Light industry would bring jobs to Wiscasset without some of the impact heavy industry can have, members of the town’s ordinance review committee said April 27. The committee and Town Planner Jamel Torres on Monday discussed some land uses that might and might not work in a “planned development” district.

Of the two potential lists, the types of projects that the town doesn’t want would probably be shorter, Committee Chairman Karl Olson said. That list would likely include coal gasification or another nuclear power plant, Olson said.

Wiscasset’s comprehensive plan, adopted in 2005 and amended in 2008, seeks the district as part of a future land use plan. On Monday night, the committee looked through Topsham’s ordinance on a mixed use development district, as a possible model for Wiscasset’s prospective new district. The district would potentially encompass 331 acres north of Old Ferry Road and east of Route 144, committee members said.

According to Wiscasset tax records, the town owns the land, Torres states in an April 28 email response to a question from the Wiscasset Newspaper.

Committee members on Monday pointed out parts of the Topsham model to change to make the language fit with Wiscasset’s land use ordinance. “This still needs a lot of work,” Torres said.

“It’s a good start,” committee member Allen Cohen said. By streamlining the process for developers, the planned development district could help the town avoid losing projects, members said. Among ideas mentioned for potential types of development were a distribution center and a range of housing options.

“When someone wants to come in and play SimCity, this is the framework,” Olson said.

The aim of the planned development district is a cohesive unit of mixed uses, with standards for buildings, roads, walkways and common areas, according to the comprehensive plan’s future land use plan on the town’s website at www.wiscasset.org. “The Planning Board will ensure adequate design, access and traffic control standards (so that) this area will blend with internal and adjacent land uses and serve as an asset to the region,” the document states.

The committee has no timetable for completing the ordinance work for the new district, Olson said. The district is part of a larger revision and update of the town’s land use ordinance, he said.

Any proposal the committee completes will go on to selectmen, who can accept it, change it or, for a major rewrite, send it back to the committee, Olson said. Voters would have the final say on any changes to the land use ordinance.