BANGOR DAILY NEWS • January 31, 2025
A nearly unanimous vote at a town meeting in the Knox County town of Washington on Wednesday night for a six-month moratorium on the development of any major non-residential projects. The move was meant to block a proposal to build a Dollar General in the town — a development that residents feared would threaten their locally owned alternative. Washington is part of a growing group of midcoast communities that have sought to limit their development. Lincolnville recently renewed a moratorium against big retailers for a second time, after a big project was proposed, and in 2016, Thomaston voted a similar way. Belfast has long limited the development of box stores after a Wal-Mart was proposed in 2001. Washington officials plan to consider rules changes that would permanently restrict large, non-residential retail developments.