Here's a story from The Associated Press that ought to make some folks happy.
By Clarke Canfield ASSOCIATED PRESS
OGUNQUIT, Maine — You won’t find McDonald’s golden arches or pink-and-orange Dunkin’ Donuts signs in this seaside town. It’ll stay that way if voters approve a proposed ordinance that would outlaw chain restaurants.
Ogunquit is the latest town nationwide to consider a law over so-called "formula’’ businesses. From Maine to California, more than a dozen municipalities have laws that ban or restrict chain restaurants, motels, retailers and other establishments.
Supporters of the chain-restaurant ban say they don’t want their seaside town to turn into just another congested strip of Applebee’s, Burger Kings and Subways.
"This is a pristine and special community that we are stewards of,’’ said Mary Breen, owner of a high-end bakery, who spearheaded a petition drive to get the question on the Nov. 8 ballot. "It’s not about finance and marketing; it’s about preserving this small fishing and arts community.’’
Opponents say Ogunquit’s existing ban on drive-throughs and its design-review process are enough to help the town maintain its character.
As chain stores have spread in recent years, so has the movement to control them on the local level, said Stacy Mitchell, a senior researcher with the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
In the mid-1980s, Carmel-bythe-Sea, Calif., became the first city to enact a formula restaurant ban. Since then, communities in California, Florida, Maine, New York, Rhode Island and Washington have passed similar laws, she said.
Local communities are given a lot of leeway over local zoning and land-use issues.
But the issue is about more than signs or drive-throughs — it’s about economics, Mitchell said. Studies show that more money stays within a community when it is spent at locally owned businesses, she said.
Ogunquit, a community of 1,200 year-round residents on the southern Maine coast, is a popular summer destination.
Breen, who started the Bread and Roses Bakery in 1989, became alarmed last spring when rumors spread that a Dunkin’ Donuts was coming to town.
She and others circulated a petition and collected 125 signatures to force a vote on whether to ban formula restaurants, defined as establishments with the same name, employee uniforms, color schemes, architectural design, signage, or similar standardized features as another restaurant regardless of location or ownership.
While chains might be appropriate elsewhere, Breen said they don’t belong in Ogunquit.
"Once you have a Dunkin’ Donuts, you’re going to have a TCBY, a Subway and a McDonald’s,’’ she said.
Dick Grotton, president and chief executive of the Maine Restaurant Association, said if people don’t want chain restaurants in town, they won’t support them.
"It doesn’t get done by the ballot box. People vote with their feet,’’ he said.
