An Interdisciplinary team from the AIA and New England Municipal Sustainability Network worked with the community of Bath, Maine to produce a strategy for the downtown and waterfront to address sea level rise and future development

1. City of Bath: Maine’s Cool Little City
Design and Resiliency Team

2. Bath Design and Resiliency Team
Wayne Feiden, FAICP
Director of Planning and Sustainability, Northampton, MA
Carl Spector
Director of Climate and Environmental Planning, Boston
Jon Ford, PE
Community design, Horsley Witten, Providence
Alma Du Solier,
Landscape architect, POPULOUS, San Francisco
Mike Davis, FAIA, LEED AP
Architect and Vice President, Bergmeyer Associates, Boston
Joel Mills
Director of Communities by Design, AIA, Washington DC
Matt Welker
Manager Strategic Alliances and Initiatives, AIA, Washington DC

3. Soul of the Community

4. Water
Viewshed

5. Demographic Trends
Year Population % change
1940 10,235
1950 10,644 +4.0%
1960 10,717 +0.7%
1970 9,679 -9.7%
1980 10,246 +5.9
1990 9,799 -4.4
2000 9,266 -5.4
2010 8,514 -8.1
Jurisdiction Median Age* Household size
Portland 36.7 2.07
United States 37.2 2.58
Bath 41.0 2.14
Maine 42.7 2.32
Source: US
Decennial Census
Chart: Bath

6. *or how I learned stop worrying and love the future
(and keep our Aa3 bond rating & move toward Aa2)
“I’ve been
Resiliency*
dumping bodies
for years, and it
seems to me
that the sea
level is rising.”

7. Downtown and Waterfront
• Critical mass
• Customer demands
– Less retail, more evening life
• Generational transition
• Opportunities
– Coal Pocket
– YMCA

8. What Bath Wants

14. Municipal climate adaptation
1. Start with what you know.
2. Take advantage of opportunities.
3. Integrate.
4. Expand responsibility.
5. Think about people, not buildings.
6. Work at all scales simultaneously.
7. Mitigate.
8. Be patient; get started.

16. STUDY AREA
SVR Design

17. WITH INUNDATION High Tide + 3’ SLR
SVR Design

18. WITH INUNDATION HT + 2’ SLR + 100-Year Event
SVR Design

19. RESILIENCY
• Harden edge:
Elevate buildings & armor edge for storm surge
• Allow migration:
Plan new wetland migration zones for SLR, shoreline retreat
• Build Greenways:
Work with water – weave green/blue fingers into downtown
• Treat runoff:
Green Infrastructure to naturally filter runoff
Image: Kevin Robert Perry

20. RESILIENCY
• Build Greenways:
Work with water – weave green/blue fingers into downtown
• Allow migration:
Plan new wetland migration zones for SLR, shoreline retreat
• Treat runoff:
Green Infrastructure to naturally filter runoff
•Harden edge:
Elevate buildings & armor edge for storm surge
Image: Kevin Robert Perry

21. FRAMEWORK CONCEPT
SVR Design

22. PHASE I Quicker Lighter Cheaper
SVR Design

23. PHASE I IMPROVEMENTS
SVR Design

24. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE Downtown
• Mimic nature
• Natural filtration close to the source of runoff
• Decentralized, simple “toolkit”
• Simple, lovable infrastructure

