coffee cafe by morning and music pub by evening, their hours of operation are Monday-Friday 8a-8p.

Connect with members of Yarmouth’s Chamber of Commerce, the Town’s Economic Development Advisory Board and the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee to do a deep dive into what remoteworkers need for infrastructure, goods and services.

Registration is appreciated to Julie Dubovsky, Assistant Planner at jdubovsky@yarmouth.me.us

Join the Yarmouth Climate Action Team at this Community Action Workshop to help prioritize what actions Yarmouth should take towards sustainability and resilience in the Town's first Climate Action Plan.

This event will be held in the Patriot Insurance Multipurpose Room at 701 Route 1 in Yarmouth. Please enter from the parking lot side of the building.

Join us for a community forum about the environment and natural resources, led by project team member and subject expert Bina Skordas of FB Environmental. The event will begin with a brief presentation on Yarmouth’s natural resources and intersections with sustainability and climate resilience. Then, we’ll break into groups for guided conversations on how the town should integrate environmental goals in the Comprehensive Plan Update.

Join us for a community forum about Yarmouth’s local economy, led by project team member and subject expert Tom Dworetsky, AICP. The event will begin with a brief presentation on Yarmouth’s economy, market analysis, and local issues. Then, we’ll break into groups for guided conversations on how the town should approach different economic goals in the Comprehensive Plan Update.

Join us for a community forum on the topic of housing, led by project team member and subject expert Jeff Levine, AICP. Jeff will give a brief presentation on the state of housing in Yarmouth, the market, and affordability. Then, we’ll break into groups for guided conversations on how the town should approach different housing goals in the Comprehensive Plan Update.

This event will be held in the Patriot Insurance Multipurpose Room at 701 Route 1 in Yarmouth. Please enter from the parking lot side of the building.

View the Event Recording here!

Team up to test your knowledge of Yarmouth’s past and present at Trivia Night at Brickyard Hollow on August 31st at 5:30pm. Join the Yarmouth History Center, the Town Planning Department, and the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, for a fun night of trivia about the town. (Psst – read the draft Inventory Chapters if you want a head start).

Rules:

• Teams of 6 people max

• To register your team, arrive by 5:30. Your whole team must be in attendance to play.

• No technology allowed! There will be a cellphone basket on each table.

Format:

• 5 rounds and a tiebreaker

• 6 questions in a round

• Pen and paper

• Short breaks at the end of each round for calculating scores and ordering food/drinks. Every score is final!

• Team with the highest final score wins prizes

• Perfect spelling is not required.

Questions or to register your team in advance: contact Julie Dubovsky, Assistant Planner at jdubovsky@yarmouth.me.us.