BANGOR, Maine — The Bangor City Council voted on Monday to redistrict downtown to include more of Park St, Main Street and even the In Town Plaza on Harlow Street in the city's downtown district limits.
Like many cities in Maine, Bangor has seen a lot of changes over the last half-century, especially when it comes to where businesses choose to locate.
"The way that the map was drawn back in 1988 doesn't make a whole lot of sense for the way that Bangor has grown," executive director of the nonprofit Downton Bangor Partnership Betsy Lundy said.
With so much growth in the city in recent years, Lundy said areas that people think are part of downtown actually haven't been.
"When you go down Main Street, the district runs on one side of Main Street where the river is, but then the businesses on the opposite side of Main Street weren't included, and so, therefore, weren't eligible to participate in any other activities that we do from beautification to marketing," Lundy said.
Below is a map of the proposed downtown redistricting limits. The purple outlines the current downtown, and the expanded areas are shown in yellow.
According to Lundy, simply owning a business in downtown district limits makes a business owner privy to massive gardening, clean-up and beautification projects that are completed in the area.
The nonprofit also offers various marketing opportunities for business owners who have shops in the downtown area.
Lundy said areas within the downtown district are well lit, often updated with additional street lighting.
After 18 years of trying to convince Bangor city leaders that areas like Park Street should be included in downtown city limits, business owners like Jodie Clayton said storefronts like hers, and others like Wicked Brew Cafe across the street, will now be placed on the downtown city map.
Clayton said year after year, the suggestion to redistrict downtown has been met with pushback.
"There's that 'it's always been done this way' mentality," Clayton said.
While tending to a packed shop, Benjamin Holt, the manager at Wicked Brew Cafe, explained that there's no reason the cafe and other shops should be excluded from downtown zoning.
"We're one of the first entrances coming off of [I-95] and one of the first entrances to Bangor," Holt said.
Now with rezoning, business owners like Clayton and store managers like Holt will have access to all the perks they've historically missed out on.
"You know, you have to fight fewer battles for Christmas decorations or sidewalk clearance," Clayton said. "The more that our brand is tied to the city's brand, in its website presentation, in its map of the city, advertising campaigns, in its beautification efforts... that's just better."
The changes to the district of downtown will go into effect in July.