25. PHASE I: Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project
SVR Design
Front Street at Broad Street

26. PHASE I: Gateway
SVR Design
Front Street at Vine Street

27. LONG TERM VISION
SVR Design

28. CELEBRATE WATER

29. Trees!
SVR Design

30. Trees!
SVR Design

31. Trees!
SVR Design

32. CELEBRATE WATER
Elm Street Cross-Section

33. GREEN STREETS

34. GREEN PARKING

35. CONNECTIONS

36. CONNECTIONS

37. SPINE
WAYS TO THE WATER
PASSAGEWAYS
WATERFRONT “BRAID”
NEW DESTINATIONS
NETWORK

38. SPINE

39. SPINE

40. SPINE

41. WAYS to the WATER

42. at front street
arch street
waterfront park

43. ARCH ST OPPORTUNITY

44. ARCH ST CONNECTOR

45. from front + centre
city hall parking
edge of parking

46. AT CITY HALL OPPORTUNITY

47. AT CITY HALL BALCONY

48. passageway
broad street
waterfront

49. BROAD ST OPPORTUNITY

50. BROAD ST CONNECTOR

51. PASSAGEWAYS

52. old YMCA walk
back of front
alleys
centre crosswalk
centre alley

54. BAoCpKp OoFr tFuRnOiNtTy OPPORTUNITY

55. BACK OF FRONT PASSAGEWAY

56. CENTRE to HWY 1 OPPORTUNITY

57. CENTRE to HWY 1 PASSAGEWAY

58. WATERFRONT

59. DEFENSE STRATEGY
MAX DIVERSITY + FLEXIBILITY

60. DEFENSE STRATEGY
SHENZHEN, CHINA CHARLESTONE, SC
MAX DIVERSITY + FLEXIBILITY
HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK, NY HUDSON RIVER, NEW YORK, NY

61. BRIDGE OPPORTUNITY

62. BRIDGE OPPORTUNITY

63. BRIDGE OPPORTUNITY

65. SPINE
WAYS TO THE WATER
PASSAGEWAYS
WATERFRONT “BRAID”
NEW DESTINATIONS

83. Zoning
Walkable=density
C1
C1/shoreline
Downtown core
C2
R1
I
Shoreline Zone
• Target development for
• Priority development sites
•Water dependent uses
• Decrease density/moratorium
in other shoreline areas/uses
• Performance Standards for
industrial shoreline
•Slash required lot area/per unit
•Focus on exterior form

84. Residential Abutting Downtown
Community Minimum
Lot Size
Min. Area/
Dwelling
Unit
Comments
Bath: R1 6,000 ft² 6,000 ft² Design approval only in historic district
Portland: R6 4,500 ft² 1,200 ft² Design standards
Portsmouth: CD4-L
GRC
3,000 ft²
3,500 ft²
3,000 ft²
3,500 ft²
Form Based Code- strict design
Other abutting districts lower density
Northampton: URB/C 2,500 ft² 2,500 ft² Design standards
Brunswick: TR1 10,000 ft² 4,356 ft² Other abutting districts lower density
Design approaches
• Design review- board approval using guidelines
• Design standards- clear standards
• Exempt internal use of existing buildings

85. Short Term Actions
Revise Zoning to address recommendations
Adopt Hazard Mitigation Plan or amend county plan to address climate change
Strategic street restriping to add on-street parking and bicycle sharrows
Consider climate change as part of site plan and subdivision review
Review emergency preparedness plans
Share information on sea level rise and climate change with property owners
Expand regional discussions with local, regional, and state agencies
Review vulnerability to other aspects of climate change (e.g., insect, food)
Creative painted intersection treatments to increase safety and add character
Install parklets for outdoor seating and traffic calming and to beautify the public realm
Temporary Front Street closures for festivals and special events
Playground at Library Park (City Park)
Passageway art installation

86. Medium Term Actions
Consider climate change as part of comprehensive plan
Follow greenhouse gas reduction targets
Design the Bath Highline
Obtain hazard mitigation money to buy out flood insurance repetitive loss properties
New development should provide its own green infrastructure
Green infrastructure demonstration project at Front Street and Broad Street
Gateway intersection improvements at Front Street and Vine Street
Gateway intersection improvements at Washington Street and Vine Street
Implement Back of Front improvements and encourage shared parking agreements at
Water Street to increase efficiency
Integrate green infrastructure into parking lots to naturally filter stormwater runoff
and improve aesthetics
Create a tree planting program for public and private downtown tree planting
Ways to water connections (medium and long term)
Advance development of catalytic and infill sites consistent with overall vision

87. Long Term Actions
Build the Bath Highline
Remove buildings in green infrastructure areas at the end of their useful life
Remove obsolete infrastructure from green infrastructure areas
Fill the gaps in waterfront public access and park system and complete waterfront
piers
Armor buildings and harden shoreline edge to resist storm surge
Retreat shoreline edge to provide wetland migration zones and further resist storms
Construct “green/blue fingers” aligned with Elm Street and Water Street inundation
zones to accommodate SLR and weave water into the downtown fabric
Reconstruct East-West connections from Front Street to water as “ways to the water”
incorporating pedestrian movement and green infrastructure
Extension of passageway (north and south)

88. Slides and report:
www.aia.org/liv_sdat