Smart Growth News

Maine

Portland’s New Code Requires Greater Developer Responsibility

To encourage private investment, the Portland City Council unanimously approved a comprehensive rewrite of the development code. The rewrite would establish project submission standards, infrastructure investment benchmarks, and site plan review timelines.

''It's a huge change,'' said Councilor Cheryl Leeman, pointing out that the new rules are creating a clear and predictable process, with city expectations known upfront to all players. The old system ''is like a black box,'' commented Councilor John Anton. ''Applicants go in, and they don't know what rules they will be subject to.''

While the transparency of the new system benefits developers, they also will have to change their ways of doing business, and some may need to spend more on engineers and architects, observes Portland Press Herald writer Tom Bell, quoting Portland Community Chamber lobbyist Chris O'Neil. Having pressed for the code reform, more than two years in the works, the lobbyist expressed satisfaction that the ''old days of going to Portland City Hall to get squeezed'' will end, but he also put the onus on developers. Many have been submitting vague plans, and using the Planning Board and city staff to design their projects for free, said O'Neil. Now, they will have to do their own work ahead of the review process.   7/20/2010

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/

DOE Invests in Cutting-Edge Wind Energy Research Facilities

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced new investments today in three university-led wind energy research facilities in Illinois, Maine, and Minnesota that will enhance the United States' leadership role in testing and producing the most advanced and efficient wind turbines in the world. The funding is from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the research will focus on improving both land-based and offshore wind generation.

''Wind power has the potential to provide 20% of our electricity and create hundreds of thousands of jobs,'' said Secretary Chu. ''We need to position the United States as the clear leader in this industry, or watch these high-paying jobs go overseas. The investment we're making today will help ensure that America has both the talent and the technology we need to compete.''   10/15/2009

Resource(s): http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=250

Portland Infill Project Provides Affordable Housing, Boost to Community

Built on a vacant lot two blocks from Portland's waterfront, the environmentally friendly 53 Danforth apartment building, with 30 of the 43 units reserved for low-income renters, is ''a great example of smart growth and downtown revitalization,'' pointed out Democratic Governor John E. Baldacci at its grand opening, telling the crowd that projects in urban infrastructure areas reduce not only sprawl, but also the costs of construction, maintenance and energy, while improved living conditions benefit all.

''I'm pleased,'' said the governor, joined by Portland Mayor Jill Duson, area Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick and others, ''that MaineHousing provided a significant portion of its financing, including a $2 million tax credit, $1.65 million subsidy and $3 million loan.''

Part of a complex deal between Maine Workforce Housing LLC principals Nathan Szanton and Bobby Monks, the city, the Portland Museum of Arts and the YWCA, to offset the museum's purchase and closure of the old YWCA building that housed homeless and low-income women, reports Portland Press Herald writer Tim Devaney, the new four-story building boasts a 21-solar-panel roof fixture expected to save at least $4,500 a year in natural gas costs.

Its other ''green'' features include motion-sensitive hall lights and low-flow showers heads, all together reflecting the developers' personal and professional focus on conservation.

''I try to live a green life. Green is the future,'' said Bobby Green, with Nathan Szanton stressing, ''It's the direction we have to go if we're going to survive as a human species. The way we build buildings traditionally is not a sustainable model.''

They also feel strongly about Portland natives' ability to stay in the area.

''One of the problems we have in coastal Maine is it's such a desirable place to live that lower-income people get bid out of the market,'' Nathan Szanton observed, especially proud of the building's 30 low-rent apartments. ''It really makes me feel good to offer affordable living to local people.'' -- Portland Press Herald   8/13/2009

Resource(s): www.maine.gov ; http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Economic Events Slowing Sprawl in Maine

An ever older population, erratic fuel prices, and the current economic meltdown ''might do what 20 years of land-use planning has largely failed to accomplish in Maine -- slow suburban sprawl and coax development closer to cities,'' reports Portland Press Herald writer Tux Turkel, with census data showing cities slowed down their residential outflow after 2000 or even gained population, and with GrowSmart Maine President Alan Caron expecting the changes only to spread and intensify.

Mentioning the decreased number of young families in search of more space, cheaper land and lower taxes in remote suburbs, the role of the record gas prices this summer in public realization of long-commute costs, and the fiscal crisis' long-term impact in the form of reduced government spending on the schools, roads and other services that eventually turned into sprawl incentives and helped draw people to rural Maine, he said, ''You take those three things in combination, and there's no going back.''

To facilitate the change, GrowSmart Maine is supporting tax incentives and rewards for redevelopment of empty downtown mills into homes and businesses and for construction of affordable housing near city centers, also preparing a 2009 legislative campaign for a bond issue that would mirror the popular Land for Maine's Future program through investment in urban area improvements.

''You can't really save the countryside unless you make it easier for people to live in communities,'' the GrowSmart Maine president stressed, pointing out that the state's 20-year old Growth Management Act is largely ineffective.

It was to help towns spur development in built-up areas through comprehensive local plans, but their initial mandatory character has later become voluntary, with state financial incentives obviously insufficient.

Nearly half of the state's 455 communities lack such plans and even fewer back them with the necessary land-use ordinances, the writer finds, noting that now ''market forces may accomplish what sprawl fighters struggle to achieve.''

He cites examples. In Waterville, whose population declined almost 10 percent in the 1990s and went up 2 percent so far this decade, developer Paul Boghossian is converting the landmark Hathaway Shirt factory into 66 apartments, whose starting $880 monthly rents are attracting inquiries from young professionals, retirees and employees of a business center in nearby Oakland.

In Biddeford, developer Doug Sanford is redeveloping a downtown mill as a complex of businesses and 44 apartments, many already filled with University of New England students and the rest bringing in suburban residents.

In Saco, developer Elliot Chamberlain is taking the double advantage of zoning that encourages smaller lots and of utility extension to an area targeted for middle-income and affordable housing by starting development of 75 lots near a Maine Turnpike exit, with the smallest, third-of-an-acre lots selling for $75,000 or some $15,000 less than others in town.

He is also building a planned mixed-income community with homes on lots as small as 5,000 square feet.

''There is a desire,'' he said of prospective residents, ''to be closer to services, in a more dense neighborhood on a smaller piece of land.'' -- Portland Press Herald   12/7/2008

Resource(s): http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Easements Helping to Create South Portland Trail

The South Portland Land Trust's subsidiary West End Trails Committee often finds its work on easement acquisition difficult, but always especially gratifying when donors feel as does South Portland resident Richard Berman -- a member of the Developer's Collaborative, formed as a ''smart growth promoters'' group -- who has granted an easement for a 1.5-mile section of trail just opened near the Maine Mall area and now is proud of the trail.

''It unifies neighborhoods, improves property values, creates community and it creates an amenity,'' he told South Portland Sentry writer Nate Jones.

''It even helps obesity. I could go on forever,'' he added, promising to encourage other property owners to help the West End Trails Committee create a trail link between Portland International Airport and other city trials.

Committee Chairman, South Portland Councilor Tom Blake said owners are generally concerned about liability for a trail through their property even though state and local policies protect all involved individuals and groups from such a threat.

''There are always a series of issues you have to deal with,'' he observed. ''If we're talking to a 'mom and pop' store it's usually a piece of cake. When dealing with national chains you seldom talk to the same person; that's a real problem. And then you deal with the attorneys.''

Nevertheless, noted South Portland Land Trust and committee member Richard Rottkov, other trail sections have already been built in several areas, thanks to $30,000 from Tax Increment Financing (TIF) revenue and a $2,000 grant from the Rails to Trails program, with volunteers and Maine Conservation Corps. workers trail-blazing, clearing brush and building bog bridges or benches and barriers along the trails.

Besides increasing property values, trails through ''densely populated areas could improve safety,'' he pointed out, hoping to start construction of another segment of a trail network next year.

''The farther along we get, the more complete our vision map gets,'' he added about easement needs, ''the more people will say 'Yes.''' -- South Portland Sentry   11/21/2008

Resource(s): http://blog.southportlandsentry.com/

Commentary: Sensible Land-Use Regulations, Transit Subsidies Would Help Rural Maine Cope With High Transportation Costs

In doubt whether gas price spikes alone can ''substantially reduce our almost total dependency on the private auto,'' especially in Maine, because of low population densities, scattered residences and ''a culture that treats the auto as a symbol of adulthood,'' Southwest Harbor-based political economist John Buell points out in Bangor Daily News guest opinion that some changes ''in how and how far we travel, where we live, and how we spend our time'' may be mutually reinforcing, but ''(p)ublic policy must play an important role in any constructive transformation, just as it helped establish the car culture.''

Aside from driving farther, the economist notes, people are also working more, with a family of two adults seeing its work time up 500 hours [per year] over the last two decades.

''We work longer hours to buy our cars and to support families we have ever less time to see,'' he observes. ''As we spend more time in cars and workplaces, costly cell phones suddenly become a necessity, both to attend to business interests and to talk with our families.''

He also believes U.S. Census data showing the average American now commutes 100 hours a year ''only understate the time burden of the auto,'' since ''most families face comparable increases in time driving for shopping and other errands.''

None of this is inevitable, according to the commentary.

''Zoning regulations that encourage integration of homes, businesses, and retail shops can reduce commuting time as well as the necessity for lengthy errand forays. Land-use planning and zoning changes aimed at clustering developments can preserve the rural quality of life while still increasing population densities,'' he writes. ''These strategies both encourage and are abetted by expansion of public transit options. Maine's 'smart growth' movement has made progress in fostering these goals and the appropriate policy tools to advance them.''

Although the best solutions may take a long time to implement, any expedient anti-congestion alternative is worth pursuing, he continues, urging not only businesses and chambers of commerce, but also state and local governments to promote carpools.

''Public transit faces two related chicken and egg problems,'' he explains. ''Livable communities and clustered housing become more appealing if transit is available. By the same token, however, it makes little sense to increase public transit stock absent adequate population densities. In addition, more frequent bus and van service encourages wider use, but until many are willing to use these services, there is little immediate economic incentive to improve them.''

Confident that governments ''can break those knots by moving simultaneously on sensible land-use regulations as well as transit subsidies for both operational and capital improvement purposes,'' the economist thinks those ''who choke over 'subsidy and regulation' should recognize that our suburban sprawl is enabled by massive government capital infusions, land-use regulations and continuing subsidies,'' also hoping for more imagination from environmentalists.

''Better transit options can mean more time for recreation and family,'' he concludes. ''These experiences in turn can intensify our desire to limit the auto's hold on our lives. We can build a markedly better quality of life if we regard high gas prices as not merely a challenge but an opportunity.'' -- Bangor Daily News   7/22/2008

Resource(s): www.bangornews.com/

Baby Boomers Projected to Reshape Housing Market -- Again

Born between 1946 and 1964, the nation's 80 million of ''baby boomers'' are projected to reshape its housing market ''as they sell their three-bedroom houses in the suburbs for new homes more in keeping with both their active lifestyles and the encroaching realities of age,'' and Maine towns and cities better be ready to face the challenges and to seize the opportunities, states the Kennebec Journal, quoting Smart Growth America Communication Director David Goldberg, who expects some boomers to settle on hobby farms but many to seek walkable town centers, and who stresses the need ''to think in terms of mixed uses'' and more housing for both the affluent and those on fixed incomes.

