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Blight Rule Goes to Vote in Westbrook

Should the town adopt a plan to control blight in town? This question will be put to town voters on Thursday, July 13 in a town-wide referendum that was approved by the Board of Selectmen (BOS) at the board’s April 11 meeting.

Also scheduled was a special Town Meeting on Thursday, June 15 at 7 p.m. to present the proposed ordinance to the public and to hear public comments on its provisions. The Town Meeting on the blight ordinance will be held in the Mulvey Municipal Office Building at 866 Boston Post Road.

The Town Meeting will consider this resolution, as adopted by the BOS: “Resolved: That an ordinance to amend the Code of the Town of Westbrook Concerning Blight be adopted. A copy of the ordinance is on file with the town clerk for public inspection.”

The referendum vote set for July 13 is currently scheduled to be from noon to 8 p.m. at the Mulvey Building. The question on the ballot will be “Shall the town adopt an ordinance to amend the Code of the Town of Westbrook Concerning Blight?”

The language of the proposed blight ordinance was finalized late in 2016. At the request of the Council of Beaches and others, the BOS agreed to wait until summer residents returned in 2017 to take further action on it.

Dennis Hallahan chaired the citizens committee that drafted and later revised the blight ordinance. The language was also reviewed with Town Attorney Michael Wells before it was proposed for adoption.

The question of how and whether to add a rule that could help minimize blight in town has been under active discussion in town for two years.