By Alex Acquisto
Staff Writer
http://post.mainelymediallc.com/news/2013-05-24/Front_Page/Arundel_seeking_center.html
Arundel, unlike Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, does not have a designated town center, a term that Town Manager Todd Shea said makes Arundel residents bristle.
“I’m working on building a sense of community,” said Shea, “and part of that is associating the community with a town center.”
Arundel is also in the process of drafting a letter to the U.S. Postal Service to petition for a new zip code, which Arundel shares with Kennebunkport.
“The Selectmen have approved it,” said Shea. “We want to see if it would even be possible.”
“Number one, it’ll be easier to locate businesses in Arundel. Number two, there’s a difference in real estate in Arundel than there is in Kennebunkport. We don’t want prospective residents to leave, thinking this area is too expensive, without exploring all options,” said Shea.
The development of a town center is just one of a myriad of reasons Arundel petitioned outside help for community revitalization.
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Copy and paste the following url into your browser to view the original 2004 Arundel Village Center Plan:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arundelmaine.orgindex.asp?SEC=07D7DF09-6408-49FC-97FF-0060689612F1&Type=B_BASIC
Complete hogwash!! People search for real estate by Town/City, not by zipcode.
ReplyDeleteThe zipcode will just cost money and effort for people to change addresses, stationary, and many other unintended consequences.
Not “hogwash” at all. There are many zip code only databases and other online functions that require zip codes only. We have all run into it when ordering online, using GPS and modern technologies that we had no idea would affect Arundel when it was decided that we would share a zip code with Kennebunkport. Do not get me wrong, if Arundel is going to be identified with another town, I am certainly glad that it is Kennebunkport. But Arundel deserves its own identity and that is what this is all about. It can be difficult to convince residents and businesses that they actually are located in another town different from the "default" name associated with their ZIP code. Signal Hill, California is an example of a city that has successfully petitioned the Postal Service to change ZIP code boundaries or create new ZIP code so that their city can be the "default" name for addresses within the ZIP code, eliminating confusion and lack of identity. They shared a ZIP with Long Beach and are a part of the Long Beach school system.
ReplyDeleteI have lived and worked in Arundel through two address changes, I would say “slightly inconvenienced”. What other unintended consequences could there be?
Linda Zuke
I agree with Linda Zuke. Unfortunately if you go to realtor.com and search for Arundel properties it comes up with Arundel and Kennebunkport properties. If you search on the internet for Arundel business' it comes up with both Arundel and Kennebunkport again. Unfortunately, having our own zip code is a key piece to driving the Arundel economy. Years ago even driving down the highway you would approach the Kennebunk exit, and then the Biddeford exit, from the other direction Saco, then Biddeford. I can't count the number of times I was in a convenience store and people did not know how to get to Arundel. Our Board of Selectmen took care of that issue, and went to the DOE, addressed it, and we now have signage on the turnpike.
ReplyDeleteThere are minimal unintended consequences, and the benefit to having our own zip code far much more out weighs not having our own zip code.
911 address changes also effected our address, we all got through that one.
I am 100% convinced that this is the right more for the town of Arundel.
I hear lack of city water has been a major reason Arundel has a difficult time attracting new business. Zip code change in today's enviroment should be of lower importance. I would think cleaning up o. roads and rebuilding the town hall and fixing up the school would help bring business to town. Being associated with such an outstanding town as the port I think would help bring in business.
ReplyDeleteIf a business owner has the right product and knows how to reach their target the zip code has little effect. Unless maybe it is linked with a well known well respected town. As opposed to a town known for not supporting true needs...roads, schools, library, safe access to ET, townhall, police and fire protrction yo name a few.
I do think the people involved with trying to make improvements all mean well. Just remember. Most people using the internet for a search will search on Arundel or close landmark and not via a zip code
Factually wrong folks. Searching is done my town/city.
ReplyDeleteInsurance rates will go up.
And now you changed from no cost to admitting there is a cost. Many of the same uneducated people who wanted to separate from a top tier school system are the same ones wanting a zipcode change. Coincidence? I think not.
Small world thinking. Arundel should embrace and feed off the relation with the Kennebunks. Very dumb and this "identity" is rhetoric that will do nothing.
The EDC is inept and the idea that you "must do something" so do a zipcode change is silly. Activity does not equate to progress.