Among cities well positioned for the prospective influx, the daily reports, are state capitol Augusta and other old mill towns like Farmington and Waterville.

Hurt by a 13 percent population loss between 1990 and 2000, its waterfront marred by blighted industrial structures, and its downtown depressed by sprawling retail on the outskirts, Augusta is linking urban trails, turning an old mill site into a riverside park, and moving to redevelop an industrial tract on the river's east side as a residential or mixed-use neighborhood.

''We are seeing a new wave of people coming to us,'' notes Augusta director of economic and community development Michael Duguay, hoping to attract not only thousands of state employees near retirement age, but also their younger replacements.

With developers already proposing some 250 housing units across the price range, he envisions the future centered along the river, increasingly a recreation magnet, saying ''it will sort of be discovering for the first time what has always been there.''

In Farmington, business partners Byron ''Buzz'' Davis and Bill Marceau are preparing spring construction of their 67-unit Willow Springs active-adult condo complex on an old mill site two miles from downtown, offering buyers low-maintenance living and ample cultural and recreational opportunities, including miles of walking trails and prime skiing farther away.

''Their free time is their own,'' they say of prospective residents. ''They don't have chores to do all of the time.''

In Waterville, developer Paul Boghossian and partner Thomas Niemann are planning conversion of a former 236,000-square-foot shirt factory and two adjacent mill buildings downtown to mixed uses, including 67 apartments, for which they already have more than 130 buyers, both older and younger.

''To be able to walk to places where there are things to do is really important,'' the former says of the likely buyers, calling Colby College another plus. ''They want to be in a place where there is a cultural buzz and they also want to be in a place where it is small enough that they can make a difference.''

GrowSmart Maine President Alan Caron foresees a similar resurgence of many other Maine cities and towns, including Biddeford, Portland, Saco and Sanford -- the trend already under way, also fueled by high gas prices, and moving north along rivers.

''We are ending up with these great mixtures in downtowns of 20-somethings and baby boomers,'' he observes. ''You are seeing the leading edge of this change really happening around older river mill communities.''

To free their potential and reap all benefits, municipalities must remove restrictions that banned whole categories of housing from their centers and rebuild once-diversified housing stock, he points out, stressing, ''It is vital that we find a way to accommodate more growth in our towns and cities or we are going to lose the rural character of our state.'' -- Kennebec Journal   2/18/2008

Resource(s): http://www.mainetoday.com/

Public Remains Divided on Moosehead Lake Development; Final Public Meeting Rescheduled for January 19

''We are intelligent enough in this state to create our own vision for the Moosehead Lake region, one that incorporates the principles of 'smart growth' and is creative,'' said Portland resident Sandy Amborn at an overcrowded and lengthy Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) hearing on the Seattle-based Plum Creek company's request to rezone 22,000 acres near the lake for 975 parcels, two resorts and other structures, summing up views of some 180 others who signed up to speak against the project, in contrast to about 120 backers focused on its economic and public recreation benefits, a deep 60 to 40 percent opinion split, reports Bangor Daily News writer Kevin Miller, with many on both sides unable to get their three minutes because of the lack of time.

''We have a landowner that has unequivocally announced it plans to develop,'' argued Portland resident Parke Burmeister, ''but they have offered to do it in a planned way with a vast amount of conservation.''

The timber and real estate company, which owns more than 900,000 acres in Maine, the writer notes, has won over some opponents and undecided residents since its original plan was soundly criticized in 2005. The company changed the location of some lots, while moving one planned resort outside Greenville and offering to protect permanently more than 430,000 acres in the region -- the offer dependent on LURC approval of the development plan.

However, the project's economic assessment remains unclear.

Husson College President William Bradley, whose school attracts many students from instate rural communities that offer few jobs, thought Plum Creek's project could expand their opportunities for professional careers and ''help bring some of them home.''

On the other hand, Harvard University retired business administration professor Shoshana Zuboff called Plum Creek practices predatory and exploitative, stressing, ''Their promises are like soap bubbles: Try to grab them and they pop.''

The LURC's fourth and last public meeting on the project was scheduled for December 16 in Greenville, but a snowstorm caused its delay to January 19. -- Bangor Daily News   12/17/2007

Resource(s): http://bangornews.com/

Land Use Hearings Scheduled for Moosehead Lake Development Plan

A two-year fight over the Seattle-based Plum Creek timber and real estate company's plan for a residential, commercial and resort complex on 22,000 woodland acres near Greenville, in the heart of the Moosehead Lake region, is entering a crucial phase, with the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), Maine Audubon, and Environment Maine urging the public to attend a series of Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) hearings on the project, December 1 and 16 in Greenville, December 2 in Augusta, and December 15 in Portland.

''We must choose smart growth, not mega-developments, for Moosehead and the entire state to maintain Maine's unique quality of life and unrivaled beauty,'' wrote Environment Maine program associate Tracy Allen in a letter to the Kennebec Journal, alarmed by prospective alteration of the landscape, erosion of public access, and disruption of nature-based tourism.

Earlier this month, NRCM Executive Director Brownie Carson and Maine Audubon Executive Director Kevin Carley raised similar alarm at press conferences in Falmouth and Bangor, saying a team of 12 environmental, wildlife, tourism, traffic, and water quality experts will persuasively testify at the LURC hearings against the project.

Noting that Plum Creek plans 2,300 housing units, two resorts, commercial centers, golf courses and other facilities, which would increase traffic on 550 miles of area roads, Director Carson said some recent changes to the project are insufficient and the ''magnitude'' of its potential impact remains staggering.

Director Carley added, ''The harm to wildlife and wildlife habitat would be both extensive and permanent.''

Click here to preview the experts' testimony. -- Kennebec Journal   11/29/2007

Resource(s): www.nrcm.org/ ; www.environmentmaine.org/

Voters Back Maine Conservation, Transportation Initiatives

A $295 million quality-of-life state bond package hammered out in bipartisan legislative efforts last spring fares well with the public, as voters easily approved $131 million for transportation and clear water in June and $134 million for economic development, university campuses and conservation now, with each of these three referendum questions voted on separately and officials especially encouraged by the 63 percent support for spending of $35.5 million on the Land for Maine Future program, state parks and historic sites, and river-based and waterfront projects.

The three-part bond package's remaining $30 million, mostly for additional transportation upgrades, will go to a referendum next June, reports Associated Press writer Francis X. Quinn, quoting Democratic Governor John Baldacci's comment on the latest bond approval.

With their strong conservation endorsement, voters affirmed ''our joint commitment to preserving Maine's special places,'' the governor stressed in a statement, noting however that the barely over 51 percent votes for economic development and campus improvements ''show that Mainers want government to be careful with their money.''

In an email to local and national preservation advocates, GrowSmart Maine webmaster Christian McNeil said the bond votes reflect ''two major recommendations that the Brookings Institution and GrowSmart Maine made in the ''Charting Maine's future report, which sought to grow Maine's economy while preserving the state's quality places.'' -- Bangor Daily News   11/8/2007

Resource(s): http://bangornews.com/

GrowSmart Maine Will Bring Free Professional Planning Help to Town of Standish

Selected by GrowSmart Maine from among 75 municipalities that sought the status of its first model town, Standish -- increasingly a ''bedroom community'' of some 10,000, about 15 miles northwest of central Portland -- will receive free professional help to implement its new comprehensive plan, which will contain sprawl and protect local character, two key goals the previous plan fell short of, with 73 percent of new development between 1999 and 2004 taking place on rural land, outside designated growth areas.

GrowSmart Maine, reports Portland Press Herald writer Ann S. Kim, will bring to Standish planners, designers, economists and other experts from several other organizations while providing the town with technology and the best ordinances from around the country, an equivalent of $80,000 to $100,000.

''We're going to bring about as much talent and resources as you could reasonably expect,'' said GrowSmart Maine President and CEO Alan Caron.

Hoping the program will prove that the right resources are crucial for implementation of local comprehensive plans, state-mandated documents on growth and land use, he pledged to fight for such resources for all towns across the state.

State Planning Office land use director Stacy Benjamin said, ''Some towns do a great job in implementing their comprehensive plans and others finish them, and they sit on the shelf.''

GrowSmart Maine decided to assist Standish with plan implementation, said program director Bruce Hyman, because of its fast and projected development, commitment to smart growth, and enthusiasm about the task.

Under the program, he added, the group will work with the town's new open lands committee to draw up a rural area conservation plan, focusing on wildlife habitat, forest tracts, orchards and access to Saco River and Sebago Lake, and with its economic development committee to create a village center at Standish Corner. -- Portland Press Herald   9/17/2007

Resource(s): http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

York's Workforce Affordable Housing Committee Wants to Include Model Site Ordinance on November Ballot

With a $73,400-$400,000 gap between York's median income and median home price, and only 71 percent of residents able to afford a new home, the town's Workforce Affordable Housing Committee wanted to put its proposed ''Workforce Housing Model Site Overlay District'' ordinance on the November ballot, but after the Board of Selectmen turned it down in a 3-2 vote a few weeks ago as ''unready'' yet, the committee is counting on media coverage and an informational forum later this month to promote its ''smart growth approach,'' which would balance the coastal community's affordable-housing and growth-management goals, while preserving local small-town character.

Board and Committee Chairman Mike Estes and Selectman Ted Little, reported York Weekly writer Herb Perry earlier, characterized the ordinance criticism by their board colleagues Dwight Bardwell, Dave Marshall and Kinley Gregg as political instead of substantive.

In a message to the public, just run by the Portsmouth Herald in lieu of its weekly editorial, all seven committee members explain that their aim is to create a model affordable site of up to 50 homes, including townhouse rental apartments, with a density of just over five or over two units per acre, depending on availability of water and sewer lines.

Since the main factor in high housing prices is the cost of land, they write, putting more units on a given parcel in clusters, to save open space with walking and biking trails, could significantly lower unit costs.

They would like to price the homes from $175,000 to $250,000 -- ''manageable for households with incomes from about $50,000 to $80,000'' -- and offer rental apartments to households making under $50,000 a year.

Among those who would qualify, they note, would be police officers, nurses, hospital technicians, teachers and town employees.

Glad of support from many residents and community leaders, including School Superintendent Henry Scipione and Police Chief Doug Bracy, they write, ''The intent of the model site is to give the people of York a concrete opportunity to learn what works and what does not work -- a first step in developing a larger, more comprehensive affordable housing strategy.'' -- York Weekly   9/5/2007

Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/

Friends of Midcoast Maine Honors Coastal Officials for Route 1 Plan, Restoration of Historic Bath Train Station

Impressed by efforts of 21 municipalities along coastal Route 1 between Brunswick and Bucksport to integrate their land use and transportation, and by exemplary revitalization of the 1941 train station in downtown Bath, the regional Friends of Midcoast Maine group honored the involved area officials and residents with 2007 Smart Growth Awards, its Executive Director Jane Lafleur saying, ''These two projects represent some of the finest smart growth development and planning that is happening in the midcoast.''

