News in brief BANGOR: NEW ZONING DISTRICT HEADED TO COUNCIL

The city’s planning department is completing the details of a new zoning district. The proposed technology and service district would set development standards for areas such as the city’s Maine Business Enterprise Park along Maine Avenue. City councilors who received a briefing on the proposed district Wednesday unanimously agreed to send it to the full council for referral to the planning board, which will review it and make recommendations. The district then will return to the council for adoption. The new district would serve the technology-based industries that now dominate the economy, including information services, data processing and similar activities, Planning Officer David Gould said. As it stands, the city has two industrial districts, but neither are designed to meet the specific needs of the technology and service businesses, he said. The urban industry district was designed for older industrial developments built in dense urban settings, in some cases before modern development standards were adopted. The industry and service district is for traditional industrial park activities. (Dawn Gagnon, BDN)