Webster

Gray Planning Director Douglas Webster is retiring on or before June 30, after serving the Gray community for 17 years.

Over the course of those 17 years, Webster held a wide variety of titles, starting as interim code officer, and going on to serve as lead code officer, town building administrator, town planner, and community development director, before settling into his current role as planning director.

Webster served in municipal planning for nearly two decades even before arriving in Gray. Beginning with five years of work with the Greater Portland Council of Governments in the early 1990s, Webster went on to work in communities all across the Lakes Region, serving as a planner in Standish and Raymond, code officer in Harpswell and Long Island, as well as being a fill-in planner in Windham for a while. Most of these stints lasted five to seven years, with Gray being by far the longest he has served in any one town.

One of Webster’s proudest accomplishments, he said, is the redevelopment of the Henry Pennell School into a municipal complex housing the town offices and recreational space. The school was originally built in 1887, with money donated by the wealthy resident of the same name. According to Webster, he was “in his element” while serving as project manager, and was very pleased to be “integral to providing a classy and historic Town Hall for the residents of Gray to use for a long time.”

Town Manager Michael Foley praised Webster’s work on the municipal complex, describing it as “a beautiful facility that he worked hard on helping to maintain with efforts such as the clock tower that continues to operate to this day.”

Foley also praised Webster for his high standards of service to the community during a time of great transition, as Gray changed from a rural to a more suburban community. He noted that Webster was dedicated to the town, making it a priority to learn about local history, and to guide the community through the transitional period as he gets ready for retirement.

Webster is also proud of his work on Gray’s Consistent Comprehensive Plan. When he started 17 years ago, Gray had a long-term comprehensive plan that was deemed by the state to be inconsistent with the state’s goals. Webster partnered with North Star Planning to develop what is officially called a Consistent Comprehensive Plan under the Growth Management Act. This, according to Webster, is a big accomplishment for any municipality in Maine.

Webster enjoyed the diversity of his experiences working in Gray, stating that no two days are the same, and he never knows what the next challenge is going to be like. He noted that it’s rewarding to help residents accomplish their goals and make sure that everyone walks away with the best outcome, while still keeping the best long-term interests of the town in mind. Planners, he said, are a multifaceted role, and it’s their job to interface with other departments to make sure that all the pieces come together properly for the realization of a project.

“You’re not empowered to make those decisions (on development), you’re merely an advisor to the Planning Board,” said Webster of his role, “but it’s rewarding to be an integral part of the process for a land use project.”

During the final months of his tenure, Webster has several focus projects, including the implementation of new zoning regulations. While the broad strokes of the zoning plan are covered in the comprehensive plan, Webster noted that there are a lot of details that need to be fleshed out for a new town-wide zoning map, which includes the whole town outside of Gray Village. After his retirement, Webster plans on working part time in municipal land use, though he doesn’t know whether it will be in Gray or another municipality.