In an award announcement, the group commends the 21-town Gateway One Steering Committee for its work on the Route 1 planning since February 2005, for cooperation with regional and statewide organizations, for building consensus and for commitment to ''a process to balance community growth and local values with transportation services and needs.''

The group also applauds Bath for implementing smart-growth principles through a $1.2 million rehabilitation of its historic train station, which offers transportation options, serves as a regional economic development catalyst, and exemplifies historic preservation and community building accomplishments.

Accepting the awards, Gateway One Steering Committee Chairman Peter Robohm said the 21 municipalities want to sustain economic growth in the corridor without losing its high quality of life and look forward to expanded regional planning efforts.

As a Bath resident and Bath Transportation Commission Chairman, he also joined Bath Planning Director and Commission Vice Chairman Jim Upham in receiving the smart growth award for the Bath Train Station Revitalization project.

Director Upham said Route 1 travelers should exit to downtown Bath and see the results of the station revival with their own eyes. -- Friends of Midcoast Maine   6/15/2007

Resource(s): www.villagesoup.com/

Forum Examines Success Stories Behind Dual Goals of Land Conservation and Affordable Housing

With the New England coastal region's cost of living already the 19th highest nationwide, about 60 area experts and activists gathered at a conservation-based affordable housing forum in Kittery, Maine, reports Portsmouth Herald News writer Herb Perry, to share their experiences and hear how some communities were able to achieve ''the seemingly disparate goals of conserving land and providing affordable housing.''

''We're looking for success stories that we can understand and then apply locally,'' explained Workforce Coalition of the Greater Seacoast Chairwoman Stephanye Schuyler, with Maine's Mount Desert Island and Ellsworth housing authorities executive director Terrence Kelly describing the ''co-housing'' approach and Vermont Housing and Conservation Board official Rick DeAngelis focusing on his state's legislation and smart growth.

Hindered by exorbitant land prices in coastal Maine, said Terrence Kelly, co-housing, or ''very small homes on shared land,'' has made a difference in Amherst, Massachusetts, where a ''very green'' affordable housing project features units below 1,000 square feet, but all expandable in the right circumstances.

In Vermont, a network of conservation and affordable housing groups has created 8,000 permanent affordable units since 1987, with Rick DeAngelis crediting a 1988 state law for much of the success.

''The overarching goal was to plan development to conform to historic settlement patterns of compact village and urban centers separated by rural countryside,'' he said, noting that the law gives his board 50 percent of the state property transfer tax to help build affordable housing.

''It costs (a lot of) money for these kind of developments,'' he observed, mentioning a Norwich group that preserved 110 acres while selling 15 acres to a land trust for affordable housing, with the units worth $300,000 each, but sold for $150,000.

That groundbreaking law, he added, had ''a huge impact on smart growth'' in Vermont. -- Herald News   5/9/2007

Resource(s): http://seacoastonline.com

Informed Growth Act Would Require Economic Analysis of Big-Box Impact on Communities

Since detailed questions about the true economic impact of Wal-Mart and other big-boxes on given areas ''are rarely asked, and even more rarely answered,'' says the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in its Hometown Advantage e-mail bulletin, Maine would be the first state nationwide to remedy the situation should lawmakers pass the bipartisan Informed Growth Act, under which officials could approve stores over 75,000 square feet only if an independent study, public hearings and related materials convinced them that a store's positives outweigh its negatives.

Submitted by a coalition of small business, labor, civic and environmental organizations -- including ISLR's New Rules Project, the Sierra Club Maine Chapter and the Our Town Damariscotta grassroots group, successful in enacting a local store-size cap ordinance and blocking a Wal-Mart Supercenter last year -- the act would require a developer to pay for an economic analysis by a town-chosen consultant.

The consultant, notes the bulletin, would study ''the positive and negative effects of the proposed store on existing businesses, jobs, wages, vacancy rates the vitality of downtowns, the cost of municipal services, and the volume of 'sales revenue retained and reinvested' in the community.''

The study would focus on both the host town and the wider market area, with residents in the proposed store's 5,000-foot radius and officials from adjacent communities given special notice of a related public hearing.

The Informed Growth Act, said Our Town Damariscotta activist Eleanor Kinney, is especially important to small communities like hers, often run by volunteer boards and unaware early enough of being targeted for big-boxes or restrained by outdated ordinances from reviewing, revising or rejecting such projects.

Her group was able to prevent a 197,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter in Damariscotta, with some 2,000 residents, only because it reacted quickly to the first informal signs and gathered enough voter signatures for a referendum.

''Maine's future prosperity,'' said Eleanor Kinney about the Informed Growth Act, slated for legislative hearings late this month, ''depends on its ability to grow while maintaining its quality of place and not sacrificing the unique assets that drive the state's economy.'' -- The New Rules Project   4/5/2007

Resource(s): www.newrules.org/retail/index.php

Looking to Secure Conservation Easements, Maine Lawmakers Prepare Legislation to Improve Public Oversight, Preserve Public Benefits

With some 1.5 million acres, or about 7.5 percent of its mass, saved from sprawl by conservation easements, Maine is an undisputed leader in this kind of land protection, but a group of state officials and environmentalists, including Democratic Representative John Piotti, are looking to make sure the contracts benefit the public even if the land has another owner in the future, and preparing legislation to prevent their neglect, disregard or abuse.

Ranging from the 2001 deal to preserve 763,000 acres of Pingree family timberlands in northern and western Maine to numerous agreements protecting trails and vacant neighborhood lots, reports Portland Press Herald writer John Richardson, the easements let landowners keep and often log or farm their land.

The development rights are sold or donated to easement holders, typically land trusts, with contracts recorded on property deeds.

Although mostly private, the deals usually need public investment in exchange for their public benefits, with sellers being paid from local, state or federal funds and donors getting tax deductions for their development rights.

''There's a public dimension to every conservation deal,'' stresses Maine Assistant Attorney General Jeff Pidot, author of a 2005 report that led to an almost completed review of state law. ''The whole purpose of all of this is to provide a legal means for ensuring that conservation easements deliver what people think they do.''

But, the writer observes, unless the state holds the easements, land trusts must prevent contract violation as long as they exist.

That's where the problem lies.

''Conservation easements need to be enforced as organizations that hold them go out of business,'' points out Representative Piotti.

His bill, still being honed in a group led by the Nature Conservancy and the Maine Coast Heritage Trust -- both holding many large easements throughout the state -- will likely include the first statewide list of conservation easements, improve their public oversight, and ensure their permanent enforcement to bar development and keep public benefits intact. -- Portland Press Herald   1/9/2007

Resource(s): www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Maine's Traditional Town Centers Could Absorb Expected Future Growth, But Saco Mayor Wonders if Public Sector Will Embrace New Ideas

Quoting from a new Brookings Institution report that ''Maine's traditional regional centers -- the perfect place in which to counter sprawl with 'smart growth' -- stand ready and able to absorb huge shares of the state's projected growth if only Maine can find ways to utilize them,'' Saco Mayor Mark D. Johnston writes in the Portland Press Herald that he isn't sure ''the public sector is as nimble as it should be in considering new ideas.''

Saco Island on the Saco River between downtown Saco and Biddeford has several mill buildings, empty for more than 20 years, and a developer presented a proposal to invest more than $90 million in their conversion to mixed uses, the mayor writes, cautiously hoping the Saco City Council gives it preliminary approval on the November 6 hearing. The project would bring new residents to the city's core, modernize the district, make the island ''attractive to high-tech, higher education and 'new economy' enterprises,'' and increase rail ridership, all fueling ''robust economic growth'' and urban revitalization, in contrast to the state's manufacturing jobs outflow and newcomers shutting out natives along the coast.

''We continue to build malls and homogenize ourselves, and risk losing what makes living in Maine unique,'' the mayor, a small Main Street business owner, observes. ''Government stands by and watches as we endure flight from our cities into the suburbs, the carving of farmland into subdivisions, more strain on our resources, our children leaving the state for better jobs, and the extermination of downtown business districts.''

He knows it's ''not so easy for a city councilor who gets a lot of 'coffee-shop advice' to shun change and think only for today,'' because he also gets ''a daily dose of the same coffee-shop logic.'' Seeing the council's Saco Island vote as ''a referendum on whether Mainers can adapt'' and plan wisely for the future, the mayor calls such adaptability ''crucial not only for Saco, but for the entire state.'' -- Portland Press Herald   10/31/2006

Resource(s): www.business.mainetoday.com/

''Action Plan'' for Maine Provides Cohesive Overview of Best Path for Growth in State

Commissioned by GrowSmart Maine last year and just completed by the Washington-based Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program, the ''Charting Maine's Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places'' report is seen by newspapers throughout the state as perfectly timed for the crucial phase of its electoral campaign and the concomitant growth debate.

''The virtue of this work,'' said a Bangor Daily News editorial, ''is that it presents previous ideas as a sensible whole, so the connections between state and local government, between policy and outcomes, between elected officials and the public are apparent, and they point Maine in a clear direction.''

For Democratic Governor John Baldacci and legislative leaders, observes a joint Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram editorial, ''the relatively upbeat description of the state's current economic status and the outlining of a potentially bright future can be leveraged into an argument for their continued stewardship,'' while the Republican minority ''can latch onto findings of fat in state government bureaucracy, high property and income taxes, and an unfocused state economic development strategy.''

To make things better - to accommodate the increased population, curb sprawl and diversify the economy - these and other dailies note, Brookings recommends a variety of steps, including large bond investments in quality places and emerging industries. The proposed $190 million Maine Quality Places Fund would help revitalize towns, secure public access to natural areas and promote tourism. The $200 million Maine Innovation Jobs Fund would boost research and development (R&D) for high-tech industries and allow the creation of more well-paying jobs. The state could fund these and related restructuring programs by saving from $60 million to $100 million through governmental efficiencies and administrative reductions, while raising its lodging tax from 7 to 10 percent.

To clarify any misunderstanding of this complex matter among readers, Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program Director Bruce Katz and Senior Policy Analyst Mark Muro wrote to the Bangor Daily News that their report ''places investments - not tax cuts - at the center of a long term action'' for Maine prosperity. ''In sum, we do not believe the state can cut its way to prosperity,'' they stressed. ''We believe instead that the state should surgically streamline government where it is possible, apply the savings to investments, and support responsible tax reductions with whatever efficiencies remain.'' -- Bangor Daily News ; Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram   10/8/2006

Resource(s): www.bangordailynews.com/ ; http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Renovation, Reuse of Old Schools Encouraged by Maine's State Board of Education

''Where schools are built can have a major impact on the character and growth of a community,'' points out the Bangor Daily News staff, welcoming school siting changes solidified by the State Board of Education (SBE) in July, when it removed the minimum school acreage requirements and told districts to consider renovation or reuse portions of old schools before building new ones.

The rescinded requirements had been forcing districts to find at least five acres for a new elementary school, and at least 10 and 15 acres for a middle and high school, respectively, unless a district proved it lacked such a minimum site and satisfied the other board's criteria on a smaller parcel.

