GORHAM – Several residents of a Gorham neighborhood near Westbrook said on Tuesday they like life the way it is – rural – and they fear that updates to the town’s comprehensive plan would change things forever.

A public hearing for a proposed comprehensive plan update packed the Gorham Town Council chambers on Tuesday. Under the update, a large land mass in East Gorham, bounded by Brackett Road, New Portland Road and the Westbrook city line, would be rezoned from rural to suburban residential. But neighbors, presenting a petition with 90 signatures, passionately spoke about its bucolic setting.

“We want to stay rural,” said Margaret Oliver of Longfellow Road, which runs from Brackett Road into Westbrook. “That’s our vision.”

Gorham’s comprehensive plan is aging – Town Manager David Cole said it dates back to 1993. In the past two decades, the town’s population has swelled substantially and now numbers more than 16,000, according to the 2010 census. So, Gorham is planning for its future.

At Tuesday’s public hearing, consultant Mark Eyerman, of Planning Decisions Inc., presented an overview of the proposal. Staff at the town’s Planning Department, assisted by Eyerman, developed the plan.

“At this point, it reflects the staff view,” Eyerman said.

“This is the first step,” Town Council Chairman Michael Phinney said in Tuesday’s hearing. “The council hasn’t discussed this yet.”

The council set Tuesday, March 11, for a workshop to discuss the town’s future plan. A new comprehensive plan could be adopted by this spring.

Many East Gorham residents see the current proposal as paving the way for high-density housing in their neighborhood, which features fields, woods and Indian Camp Brook, a tributary that flows into Stroudwater River.

Woody Hynes, a 28-year Longfellow Road resident, said he bought his property because it’s rural.

Bill Murphy of Indian Camp Way said he likes the “peace and quiet” the area affords and hopes the council would keep it that way.

“We don’t have noise in this section of Gorham,” Murphy said.

The area recently attracted Damon Houk, who moved to Longfellow Road just three weeks ago. He enjoys the history and nature of the area. He received applause from the audience when he read a poem, “Woods in Winter,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose forebears were early Gorham landowners.

Saying she’s happy not buying a home in a development, Lorraine Scott, 18 Lowell Road, came to Gorham in August.

“It’s scary,” she said, referring to potential changes.

Gorham’s history is deeply rooted in agriculture, but the heritage is disappearing. Hynes pointed to recent Gorham developments at Wagner Farm, Hawkes Farm and Barrows Greenhouses.

Under the plan proposed, a rural belt would run west and north of Gorham Village. Besides the East Gorham neighborhood, residents in other sections of town are concerned about the town’s future, too.

Jenn Grant, who farms on Mighty Street, urged the Town Council to keep agriculture in mind as the panel considers updating the plan. Grant said the town still has four active dairy farms and remains as one of the largest dairy communities in the surrounding area.

Steven Bibula, owner of the 40-acre Plowshares Community Farm on Sebago Lake Road in White Rock, asked the Town Council to strengthen agricultural provisions in the proposed plan.

“The draft has less language in support of agriculture,” he said in comparing it to the existing one.

Natural resources and agricultural soils cropped up in Tuesday’s meeting. The existing 1993 plan, Jeff O’Donal, owner of O’Donal’s Nurseries on County Road in South Gorham, said, explains the importance of soils.

“I don’t see it in this one,” O’Donal said, and added he didn’t see that the updated plan saw the importance of natural resources.

The proposed plan also would create the Mosher Corner Planned Development Area that would run along the Presumpscot River side of lower Main Street and Mosher Road nearly to Little River. It’s a huge parcel at the gateway to Gorham just across the Westbrook city line.

The land includes two sprawling farms plus ecomaine’s vacant and largely wooded 264-acre site.

Twenty-one communities, including Gorham, own and operate ecomaine, a waste management and recycling company. Under the proposed plan, the development area would be designated for uses including business offices, manufacturing and even hotels besides accommodating agricultural use.

Other items in the proposed comprehensive plan include parking in Gorham Village, protecting historical resources, connecting Gorham to the interstate highway system, expanding villages – Gorham and Little Falls – and creating a village center in South Gorham.

Presently, South Gorham is not served by public water, sewer or sidewalks.

“South Gorham is not a village and not pedestrian friendly,” Jim Means of Beatrice Drive said.

Margaret Oliver of Longfellow Road in Gorham shows officials on Tuesday a map of the area where she lives. The town’s proposed comprehensive plan would switch the landmass to suburban residential from rural, a move Oliver and other neighbors spoke out against.