Maine Towns Just Say No to Wal-Mart

A grassroots movement to amend local laws to keep Wal-Mart from opening in Damariscotta, Maine, has not only succeeded, but also spurred a kind of regional domino effect. The results will likely keep Wal-Mart, or any store that exceeds 35,000-square-feet, from opening in Damariscotta and nearby New Castle, and potentially two other neighboring towns. The grassroots campaign, Our Town Damariscotta, was founded by two local residents Jenny Mayher and Eleanor Kinney and began in earnest last fall.

According to Kinney, it felt "terrific" to slay the Goliath of retail stores. "We ran a very positive information-based campaign," she told BTW, "[with an emphasis on] what's special about this area and the importance of locally based businesses and the economic-based benefits as opposed to what Big Boxes bring."

On March 21, residents in Damariscotta voted by 62 percent to 38 percent to approve a local law that sets a retail store size cap of 35,000-square-feet, as reported by The Hometown Advantage. Remarkably, in a town with a population of about 2,000, more than 1,200 ballots were cast, the article noted.

On March 27, the residents of New Castle, Maine, also voted to place the same size cap on retail stores. These votes followed a March 18 vote in nearby Nobleboro that placed a six-month moratorium on retail spaces over 35,000-square feet until the town finishes its comprehensive plan. Lastly, it is expected that, in June, Edgecomb, Maine, will vote on a retail size cap.

The seed for Our Town was planted in April 2005 when Kinney and Mayher heard rumors that Wal-Mart was thinking about opening a store in Damariscotta. "This hit us in the gut ... that a Wal-Mart or another big box store would have a serious impact on us," Kinney said. "This is a special area with a vibrant downtown, and it hit us that those qualities could be taken for granted. We felt it was worth mobilizing around, and we focused on preserving the character of the area.... Preserving the quality of life. Sprawl is rampant."

The group's first step was to conduct "a non-binding petition drive," Kinney said. "We thought, let's see if the support is out there." What they found is that there was overwhelming support from residents. The two garnered about 1,000 signatures and presented the petition to the Town Selectman in early May.

By September, rumors that Wal-Mart was planning to open a superstore in Damariscotta "became more intense and specific," Kinney reported. "Jenny and I formed Our Town [in October]" and hired a land use attorney. "He told us to be proactive. Don't wait for Wal-Mart ... to submit a proposal [to the town]."

Our Town organized another petition drive, this one legally binding. The group needed 10 percent of the registered voters in Damariscotta to sign the petition to have it added to the town warrant and thus come up for a vote. Getting the signatures did not present a problem, and the petition was filed in November. Last Tuesday's amendment is retroactive to the date of the filing, Kinney said.

Two weeks after the petition was filed "Wal-Mart came in and said they wanted to build," said Kinney, who noted that there were already three Wal-Mart locations within a 25-mile radius of the Damariscotta region. Of the proposed Wal-Mart site plan, which called for 186,00-square-feet of selling space, Kinney said, "That's larger than the entire downtown commercial district."

In late fall, the Our Town campaign picked up a head of steam and spilled over into the neighboring towns of Newcastle and Nobleboro, and the campaign became "a regional effort," Kinney reported. "I think it was quite unique to this effort."

Kinney said that bookseller Susan Porter of Maine Coast Book Shop was a key supporter of the Our Town campaign. Porter, who was away and not available for comment, told BTW in December 2005 that the drive to stop Wal-Mart spurred the creation of the Damariscotta Regional Business Alliance, which was instrumental in getting the vote on the size cap moved up from June to March.

"Citizens need to be able to make a choice on how they want [their town] to grow and the future of their community," Kinney said. "Having a size cap is a great [solution] if they decide they don't want a Big Box development." --David Grogan