The gradual and now decisive shift in school construction patterns, the newspaper staff recalls, dates back to recommendations from a 1998 panel, appointed by Independent Governor Angus King, including a requirement to build schools in areas designated locally for growth, to limit sprawl and foster school-community links. The panel also called for involving the State Planning Office (SPO) in the school construction review process, with the office interested in maximizing pedestrian access to schools, a good goal, the staff observes, ''given kids' growing waistlines.''

Previously, says a former panel member, Department of Education official Jim Riem, voters rejected 17 percent of school construction projects, but they have approved all of them since the shift toward community-oriented schools began. ''Building a new school is a major undertaking,'' the staff reasserts. ''Making sure it is in the right place is crucial.'' Bangor Daily News   9/23/2006

Resource(s): http://bangordailynews.com/

GrowSmart Maine's Model Town Community Project to Show How a Town Can Manage Growth, Engage Local Residents

To rein in sprawl, while enhancing Maine tradition and quality of life, GrowSmart Maine is ready to launch a pilot Model Town Community Project, under which its experts will work with several partners and a selected town over 18-24 months to help it ''explore new growth strategies and fully engage local residents, by combining the best elements of New England town meetings with ground breaking new technologies.''

Inspired by a three-year series of talks that found many towns unprepared for growth pressures and many residents little involved in efforts to envision their future, the Model Town Project will show how a town can manage growth and become an example for others.

''It seems clear,'' GrowSmart Maine says, ''that good information about options and outcomes, broad public engagement, the right technical expertise, and, at times, skilled facilitation of the entire process is essential for a town that wants to make good choices about managing growth.''

Helped by its commissioned 2005 Brookings Institution study of links between Maine jobs, taxes and quality of life, which included ''Blueprint for Action''; by a voluntary Model Town Committee; and by the Orton Family Foundation, GrowSmart Maine devised the pilot project as the next logical step to translate the best Smart Growth initiatives, along with and Brookings recommendations ''into on-the-ground results'' for a single community, to be selected later this year.

''Our hope and intention,'' the nonprofit says, ''is that the Model Town Project will serve as the platform upon which to launch a more comprehensive statewide effort.'' -- GrowSmart Maine   9/14/2006

Resource(s): www.growsmartmaine.org/index.asp

Davis Island Development Gets Smart Growth Criteria Endorsement from Friends of Midcoast Maine

Friends of Midcoast Maine (FMM) has given its Smart Growth Endorsement to Community Housing of Maine for the proposed 13.5-acre Davis Island Workforce Housing Development along Route One in Edgecomb's designated growth area, less than a mile east from downtown Wiscasset -- the affordable mix of 26 one-to-three-bedroom rentals clustered on four acres, with 9.5 acres left for public use as common open space.

''The Davis Island Development meets most all of our smart growth endorsement criteria,'' said FMM Executive Director Jane Lafleur. ''We encourage the developer to continue to meet with neighbors and community members throughout the planning process to ensure a well-designed development.''

Delighted by the endorsement, Community Housing Development Director Erin Cooperrider stressed, ''We are working hard to offer affordable rental units in a very tight housing market that often forces our workforce to move further and further from their places of employment.'' Read more about Friends of Midcoast Maine at www.friendsmidcoast.org/.   5/27/2006

Resource(s): www.villagesoup.com/

Town Meetings Provide Local Input on ''Blueprint for Action'' While Bringing Smart Growth Message to Northern Maine

Its traditional resource-based economy in a turbulent shift from manufacturing to service jobs, its taxes among the highest nationwide, and its unique places crucial for tourists and new businesses too often threatened by haphazard development, Maine needs sound planning to avoid decline and achieve long-term sustainablity, argued GrowSmart Maine President Alan Caron and Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program Director Bruce Katz during their eight 90-minute town-meeting presentations across northern Maine in three days, gathering local input on Brookings' ''Blueprint for Action,'' expected to be ready by September and to influence both gubernatorial and legislative campaigns.

Part of GrowSmart Maine's five-year effort to change the state's land use patterns, preserve the environment and improve the economy, with 30 similar listening sessions held elsewhere in the past several months, reports Brunswick Times Record writer Bob Kalish, the Brookings research involves 10 economists and other experts studying the state's trends and its potential.

The session in Brunswick, packed by officials and residents from Cumberland, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, confirmed the public's wish to protect the area's small towns, farms, open space and overall quality of life.

Brunswick Town Manager Donald Gerrish hoped researchers would find ways to lessen municipal dependency on property taxes as a key revenue source. Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association member Russell Libby urged all to ''buy what local farmers grow and keep the money here.'' Artist Jill Victor, who promotes local art and crafts on her Web site, stressed their cultural importance. ''Local artists and craftspeople represent the character and heritage of the state,'' she observed. ''When we're talking about growth we can't forget the people who make things.'' And resident Chris Miller said with ever-costlier oil and energy, their role in fostering sprawl can no longer be ignored, stressing, ''We need to rethink our bigger-is-better policies.'' -- Times Record   5/1/2006

Resource(s): www.timesrecord.com/

Legislation Sets 75-Day Limit on Attempts to Overturn Local Project Approvals in Maine

Illustrative of the frequent strain among key community goals and the strange ad hoc alliances it may produce, Democratic sponsored legislation (LD 1481) to facilitate affordable housing by giving residents only 75 days for attempts to overturn local approvals passed 75-70 in the state House and 24-10 in the Senate, but was criticized by some Republicans and most liberal Democrats alike as a ''Wal-Mart bill'' in disguise.

Republican Representative Jonathan McKane, in whose district Damariscotta voters have just limited store sizes to keep out Wal-Mart, said had the bill been in place ''we could have those bulldozers out there doing their work.''

Liberal Democratic Representative Herb Adams, reports Brunswick Times Record writer Victoria Wallack, was even more explicit. ''You'll search the bill in vain for any mention of the words 'affordable housing','' he argued, saying it entered the legislature ''under sheep's clothing,'' pushed by developer lobbyists and lawyers.

But Democratic bill co-sponsors, Representative Ted Koffman and Senator Lynn Bromley, countered this characterization. Rooted in the work of their special committee, which explored ways to spur affordable housing, the bill may affect other types of projects, Representative Koffman acknowledged, but its purpose ''is to put some bounds'' on an open-ended process of gathering signatures for referendums against land-use decisions. He called it ''a simple issue of fairness to developers,'' who cannot wait endlessly for decision appeals without losing money sources and being discouraged from higher-density projects in towns or near services and jobs.

As an example, he cited Scarborough's 397-unit Great American Neighborhood, backed by the State Planning Office as a model of smart growth, but repealed in a referendum. Developers eventually won in court and downsized the project, but the planning is still going on, uninterrupted since 2001.

State and Local Government Committee Democratic Co-chairman, Representative Chris Barstow, said he doesn't like big boxes' employment practices, but considers the 75-day signature-collection limit ''fair and equitable,'' adding, ''This is about protecting the rights of the minority.'' -- Times Record   4/21/2006

Resource(s): www.timesrecord.com/

Friends of Midcoast Maine Promotes Smart Growth and Consensus Building at Area Workshops

As GrowSmart Maine and the Brookings Institution pursue their visioning and development reform process for the state, the Camden-based Friends of Midcoast Maine -- a block of 14 land trusts and advocacy groups ''dedicated to replacing mindless sprawl with sensible growth'' -- is continuing its series of Midcoast Maine Matters workshops on April 25 in Newcastle and May 2 in Damariscotta, with presentation of the film ''Growing Together: Consensus Building, Smart Growth and Community Change,'' followed by a moderator-led discussion. Produced by the New England Environmental Finance Center, the film ''is a 'must see' for citizens, developers, Realtors, selectmen, conservation commissioners and planning board members.''

Noting that the issue of ''how to grow'' is often extremely divisive, the Friends of Midcoast Maine says the film offers encouragement and guidance for affected communities and shows how to avoid discord and build a consensus on growth.

Details at www.friendsmidcoast.org.   4/20/2006

Resource(s): www.villagesoup.com/

GrowSmart Maine Expects ''Blueprint for Action'' to Become Basis of Statewide Conversation on Growth During Fall Elections

Having launched a five-year effort last fall to safeguard the state's economic potential, unique landscape and quality of life against further abuses from sprawl, the Yarmouth-based nonprofit GrowSmart Maine group asked the Brookings Institution to draw up a ''Blueprint for Action,'' helped it hold some 30 regional ''listening sessions in the past months,'' and invited the public to the final series of town meetings April 25, 26 and 27, the input from which will be crucial for the institute's blueprint expected by September, just in time, says GrowSmart Maine President Alan Caron in a press release, ''to become the basis for an expanded statewide conversation on Maine's future during the 2006 gubernatorial and legislative elections.''

Held in Caribou, Houlton, Ft. Kent, Eastport, Dover-Foxcroft, Farmington, Waterville, Camden, Scarborough, Brunswick and Alfred, the town meetings will round up Brookings field research on Maine's demographic, economic and development trends, and the best ways to overcome its governmental inefficiencies, boost regionalism and change growth patterns.

After the November election, GrowSmart Maine expects formation of a larger alliance to implement Brookings recommendations and to mobilize Maine people from all walks of life and all regions in a joint multi-year campaign for ''a more prosperous and sustainable future.''   4/18/2006

Resource(s): www.growsmartmaine.org

Brunswick Town Council Approves Smart Growth Ordinance on 5-4 Vote; Opponents Plan Petition for Repeal

Voted down 4-3 by the previous Brunswick Town Council last October, the Rural Brunswick Smart Growth ordinance was amended over the past several weeks by the reshuffled council, with four new members elected in November, and passed by a 5-4 vote, but opponents who sought a town-wide referendum have already promised efforts to get it overturned.

''I am not going to pass the buck and send this out to referendum,'' said Councilwoman Hallie Daughtry. ''We have far too many more important issues to deal with, such as reducing property taxes.''

But Council Chairwoman Joanne King, who voted against the ordinance, warned, ''This subject isn't going to end,'' while town attorney Pat Scully explained that opponents can circulate their repeal petition after a six-month waiting period.

The ordinance, reports Brunswick Times Record writer Elizabeth Dorsey, will help curb coastal sprawl and protect large blocks of habitat and wildlife travel corridors by offering developers density bonuses for land preservation or else requiring them to mitigate any habitat loss by preserving such tracts elsewhere.

With some property owners arguing that the ordinance infringes on their property rights and may undercut property values, proponents stress that the density bonuses more than compensate for such risks while ensuring that the best wildlife habitat is left intact.

To allay property concerns further, the writer observes, the town council also passed several amendments. They clarified the ordinance's language, eliminated a $5,000 per acre landowner fee in lieu of habitat protection, and exempted both construction of a single home on a single lot split, provided it has road frontage, and the creation or enlargement of agricultural clearings. -- Times Record, Press-Herald   3/7/2006

Resource(s): www.timesrecord.com/website/main.nsf/vwhome/Home?open ; www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Job and Sustainability Prospects Are Focus of Maine Study Set for Release in Fall 2006

With his broad-based nonprofit raising $450,000 for an ongoing Brookings Institution study of state job and sustainability prospects, GrowSmart Maine President Alan Caron told political, civic and business leaders at a brainstorming session in Augusta he believes ''the people of Maine are ready for big change,'' and Brookings Vice President and Urban and Metropolitan Policy Program Director Bruce Katz said the study will be released immediately after next Labor Day to become part of the 2006 electoral campaign.

