Residents of Bridgton are encouraged to attend the first planning session on the Portland Road commercial corridor on Saturday, April 16 from 10 a.m. to noon in the lower meeting hall of the Bridgton Municipal Complex.

Participating citizen-planners will be provided a visual tour of the corridor by Alan Manoian, director of Economic and Community Development. A presentation on the Portland Road sidewalk improvement project will be provided by Stephanie Carver of the Greater Portland Council of Governments.

Following the presentations, the meeting will be opened up to residents to give comments, observations, guidance, ideas, concepts and examples of well-designed commercial corridors in other places. Manoian will also give an overview of the Bridgton Comprehensive Plan update process and details on the schedule and mission of the new Bridgton Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Following the meeting, the public is invited to go for a walking tour along the corridor from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The meeting is the first public forum since the public hearing that was held just prior to a March 1 referendum in which voters rejected, by a 2-to-1 margin, a citizen’s initiative to ban big box stores and fast food restaurants along the corridor. The public hearing drew around 150 people and lasted two hours, reflecting the high degree of interest in the future of retail growth along the corridor, which is considered Bridgton’s major gateway.

For more information, contact Manoian at 647-8786 or ecodevdir@bridgtonmaine.org