Linda, please stop making false claims. You guys make stuff up with no fact checking.
ReplyDelete"Zipcode only database". Really? Are you seriously that willing to make stuff up to achieve a result?
And to poster above, if you think a zipcode is what is going to "drive Arundel's economy" you seriously need to back away from the trough of what ever you are being fed. That's such a ridiculous statement. Hahahahahahaha. Clearly you don't know business. I can only hope you are not on a board or committee.
Wow, looks like someone got a little bored on Thursday night and decided to bash the Town and those that are stepping up to the plate to be involved in the community. I am going to assume that the same person is responsible for the negative comments on the post about the Arundel Center, selectmen candidates and survey results. The posts were all made about the same time on Thursday night. The candidate results were a day later, but I can assume it’s the same person. We do not know because you are hiding behind an anonymous name. Quite cowardly, but understandable considering you are just throwing trash out there hoping to rile everyone up, trying to get some nasty arguments going. You really do not deserve a response, but you mentioned me personally and I don’t appreciate it. In case you have not noticed, the title of the blog is “Arundel Maine Cares”. It is to create awareness of what is going on this community and to create productive dialog that will inform and benefit the community. What you are doing is turning people off from wanting to be involved in the site. If Arundel is a joke, you should leave but chances are you don’t even live here.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you the expert about the survey and its results? That survey was available to everyone in Arundel that lives here. The study was 25k not 30k and many citizens were involved in individual conversation with the Chesapeake group, people that would be offended by your “backward thinking” comment.
Do you know me? Do not tell me that I am making stuff up and I am factually wrong. I do not make “stuff” up. On a daily bases, I use programs that require zip codes only. Who are you to insult the EDC and what they are doing? First you are factually wrong with the comment about us wanting to separate from the RSU. We endorsed staying with the RSU and it was in every local paper. Maybe you need to pay attention. Identifying Arundel has nothing to do with breaking relations with the Kennebunk’s.
The EDC is made up of a group of people who have devoted a lot of personal time and efforts to this town, as do the selectmen and other board members. If you do not like what is going on in this town then step up and get involved. Stop insulting and making slanderous, incorrect comments behind a cowardly anonymous name.
Linda Zuke
1. Any software/program you use has NOTHING to do with economic development. NOTHING. The arguments to change the zipcode are based on anecdotal statements, not fact. And I'm quite sick of people who go to board meetings who state things as if they are fact. As for realtor.com, type in Arundel and everything pops up. Do you REALLY think people are confused if the house is in either town? Really?
ReplyDeleteAnd, there is a cost to change zipcodes that is not incidental.
2. I never said the EDC wanted to separate from the RSU. Perhaps you should learn to read more closely. However, many of the same people who wanted to split from the RSU are the same people running around with arms flailing that a zipcode code will save the world. It's a waste of time and diversionary to anything meaningful for tax revenue. If this is the best solution for tax revnue the EDC can come up with, I'm laughing even harder now.
3. You can take my posts however you want, but the EDC is inept and will do nothing to reduce Arundel's tax burden. You have a majority of the planning board who pretty much won't say no to any kind of development. Last I checked, adding 3+ bedroom home after home with 1.2 kids per home at $5k tax revenue vs $8-9k to educate them is a losing proposition. The ECD is powerless to stop it. Not criticism, fact.
4. The town has only ~35-40% educated suburbanites. Until they become the majority and force out the backward, short-term thinkers that permeate the boards, people like me will sit on the sidelines.
5. Arundel has citizens who question the basic value of a library and yet you think the town is progressive enough to consider paying and funding all the pie in the sky ideas like a village center? Not a chance. It was not a decisive victory to stay in the RSU either, and that would have been a disaster. So good luck finding an electorate who thinks long-term. Maybe those people should move to Saco.
6. Telling someone they are bored and calling them a coward for posting an opinion? Passive-aggressive much? Don't even try and claim the high-road. That kind of behavior is precisely why the Town gets the same people on the boards year after year. If you don't go with status quo you will be marginalized and waited out until people quit in frustration. Thank you for showing exactly the way things are ;) Will be this way until the demographis shifts enough and then the townies won't know what hit 'em.
Arundel does need it's own identity. Unfortunately trying to change the mind of one who has a sour heart is not the job of anyone but the person who holds it.
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