''We're going to give the state detailed information on how to build a sustainable future,'' he said. ''A look at yourself that is up to date.''

Having recently reviewed key Maine data and launched his team's listening tour through all 16 of its counties, reports Kennebeck Journal writer Susan M. Cover, Director Katz pointed out that population growth and demographic change is sluggish and that the state is in the midst of a ''painful economic transition'' from manufacturing to service, but that residents' flight from urban centers to rural areas still fuels sprawl, which increases municipal service costs.

With state Republican Representative Kim Davis saying, ''As people leave the city, the quality of life for those left behind is less,'' Augusta City Manager William Bridgeo hoping to focus attention on ''too much local control in Maine,'' and Maine Municipal Association Executive Director Christopher Lockwood mentioning cities, towns and schools that already work together to save money, Director Katz said big companies are now opening small 50-person offices for specific tasks and may be interested in Maine.

''Maine should benefit from that because of the quality of place,'' he said. ''It could just happen to you or you could prepare for it.'' -- Kennebeck Journal   10/19/2005

Resource(s): www.kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/

Plans for Scarborough's ''Great American Neighborhood'' Shrink as Neighbors Lobby for Less Density

Initially planned with 397 varied-type housing units and 50,000 square feet of shops, offices and restaurants as a smart-growth model for Scarborough, just south of metro Portland, the ''Great American Neighborhood'' (GAN) was fought by the local NoGAN group and ALC Development eventually scaled the project down by more than 100 housing units, but neighbors still consider it too dense.

A member of the town's comprehensive plan review committee, Jack Kelly, told Portland Press Herald writer Ann S. Kim that ALC has shown the ''patience of Job'' in the face of ''NIMBY harassment.''

The NoGAN group, the writer notes, prevailed in a town referendum on reverting most of the site to previous zoning, but the Cumberland County Superior Court later found that zoning at odds with the town's comprehensive plan. Consequently, town officials are working on an ordinance that would let ALC build 240 units on the 120 acres suitable for construction, with bonuses of 24 units for land conservation and another 24 for affordable housing, a total of 288 units.

NoGAN activist Beth Conceison said at the latest public hearing the group is ''hoping for a number closer to 200,'' while member Mary Angis urged the Town Council to make the number ''more palatable,'' clearly hinting another referendum as she warned, ''Don't let history repeat itself.'' -- Press Herald   5/19/2005

Resource(s): www.mainetoday.com/

School-Siting Bill Would Require Maine Communities to Designate New School Locations ''Strategically and Thoughtfully''

In response to The Kennebeck Journal's editorial concern that his school-siting bill, debated by Maine lawmakers, ''would prevent new regional schools,'' Democratic Representative John F. Piotti told the newspaper that its interpretation is false, since the bill is simply ''designed to ensure that new school construction occurs where it makes the most sense.''

If a new school near existing infrastructure is impractical,'' the representative wrote, ''the bill would require the community to designate the area where the school will be located as a 'growth area' in its comprehensive plan,'' in recognition of ''the reality that new schools are a magnet for community growth, and as such, they should be located strategically and thoughtfully.''

Acknowledging that ''a few communities where schools might someday be located'' lack comprehensive plans, Representative Piotti asked, ''But should the state of Maine be investing $10 to $30 million of taxpayer money in a community that hasn't done its planning homework?''

Calling his bill ''all about good planning,'' which enhances communities and saves public money, he concluded, ''And good planning should be the goal whether we're talking about a small neighborhood school or a large regional school.'' -- The Kennebeck Journal   5/16/2005

Resource(s): http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/home.shtml

Legislation Would Encourage Locating New Schools Near Town Centers

Backed by GrowSmart Maine, Maine Audubon and other advocacy groups, state Democratic Representative John Piotti wants to encourage school construction in or near town centers, to maximize benefits of sidewalks and other infrastructure, enhance downtown vitality and curb suburban sprawl.

His proposed bill, he told lawmakers in the Education Committee, ''is designed to make sure state investment in schools is wise investment.'' This would also help farmers, by limiting related residential and commercial inroads into rural areas and thus preventing rapid land price increases.

The bill, reports Kennebec Journal writer Chris Churchill, would bar the state Board of Education from approving a school away from present infrastructure unless a local comprehensive plan targets the area for growth.

Nevertheless, the writer observes, the bill may conflict with Democratic Governor John Baldacci's school consolidation push, while raising Maine School Management Association practicality concerns, with association official Gerald Clockedile noting that schools in many rural areas usually serve several towns.

On the other hand, bill supporters pointed out that neighborhood schools encourage students to walk or bike, both important for reducing childhood obesity.

''This is a public health issue,'' said Maine Bicycle Coalition executive director Jeffrey Miller at the committee hearing. ''Keep the long-term picture in mind here.'' -- Kennebec Journal   5/3/2005

Resource(s): www.kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/

Sanford Officials Welcome Flood of Building Permit Applications

Facing housing caps in most of York County's 29 towns, developers flooded long-stagnant Sanford with permit applications for 757 units, mostly condos and apartments, in the past six months -- more than the total built over the 1990s -- a turn of events rather welcomed by local officials and growth experts, who point out that the town has a lot of infrastructure and believe that such potential small service-centers, or ''micropolitan'' communities will help contain suburban sprawl.

Most of the proposed or recently started housing is concentrated along the northwest-southeast crosstown Main Street/Route 109 corridor, reports Portland Press-Herald writer Elbert Aull, quoting Planning Director James Gulnac, who says officials launched several studies to find out what population increase local roads, sewers and public safety services can support, especially in the corridor's main retail and business segment.

Town Councilor Maura Herlihy says Sanford is well prepared for the coming growth, noting that the prospects have already prompted owners to repair rundown homes, with lots priced at some $16,000 not long ago, fetching two times more now. -- Press-Herald   4/11/2005

Resource(s): www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Governing Contradictions: Maine's School Consolidation Policy at Odds With State Planning Office's Efforts to Control Sprawl

''The Legislature needs to take a hard look at Maine's contradictory school construction policy,'' writes Waldoboro resident Steve Cartwright in a letter to The Kennebec Journal, pointing out that School Administrative District 40's Middle School Building Committee, on which he served, voted for a new school in his town, but was overruled by the state Education Department, willing to help pay only for a consolidated school ''in the middle of nowhere.''

Consequently, the towns of Waldoboro, Washington, Warren, Union and Friendship decided to build such a school ''on former farmland, far from any community center.'' A small Waldoboro school would help keep the town ''a vital place where students could walk to school, the soda shop, the library and the theater,'' the writer notes, puzzled by what's going on in the state government.

While the state Planning Office focuses on the need to stop sprawl, the school construction policy promotes sprawl,'' he writes, asking about school consolidation: ''Does this really save money? What is the effect of consolidation on our children, our sense of belonging to a particular place?'' -- The Kennebec Journal   2/4/2005

Resource(s): www.kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/

Scarborough Cites Smart Growth Policy, Higher-Density Zoning to Approve Additional Housing Units for Oak Hill Neighborhood

Under its smart growth policy and special higher-density zoning, the Scarborough Town Council unanimously approved developer Kerry Anderson's plan to build 222 instead of 177 varied-housing units on a 52-acre site in the Oak Hill neighborhood, with Councilor Sylvia Most glad to take at least ''a small step toward directing development to parts of town that can handle it.''

Although resident Ed Simonds told the council he doesn't feel ''we need to squeeze those extra 45 homes into the property,'' reports Portland Press Herald writer Ann S. Kim, several councilors pointed out that 15 of them will be affordable to lower-income residents, including town employees, school teachers and others who can't afford the average local new home price of more than $400,000.

The project, the writer adds, will mix single family homes, town houses and multi-family units, all on a grid pattern of interconnected streets, with sidewalks and trees, and with parts of the tract designated for parks and open space. -- Portland Press Herald   1/20/2005

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/

Brunswick Residents Act to Force Decision on Smart Growth Ordinance

Last October, the Brunswick Town Council voted 4-3 against a proposed Rural Brunswick Smart Growth ordinance -- Maine's first, that would have made wildlife protection more profitable and destruction more costly for developers -- but voters elected four new councillors in November and on the same day placed more than 1,800 signatures on a grassroots petition to adopt the ordinance or put it to a town referendum, with the new council receiving the petition on January 17 and having 30 days to hold a public hearing before making its decision.

''There is overwhelming support for controlling growth in Brunswick,'' said petition organizer Fred Horch. ''People are fed up with sprawl.'' More big projects ''in the middle of nowhere'' will further strain town services, he pointed out, urging the council to pass the ordinance without a referendum, and stressing, ''The big landowners, their only interest is in cashing in. And the rest of us are left paying the bills for generation to come.''

Owners of more than 200 farmland acres some five miles west of downtown Brunswick, Scott Fraser and his mother Ruth told Portland Press Herald writer Dennis Hoey they don't want restrictions on their land use. ''As a farmer, your equity is in the highest and best use of your land, which in my case would be house lots,'' said Scott. ''When the town ties that up, it reduces what you can get out of your land.''

According to its three-year study, funded by a federal grant, the writer notes, Brunswick has several unspoiled tracts of wildlife habitat, ranging from 150 to 1,700 acres -- a total of more than 7,300 acres. Since the town lacks money to buy them for preservation, the proposed rural smart growth ordinance would offer developers density bonuses and other incentives for conservation easements, and charge them $5,000 per acre for damaged and unreplaced habitat.

Brunswick planning and development director Theo Holtwijk, who helped write the ordinance, told the writer it has been praised for its balance between wildlife protection and property rights. -- Portland Press Herald   1/10/2005

Resource(s): http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Anonymous Gift Boosts Prospects for Maine Land Conservation Fund

An anonymous $250,000 gift to the Maine Community Foundation's Fund for Maine Land Conservation has raised its total assets to about $380,000, thrilling Foundation donor-and-service director Ann Tartre, who says the gift ''will allow us to nearly triple our grantmaking'' for projects focused on preservation, stewardship and smart growth.

Helping increase cooperation between local land trusts, municipalities and nonprofit groups that work on such projects, reports the Brunswick Times Record, the Fund for Maine Land Conservation has recently partnered with the Horizon Foundation to expand their joint reach and raise more money for preservation programs and planning grants.

For details about donations to the fund and its application deadlines, the next expiring May 15, the daily directs readers to Ellen Pope at 1-877-700-6800 or to www.mainecf.org -- Maine Community Foundation   1/3/2005

Resource(s): www.mainecf.org/index.html

Editorial: The Fight Against Sprawl Is Also a Fight to Preserve Community

Although popular discussions of sprawl are often limited to its impact on farmland and natural resources, the fight against sprawl ''is also about preserving the character of communities, keeping the neighborhood qualities that bring people together, keeping people healthy and saving money both on infrastructure and on property taxes,'' says a Portland Press Herald editorial on the GrowSmart Maine summit held in Augusta, commending the nonprofit group for its effort to focus public attention on the economic impact of random development in the countryside.

