MAINE PUBLIC • March 8, 2023
A small Down East town that has been eyed as the future site of the world's tallest flagpole will soon vote on a large-scale development moratorium. Columbia Falls, a town with fewer than 500 people, has spent months hiring new attorneys and planning consultants to help prepare for the possibility of a multibillion-dollar veterans memorial park, which the project's founders have said could generate thousands of regional jobs and bring millions of visitors to rural Washington County. An attorney representing Columbia Falls said a six-month moratorium will give the town time to plan and possibly write new ordinances that could protect the town from the impacts of any large development project. Columbia Falls selectmen said Tuesday they haven't heard from the flagpole's developers, Wreaths Across America founder Morrill Worcester and his sons, in months. The proposed moratorium will be up for a vote at the town's annual meeting on March 21.