The rural calm that usually defines North Yarmouth has been disrupted in recent months by two ballot questions that have the potential to reshape the town in ways not seen in generations.

On their face, Question 1 and Question 2 on the ballot Tuesday pose competing proposals for the development of the town center, and how to plan for the future of two town institutions: the vacant North Yarmouth Memorial School and Wescustago Hall, which burned in 2013 and must be replaced under an agreement with the previous owner.

With North Yarmouth Memorial School in the background, a pair of competing signs demonstrate the split in opinions on referendums the town faces on Tuesday. (Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer)

Both development options have evoked a visceral response from residents, turning neighbors and longtime acquaintances against each other.

The battle is a symptom of a town in transition, growing up from its rural past, grappling with the contours of its future, and the introduction of new development that some argue is inevitable.

“We’re going to have subdivisions in this town in the future,” David Holman, a resident, said during a recent public hearing. “The only question is where we get to put ’em.”

Neither ballot question is simple.

Question 1, the town’s proposal, offers a wholesale reinvention of the town’s core, with a municipally owned sewer line, a multipurpose community center and town hall, and the possible construction of higher-density housing than the town has ever seen. The opposing citizen proposal would stop that plan in its tracks, and move forward with a different plan for the school and community center.

“Never in my time here have I seen such complex questions on a local ballot,” said Town Clerk Debbie Grover, a 28-year town employee, who fields daily requests from citizens who are drowning in the issues. “It’s confusing.”

And there is no guarantee that Tuesday’s vote will provide a definitive outcome and avoid a quagmire.

One question could pass and the other could fail. But because every voter will be asked to answer both yes-or-no questions, it’s possible both questions could win majorities. And if neither wins out, both proposals die, sending the town and its citizens back to square one, wiping away years of work.

Getting this far hasn’t been easy.

There have been hours upon hours of meetings, public hearings and question-and-answer sessions about multi-part ballot questions that take hours of research to fully comprehend. Signs have gone up all over town. Each side has dug in, and although the vote Tuesday will offer the clearest indication yet of public opinion, the referendum is likely only the beginning of a difficult process ahead.

FATE OF MEMORIAL SCHOOL

The first multipart question on the ballot was crafted by the Board of Selectmen and later endorsed by the town’s Economic Development and Sustainability Committee based on a plan to redevelop North Yarmouth’s village center and bring in new tax revenue to the almost entirely residential town.

The nucleus of the town’s plan is the Memorial School building. Standing on 20 acres near the town’s center and only 1,000 feet from Town Hall, the building has been vacant since MSAD 51 gave it to the town in June 2014.

Question 1 proposes to convert it into a multipurpose municipal campus. Renovations are estimated to cost about $2.67 million, which could be supplemented by the roughly $556,000 from Westcustago Hall’s insurance policy.

If the plan is supported by residents, the school would be used to house the town offices and a community center, and to serve as a replacement for Wescustago Hall. The town is bound by contract to replace the hall in some form, according to the 1997 agreement signed when the town took ownership.

Under the proposal, the cramped Town Hall at 10 Village Square Road would be sold with surrounding acreage that could be used for residential or commercial development. And, in order to attract development there, planners propose using the proceeds from the sale of Town Hall to connect the property to the school’s septic leach fields, about 1,000 feet away.

DEBATE OVER SEWER PLAN

The sewer connection has become a flash point for supporters of Question 2, who say that it could risk contaminating drinking water supplies. The North Yarmouth Water District voted no-confidence in the proposal along the same lines, saying the town has not contemplated the full ramifications of the wastewater plan.

However, a town-commissioned engineering study found that there is extra capacity in the system, and the soils there are suitable for waste disposal.

The town would then explore creating a tax-increment financing district, which allows the property taxes from new development at the former Town Hall property to be diverted and used to pay for infrastructure improvements that could in turn attract more development.

“Having no commercial tax base is a burden on taxpayers,” said Audrey Lones, a member of the town’s Economic Development and Sustainability Committee. “If you don’t do anything, it’s never going to change.”

The town’s official plan sparked an opposition movement, led by three former selectmen who gathered signatures to place a competing multi-part question on the ballot.

If approved, Question 2 would direct the town to cease any work to build a municipal sewer and instead rebuild Wescustago Hall. They believe the 1997 agreement requires the town to build a new structure to replace the former Grange hall, and that the town’s plan doesn’t honor the promise it made.

If approved, Question 2 would direct the Board of Selectmen to keep the current Town Hall property and add onto the building as needed.

The Memorial School, meanwhile, would be the subject of a public request for proposals, which would be evaluated and voted on in a public process.

“We believe that Question 1 is a completely undeveloped plan, and it is put together with no real information and it’s mostly an emotional issue for people who want to save the North Yarmouth Memorial School,” said Lincoln Merrill, a former selectman who helped craft Question 2.

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