The daily agrees that ''the state's high tax burden itself is fueling sprawl, because it pushes people to more rural areas for the benefit of lower taxes,'' which perpetuates a vicious circle, since cities must maintain services ''with less of a tax base, so property taxes increase.'' Such increases eventually hit rural areas, when they have to build schools, hire more teachers, and expand roads, services and utilities.

''Too many communities are doing all of these things separately rather than looking at ways to share services with other nearby town and cities,'' the daily says, fully aware that regionalism is a difficult goal, because ''consolidating some services means some people will lose their jobs.''

But it also means saving on personal property taxes, the daily notes, advising residents to support regional cooperation, along with mixed-use development, which saves open space, cuts infrastructure costs, and reduces car dependency.

''The greatest obstacle that smart planning advocates will have to overcome in Maine,'' the daily continues, ''are people who closely guard property rights and resent government intrusion on the personal choice of where to live.''

However, the daily reverses their argument that smart growth would force people to live in cities while they prefer more space elsewhere, telling objectors that ''the way things are now forces people to move to suburbs and buy houses on big lots,'' because there is not enough housing in cities to meet the demand. -- Portland Press Herald   12/11/2004

Resource(s): www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/viewpoints/editorials/index.shtml

GrowSmart Maine Summit Focuses on Call for Regional Planning Cooperation

''We must provide tax relief to Maine citizens, invest in land conservation and renew our downtowns'' to win the battle against sprawl, said Maine Democratic Governor John Baldacci at the second annual GrowSmart Maine summit in Augusta, his call for regional planning cooperation echoed by former Maine Independent Governor Angus King, and former New Jersey Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman, also U.S. EPA Administrator in 2001-02.

But the issue ''needs to be developed from the bottom up,'' because ''if the public isn't with us, we'll not succeed,'' stressed GrowSmart Maine president Alan Caron, whose nonprofit group, reports Kennebec Journal writer Mechele Cooper, works to prevent Maine's transformation ''from a place of small towns and walkable neighborhoods to a place where commercial and residential development is scattered over large open spaces.''

Among the roots of such development is the state tax system, under which city residents pay 5.3 percent more than their rural counterparts, said former Transportation Commissioner John Melrose, pointing out that although many cities face a loss of revenue from struggling downtown areas, they still have to ''export wealth to accommodate people who live outside.''

The subsidies for new infrastructure and services in outer areas cost millions. To illustrate the extent of the duplication, the Bangor Daily News reports that Portland and Lewiston, with a total of about 95,000 residents, depend on 19 firetrucks, but the 20 or so towns with an equal number of residents in Augusta's 20-mile radius maintain a total of 91 firetrucks. ''Maine taxpayers cannot afford that kind of redundancy,'' observed Governor Baldacci, a view shared by his predecessor, Governor King.

Noting that Washington County in the state's rural northeast counts only 5,500 school children, but nine superintendents and 32 school boards, the former governor said he has ''this vision of every kid in Washington County sitting down with his own school board member next to him.'' -- Kennebec Journal   12/11/2004

Resource(s): www.kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/ ; www.bangornews.com/

Portland City Council Gives Green Light to Varied-Income Rental Project

Eager for any smart-growth infill opportunity to augment urban housing and curb Greater Portland sprawl, the Portland City Council unanimously let developer Nathan Szanton build 40 varied-income rental units on 0.4 acres of a former gas station in the West End, more than twice the number the current zoning allows, with Mayor Nathan Smith saying, ''This project does just about everything we as a city have been asking for.''

Blending into the neighborhood, the proposed Walker Terrace building will have a sixth-floor mezzanine featuring decks and cathedral ceilings in some apartments, reports Portland Press Herald writer Mark Peters, will offer 20 affordable and 20 market-rate units, with one-bedroom-apartment rents at $660 and $1,050 a month, respectively.

Backed by housing and transit advocates, nearby landlords and some residents, the developer pointed out at the council's hearing that his building, its parking space halved to one per apartment, will make tenants take local buses more often and will also spur foot traffic in the area. But some neighbors questioned his assertion, worried about the project's density and potential parking problems, and called instead for several smaller buildings with more parking spaces.

City planners and councilors saw these worries as unwarranted. The writer notes that Portland's comprehensive plan, updated in 2002, urges construction of 4,200 housing units, including rentals, within ten years. Among the more than 400 already built are 27 affordable and market-rate units completed by Szanton in June, atop an aging nearby parking garage. -- Portland Press Herald   9/21/2004

Resource(s): www.pressherald.mainetoday.com/

Debate on Growth Caps Continues in Maine's York County

York County is restricting numbers of new housing permits, and allowing large lots in an attempt to reduce the speed of residential development. Advocates of these tactics claim slowed growth results, but opponents believe that it worsens sprawl by forcing development into communities without growth caps.

''Three towns in a row with growth caps means the people who most need the housing will have to go to the fourth town and that means more driving and sprawl,'' said Alan Caron, president of GrowSmart Maine.

Despite the evidence that growth caps worsen sprawl, and the need for apartments and condominium developments for retirees, most York County municipalities are keeping its large lot zoning and growth caps in place. One town, Berwick, recently replaced their growth restrictions with a new zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan designed to manage growth.

Even in the face of increased costs of infrastructure in the no-growth towns, voters are still insisting on growth caps in most York County towns. -- Press Herald   7/18/2004

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/

Legislature Adjourns Without Funding Land for Maine's Future Program

Troubled that the state legislature adjourned without acting on a bond package that could recharge the Land for Maine's Future program -- since the total sought by Democrats for transportation, environment and conservation seemed too high to Republicans -- Democratic Governor John Baldacci, the Natural Resources Council of Maine, and the Corporate Conservation Council still expect lawmakers to make a deal in time to present the package to voters this November.

''Call legislators and tell them how important it is,'' the governor urged the Corporate Conservation Council -- formed in 1997 and led by the L.L. Bean company -- at its meeting in Manchester, willing to call a special legislative session if the deal is reachable. He pointed out, reports Kennebec Journal writer Susan M. Cover, that Maine ranks fourth nationwide in attracting new residents, only behind California, Nevada and Arizona, and that further commitment to open space would strengthen its attraction.

L.L. Bean president and CEO Chris McCormick noted that the council has raised about $7 million within seven years to help conserve land, lakes, streams, and the oceanfront, stressing, ''We are working with Gov. Baldacci to bring the legislature back to Augusta.''

In its June issue of ''Maine Environment,'' the Natural Resources Council of Maine sharply criticized the legislature for the lack of bipartisanship on the bond issue, stating, ''Rarely has such a broad coalition worked so hard in support of a popular bill to help protect Maine's environment as demonstrated by this year's land bond campaign. Yet, for our efforts, we were left with nothing.'' -- Kennebec Journal   6/22/2004

Resource(s): http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/ ; www.pressherald.com/home.shtml

Friends of Midcoast Maine Recognize Towns of Belfast and Unity at Annual Smart Growth Awards

Formed in 2000 to fight sprawl and help plan orderly development in booming Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties, the nonprofit Friends of Midcoast Maine advocacy group presented its annual smart-growth awards to the city of Belfast, whose residents overwhelmingly approved a 75,000-square-foot limit on big-box stores in 2001, and to two businesses -- the Chase's Daily family restaurant in a renovated historic building on Main Street, and the village-style Quarry Hill retirement complex built by Northeast Health Inc. in Camden.

Commending Belfast Mayor Mike Hurley and Planner Wayne Marshal for their leadership in protecting downtown character, Friends of Midcoast Maine Executive Director Jane LeFleur pointed out that the successful big-box control referendum had kept Wal-Mart away so far. With a move afoot to let big boxes in one city area, the mayor said he should have worked even harder to have some small retailers come and boost downtown appeal as the Chase's Daily restaurant did.

The Chase family's farm in Freedom, about 15 miles away, supplies fresh products to the restaurant and a food market, spotlighting ''the importance of buying locally,'' reports Bangor Daily News writer Tom Groening.

The award-winning Quarry Hill retirement complex near downtown Camden offers 48 homes and a long-term care facility, all around a central green, and its walkways make downtown easily accessible for the seniors.

The Friends of Midcoast Maine annual meeting and smart-growth award ceremony also featured a presentation of growth-planning in the small town of Unity -- population 1,800 -- by the nonprofit Unity Barn Raisers volunteer director, and both Democratic state representative and Maine Farm Project for Coastal Enterprises Inc. director, John Piotti. Instrumental in drawing Unity's first comprehensive plan in 1989, he described the group's success in attracting business downtown, renovating old buildings, and extending improvement loans and technical assistance.

The group's first land-use ordinance overlooked some residents' concerns and failed in 1994, which ''was the best thing that could have happened,'' since after meetings with opponents, he said, ''We came up with a much better ordinance because we listened to them.'' -- Bangor Daily News   6/12/2004

Resource(s): www.bangornews.com/

Brunswick Builders See Market for Smaller Lots Near Preserved Land

As subdivisions on Brunswick's western edges pop up ''like mushrooms after a spring rain,'' a key nature preservation goal of its 1993 comprehensive plan seems in reach, with the town's Rural Smart Growth Advisory Committee of officials, residents, builders and others offering a well-balanced strategy to secure owner property rights and wildlife habitat needs.

The proposed Rural Smart Growth Strategy, reports Brunswick Time Record writer Elizabeth Dorsey, envisions landowner and community education programs; a builder ''density bonus'' for habitat site preservation; a wildlife corridor and contiguous ''overlay'' zones for 7,300 acres of habitat; a habitat impact mitigation fee program; a conservation lease program, under which owners would benefit from a property tax reduction; and the town's acquisition of land.

Instrumental in devising the strategy, town natural resources planner Steve Walker says builders have been cooperating with the town along these guidelines even though they are not yet formalized as a zoning ordinance, because they saw a market for smaller lots near preserved land.

''There are a lot of retired people and young couples moving in,'' he explains, ''and they don't need two acres as long as they know the view out of their window won't change.'' -- Time Record   5/3/2004

Resource(s): www.timesrecord.com/

Portland-Area Transport Committee Considers Linking Road Funding with Local Anti-Sprawl Measures

Although the recent denial of state money for Route 1 improvements near Scarborough -- after three-quarters of its residents voted against building almost 400 clustered housing units in a dense neighborhood last July -- drew complaints about bully tactics, the Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation Study (PACTS) committee of 15 municipalities is working on a regional policy that would explicitly link road funding with community willingness to pursue an anti-sprawl course. It would make such state and federal funding for major road projects dependent on local measures to ease traffic congestion, limit large-lot subdivisions and curb growth spread toward the edges of Greater Portland, reports Portland Press Herald writer Mark Peters, quoting Department of Transportation assistant planning director Kathy Fuller, who says, ''This is the introduction of a major change,'' one of the first of its kind nationwide.

The required local anti-sprawl measures, the writer finds, could include revised zoning, capital improvement plans and business incentive programs. Planners realize they will face opposition, since higher density downtown area development and other smart-growth projects ''have had limited success in southern Maine,'' the writer notes, with PACTS executive director John Duncan also thinking ''it is going to be a tough one to sell.''

In a comment, Smart Growth America communication director David Goldberg said linking road expansion with ensuing traffic, sprawl and other side effects ''is definitely a trend,'' with a smaller vanguard ''making headway on it.'' -- Portland Press Herald   11/24/2003

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/news/index.shtml

Buxton Voters Give Two Thumbs Up for Cluster Developments

Although many small Maine towns like Buxton, some 10 miles east of Portland, have been long allowing such smart-growth higher-density solutions as ''cluster'' housing -- which saves community open space and developer construction dollars -- most area builders and buyers still favor the standard ''cookie-cutter'' subdivisions, where design presents few problems and everything is evenly spaced and usually looks alike. Thus Buxton voters, reports Portland Herald Press writer Elbert Aull, overwhelmingly voted on November 4 for a new long-range plan that explicitly encourages cluster development, with planning expert Carl Estes saying ''everybody recognizes it's a pretty good way to help save open space.''

Smart growth ''is hard to sell,'' the writer notes, but things may get better. A recent state planning office study of midcoast area homeowners, found 45 percent of respondents preferring to live in rural areas and away from neighbors, but about 38 percent already leaning toward village-like settings and homes closer to neighbors, schools and services. ''People who are buying out in rural areas,'' says state community planner John Del Vecchio, ''want to step out their back door ... and not be able to see any neighbors.'' He attributes much of the local cluster market weakness to predominantly bad siting, where ''a 50-acre cluster in a rural area of town ... doesn't provide the accessibility for people who want to live close to services,'' while bringing those who prefer distance too close together.

Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission planning director J.T. Lockman adds that in contrast to other states, where large subdivisions are common and cluster developers can save large amounts on construction and infrastructure, the typically smaller Maine subdivisions don't make clustering especially attractive financially. ''If you're only dealing with a parcel that's 30 to 50 acres,'' he says, ''The relative cost savings aren't that great.'' -- Portland Herald Press   11/23/2003

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/news/index.shtml

Maine Voters Approve Bond Proposals for Transit, Environmental Cleanup

In a strong confirmation of their priorities even in ''tight fiscal times,'' Maine voters let the state issue a total of $89.3 million in bonds -- 66 percent authorizing $63.5 million for transportation, 59 percent endorsing $6.9 for the environment, and 54 percent approving $19 million for higher education and public libraries. Proposed by Democratic Governor John Baldacci and fine-tuned by lawmakers as part of his strategy to spur the state economy, reports Concord Monitor writer Jerry Harkavy, the bond package is expected to leverage substantial federal matching funds, at least $217 million for transportation and more than 14 million for the environment. The transportation bond, considered most urgent and strongly backed by a coalition of business, tourism and economic development interests, will allow the state to resurface 2,000 miles of roads, reconstruct 180 miles of highways and 80 bridges, do additional work on a Portland-Brunswick passenger rail line, and fund other improvements, including port and ferry, airport, bikeway and walkway projects. The environmental bond will provide money for hazardous waste cleanups, construction and upgrades of sewage treatment and wastewater discharge systems, and improvements in drinking water supply. -- Concord Monitor   11/5/2003

Resource(s): www.cmonitor.com/

Gov. Baldacci Stresses Need to Guide Growth in GrowSmart Maine Keynote Address

''Maine's way of life, our countryside and communities, are being changed for the worse by sprawl,'' said Democratic Governor John Baldacci in a keynote speech at the first annual meeting of the newly created GrowSmart Maine, a statewide nonprofit based in Yarmouth, announcing that the State Planning Office will work with other agencies and groups like GrowSmart Maine to draft a smart growth agenda by January. Estimating sprawl-related state spending on new suburban roads, schools and water lines at $50 million a year, ''while our service centers decay,'' the governor stressed the need to guide growth. He expects the smart growth agenda to focus on investing in urban centers, promoting regional cooperation between municipalities and school districts, preventing the loss of rural and forest land, and expanding affordable housing. GrowSmart Maine's Board of Directors chairman, former State Planning Office director Evan Richert presented the group's first Pioneer Award to developers Elliot and John Chamberlain for their long and courageous effort to build the Great American Neighborhood, the mixed-use Dunstan Crossing in Scarborough, ultimately rejected by nearly 75 percent of the voters in August. Hailed by many state and local planners as a model of smart growth, notes Portland Press Herald writer Tess Nacelewicz, Dunstan Crossing would have clustered 397 units of housing near retail and commerce, to save open and recreational space and make it easy for residents to walk instead of driving everywhere. -- Portland Press Herald   10/8/2003

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/news/index.shtml

Conference Highlights Links Between Economic Development, Affordable Housing

The $60-million Economic Development Bond Issue voter-approved in June already letting him use $8 million to help lower-income families buy their first homes, Governor John Baldacci told the 11th statewide conference on the links between economic development and affordable housing to focus on community development, which must combine economic, housing and cultural efforts to prevent unbalanced growth. The governor said the state needs better strategies for leveraging state, federal and nonprofit funds and urged attendees to work for housing on a regional basis, without inducing sprawl, but addressing the related issues of transportation, education and employment, reports York County Coast Star writer Nina Heiser. ''We want to shape the future of our communities by building on the best of our past,'' the governor stressed. ''To that end, we need to closely examine any policies that encourage sprawl or that discourage the redevelopment of our downtowns.'' His call was echoed by State Housing Authority director Michael Finnegan, National Council of State Housing Agencies executive director Barbara Thompson and national expert Carter Wilkie. Director Finnegan pointed out that ''high housing costs, Nimbyism (Not in my back yard) and sprawl are all related.'' Director Thompson emphasized the need ''to channel public concern into action from local planning board to Congress'' since the federal housing budget lags far behind the annual inflation rate, having risen from $29 million in 1979 to only $31 billion in 2003. Co-author (with Richard Moe) of ''Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl,'' urbanist Wilkie said infill is crucial in the fight against sprawl, adding, ''Don't wait for comprehensive plans to change; you need to remove obstacles to have infill and align incentives'' first. -- York County Coast Star   10/3/2003

Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/index.htm

Report Outlines Steps for Improving Land Use Strategies in New England

''Sprawl is neither the ordained nor the inevitable outcome upon the New England landscape,'' but the necessary public-private steps to ''improve land use patterns and reduce the cost of local government'' must begin with legislation to eliminate gaps between land use laws of the region's six states and with incentives for municipal cooperation, asserts the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service in its just-posted online ''Model State Land Use Legislation for New England.'' The 97-page study proposes the creation of municipal service districts, an outcome-based comprehensive planning law and omnibus model state-level land use control legislation. It points out that in the face of growing sprawl costs, ''it is incumbent upon all levels of government to respond in a comprehensive, forceful, and effective manner.'' Specifically, the states and municipalities should acknowledge that they share land use authority; that the state can and will assert its authority to fulfill its financial, social, environmental and other responsibilities when they are jeopardized; that primary land use decision-making authority can and should reside at the local level, with state review warranted if state interests and responsibilities are at stake; and that ''when the state asserts authority over municipalities, it must be done equally and fairly across the state.'' To help the six states ''enact all or a portion'' of the proposed legal framework, the study organizes the material in three increasingly specific parts, entitled ''A mechanism to create a form of regional governance tailored to New England,'' ''A far-reaching set of amendments to the state-level, comprehensive land-use planning statutes of Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont'' (since Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire lack such statutes), and ''A set of 10 individual provisions which, taken together, represent omnibus land use legislation.'' The study also defines or clarifies definitions of impact fee; implementation program; moratorium; rate of growth, or ''cap'' ordinance; capital budgeting; cluster development; floating or unmapped zoning; high density development; infill development; locally unwanted land use (LULU); Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY); overlay zoning; planned unit (mixed use) development; and transfer of development rights.   7/18/2003

Resource(s): http://efc.muskie.usm.maine.edu/pubs.htm

Village-Style Project Bucks the Sprawl Trend in Southwest Maine

Alarmed by fast transformation of Maine's southwestern coast into a chain of suburbs and by Portland's tremendous sprawl in the past decade, smart growth advocates, conservationists and land use planners applaud developer John Chamberlain for persuading the Scarborough Town Council to permit his high-density, village-style, pedestrian-friendly Dunstan Crossing project, which will include more than 400 homes, row houses and apartments, shops, parks, hiking trails and tree-lined streets with sidewalks -- a New Urbanist ''back to the future'' recipe for orderly growth, open space preservation and less traffic. Noting that the developer gathered public input for three years and offered the town $1 million to buy other farmland, Christian Science Monitor correspondent Colin Woodard quotes him as saying, ''We could build a 65-unit big-box colonial subdivision here without any special approval,'' but this would have cost the town $40,000 more in annual services than it would collect in revenue, while his neo-traditional solution will bring it a $250,000 per year net gain. University of Southern Maine public policy professor Richard Barringer tells the correspondent, ''The town will be better, society will save more resources, people will live better, and the developers will make more money.'' But although the state planning office has found 60 percent of prospective buyers interested in the possibility of living in a picturesque village, best exemplified by colonial-era Wiscasset on the coast north of Portland, the problem is, points out Portland Realtor turned smart-growth advocate Ed Suslovic, that most Maine towns virtually mandate sprawl and make new Wiscassets impossible, sticking to ''minimum lot sizes, road frontage, growth caps, and extensive street-width requirements.'' Like his predecessor Evan Richert, new state planning director David Keeley warns, ''The way that we're consuming the landscape threatens the very nature of Maine as we know it.'' -- Christian Science Monitor   5/22/2003

Resource(s): www.csmonitor.com/

Glendening Calls Fight Against Sprawl a ''Conservative Issue''

''Sprawl is fiscally irresponsible,'' stated former Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening in his first speech as the president of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute of the Washington-based Smart Growth America coalition, telling more than 400 officials, planners, academicians, lawmakers and others at a GrowSmart Maine land use forum in Portland that even if many have called him one of the most progressive governors, ''fighting sprawl . . . is actually a very conservative issue.'' He explained, reports Portland Press Herald writer Joshua L. Weinstein, that residential surges beyond urban areas require public subsidies for roads, schools and other infrastructure, that states can channel growth through tax and other policies, and that the federal government should remember sprawl while deciding on small business loans and the location of new facilities. The severe current budget shortages in states like Maine, the governor said, should give them another reason to refocus on their quality of life and curb subsidies for sprawl. The Press Herald writer's remark that it ''may have been harder'' for the governor ''to see opportunity in the enormous budget shortfalls'' when he was still in office disregards his gubernatorial record, highlighted in The Boston Globe, where the Associated Press cites his Smart Growth legislation to concentrate development incentives on urban and older neighborhoods and divert it from farmland. The agency also quotes the governor as pointing out that when he took office in January 1995, Maryland's top priority was to deal with school overcrowding fed by fast growth, but when he left office last month, the goal was to renovate schools. -- Portland Press Herald ; The Boston Globe   2/26/2003

Resource(s): www.pressherald.com/ ; www.boston.com/

Friends of Midcoast Maine Advocacy Group Launches Smart Growth Initiative

''If we don't control growth, not only will our businesses suffer but our quality of life and that of our children will suffer as well,'' warned Boothbay builder Steve Malcolm at a New Castle forum, where his Friends of Midcoast Maine advocacy group launched the Lincoln County Smart Growth Initiative to fight the region's sprawl and preserve its character, livability and ecosystems, while working with business and land trust leaders, municipal planners and concerned residents to nurture local economies. ''We need to approach smart growth,'' he said, ''in a practical way that speaks to developers and to land trust members, in a way that will allow housing and business to grow but not at the expense of the environment.'' Friends of Midcoast Maine executive director Margaret Murphy pointed out that ''coastal communities are changing rapidly because of market forces and unplanned growth,'' with altered demographics, a bigger income gap, affordable housing shortages, and farmland and open space losses posing threats to a better future. The forum keynote speaker, Lisa Henderson of the Workforce Housing Coalition, reports Lincoln County Weekly writer Jennifer Brockway, encouraged the county to follow the lead of New Hampshire's Greater Seacoast region and use Voluntary Smart Growth Endorsement Criteria for evaluating a project's impact on a community, infrastructure and the environment. Friends of Midcoast Maine will form an exploratory committee to determine the viability of the Smart Growth evaluation criteria in their region. -- Lincoln County Weekly   1/23/2003

Resource(s): www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1467

Portland Plan Would Require Replacment Housing, Housing Fund Contributions for Nonresidential Construction

Portland city officials are drafting a proposal so that anyone who demolishes housing to make way for nonresidential construction would be required to replace it or contribute to a housing development fund. ''Gone are the days in Portland when you can just take housing off the market,'' Mayor Karen Geraghty said. ''There is an urgency out there in a couple of neighborhoods. We need to try to maintain housing stock where we can.'' One place city officials are looking for ideas is Burlington, Vermont. That city adopted its housing preservation and replacement ordinance in the early 1990s, when it faced a housing crisis similar to Portland's. Mark Eldridge, Burlington's director of planning and zoning, said the ordinance has been successful. ''I think the fact that we provided a variety of options helped,'' he said. -- Portland Press Herald   7/26/2002

Resource(s): www.portland.com/

Believing Transit Use Can Be Doubled, Maine Launches Campaign With New Hampshire

Campaign to Boost Public Transit Underway in Maine, New Hampshire Aided by the Maine Turnpike Authority, the transportation departments of Maine and New Hampshire are stepping up their efforts to reduce highway congestion and air pollution with their first joint marketing campaign to boost public transit in the I-95 corridor, where rail and bus passengers presently account for only about one percent of all travelers. The states are spending $100,000 on a web site with rail and bus schedules and on a 30-second TV commercial showing transit passengers arriving ''refreshed, ready and relaxed.'' Convinced that transit use can easily be doubled, Maine transportation commissioner John Melrose notes that even the current widening of I-95 will not ease its congested traffic, which increases at least two percent a year. The state's transit plans provide for more bus routes, additional park-and-ride lots and a launch of the Portland-Brunswick commuter rail service in 2003 or 2004. See the Partnership for a Smart Alternative web site: http://www.smartalternative.org . -- Concord Monitor   6/24/2002

Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/

Slim Budget Doesn't Deter Maine's Smart Growth Strategies

Despite budgetary constraints, Maine is pursuing Governor Angus King's ''smart growth'' policy and moving further against sprawl, reports Portland Press Herald writer Tom Bell, noting a bill to create a Community Preservation Advisory Committee, which will study such issues as the link between large-lot zoning and the lack of affordable housing in many southern and coastal towns, and a bill to set up an Internet ''library'' of digital, color-coded land- use maps and other data currently accessible mostly in town halls. The advisory committee, working continuously until 2008, will include seven lawmakers from districts with rural towns, fast- growing suburbs and hub communities, representatives from the State Planning Office and the Maine Commission on Historic Preservation, real estate professionals and environmentalists. The digital map library will help communities visualize the impact of development on their land and water resources. Legislators hope that in November voters will approve an environmental bond, with $2.3 million for the digital library, and an economic development bond, with $4 million for the 1993 Municipal Infrastructure Trust Fund that received its first $300,000 under a bond measure passed last fall. The writer quotes smart growth advocates as saying that investment in cities and hub towns will help them remain attractive and stem residents' flight to suburbs and rural areas.   4/16/2002

Resource(s): www.portland.com/news/

Maine Gov. Stresses Need to Manage Growth in State

''We can and must regulate -- to protect the environment, our workers, and our families'' and ''we must also tax -- to support our schools, maintain our infrastructure, and provide health care and necessary services to the most vulnerable of our citizens,'' said Governor Angus S. King in his State of the State speech, stressing that the need to sustain ''the essence of Maine in the midst of economic change'' dictates that ''we will embrace growth and its benefits but we will be conscious of its pitfalls and smart about its direction and nature.'' The stunning fact that Maine has developed as much land between 1970 and 1990 as in the previous 150 years and may double that amount again by 2010, the governor pointed out, ''doesn't mean that we stop growth,'' especially since the state should stimulate it in rural areas. ''The issue has everything to do with how we grow,'' he said. ''If we spread out aimlessly like a jug of spilled water, we lose,'' he continued. ''Instead of landscapes, we get junkscapes. We have to pay attention to incremental effects and try to direct growth to the places in town where it makes sense -- like downtown.'' It this context, the governor appealed for redoubled efforts ''to sustain our coastal and agricultural communities, to enhance our sporting heritage, to advance sustainable forestry, to promote industrial processes that protect the environment and to ensure that the next generation will be able to enjoy the lakes, ponds, streams and mountains that make Maine so special.''   1/22/2002

Resource(s): www.state.me.us/governor/policy/my_position/02sos.htm

Maine: Gardiner City Looks Ahead with Main Street Program

Gardiner City residents and downtown merchants can expect great returns on the $690 million in city money, $400 million in state funds and about $200 million in other grants for their newly launched Main Street revitalization program, but must be patient to reap its full benefits, said two visiting experts, Teresa Lynch of the National Main Street Center and Craig Freshley of the Maine Downtown Center. Kennebec Journal writer Keith Edwards quotes Lynch, who pointed out that each community dollar spent on the Main Street program "has generated an average of $39 in investment from other sources" and Freshley, who noted the need to follow its four principles of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring, adding that since downtown "didn't deteriorate overnight," it will take perhaps three to five years to come back. City economic development director Chris Paszyc said officials are interviewing candidates for a Downtown Opportunity Corporation manager to oversee revitalization and promote business, with the City Council likely to help the process along by setting up a tax increment financing (TIF) district.   11/29/2001

Resource(s): www.centralmaine.com/news

Maine Tax Incentives Paying Off, But Layoffs May Bring New Conditions to Program

Amid the brewing battle about tax increment financing (TIF) and similar incentives -- as magnets for business or drains on public money -- the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) sent state lawmakers a report showing that TIFs cost municipalities $19.5 million last year, but 75 corporate recipients spent more than $618 million and created 3,739 additional jobs, while paying average salaries of $34,727, or $7,470 more than the Maine average. A similar state program, Employment Tax Increment Financing (ETIF), which reimburses companies for a portion of the income taxes they withhold from workers, also rendered local job, income and tax base gains, with nine recipients of $199,600 spending $5.8 million, adding 77 jobs and toping the average Maine salary by $2,122. "Clearly," says DECD Commissioner Steve Levesque, "the programs work to leverage some fairly substantial investment by the private sector." But Portland Press Herald writer Allan Drury reports that recent market problems encountered by two recipients add to mixed feelings. The Auto Europe travel company, which obtained a 15-year, $856,000 TIF package to stay in Portland, spent $2 million to renovate an old warehouse as its office and doubled its workers to 300 last year, but laid off 125 of them in the wake of the post-September 11th drop in business. The Commtel telecommunications company, which secured Portland's $4.8 million TIF package for its proposed downtown data center with 120 new jobs, suddenly postponed construction and laid off 65 workers due to financing snags. The writer adds that the executive vice president of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Chris Hall, has no objection to placing conditions on tax benefits and telling a company, "If you want a TIF, here are the things you have to do to get it."   11/6/2001

Resource(s): www.portland.com

Preservation Bill Would Help Maine Communities Preserve Smaller Woodlands

"I am alarmed by the amount of working forest land and open space that have given way to strip malls and cul-de-sacs," said Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins, announcing her proposed Suburban and Community Open Space Initiative Act, which would create a $50 million Forest Service matching-grant program to help communities preserve woodlands, especially those used for logging or affected by urban sprawl. Speaking to the press at the Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook, west of Portland, Senator Collins said she drew up the bill after learning that southern Maine urbanization has grown 108 percent since 1980, that metro Portland is developing more acres per person than any other northeast city and that the lack of federal aid is hampering efforts to save woodlands from being sold for subdivisions. Maine Forest Service director Tom Doak noted that money from the federal Forest Legacy Program can be used to preserve only large tracts like those in northern Maine. The director of the Small Woodlot Owners Association of Maine, Everett Towle, added that area woodlands provide both jobs and recreation, and called the proposed bill "part of the solution" to preserve the state's way of living. Portland Press Herald writer Tom Bell notes that a broad coalition in support of the bill includes environmental and forest industry groups often split on other issues. Senator Collins plans to attach her legislation to a comprehensive farm bill awaiting congressional action in the next few months.   11/6/2001

Resource(s): www.portland.com

Having lost almost 30,000 young residents in ...

Having lost almost 30,000 young residents in the last decade, Maine must attract newcomers with more diversified housing to secure economic and income growth in the future, warns the "Houses, Jobs and Maine People: 2001" report, presented by Planning Decisions expert Frank O'Hara at the Ninth Governor's Annual Affordable Housing Conference in Rockport. Based on research by University of Maine Professor Emeritus Louis Ploch and State Planning Office analyst Joyce Benson, the report finds that while older people often relocate to Maine, attracted by its quality of life, "natural beauty and small-town values," younger newcomers "are seeking good-paying jobs, the intellectual stimulation of a university and the experience of night life," along with affordable housing, especially apartments. Showing that the 20-percent rental rate in older households jumps to about 50 percent among younger residents, the report notes that the state gained about 25,000 rental units in the 1970s, but in the 1990s, apartment construction "virtually came to a standstill," with the state dropping to the bottom of the nation's multifamily construction per capita ranking in 1999 and 2000. "Young workers want to live in apartments," the report reads, "Right now we're not building them."   9/17/2001

Resource(s): www.centralmaine.com

Maine's ninth annual Affordable Housing Conference will ...

Maine's ninth annual Affordable Housing Conference will be held in Rockport on September 10, with Governor Angus S. King delivering the keynote speech, "Housing for Maine's Future -- the Role of Housing in Planning for Maine's Long-Term Economic Growth." The conference's agenda includes release of a major study, "Housing, Jobs, and Economic Development," by Frank O'Hara of Planning Decisions; a panel on the economic impact of affordable housing, led by Housing Authority Director Michael Finnegan and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Steven Levesque; and workshops on the role of faith-based initiatives in expanding affordable housing, the need to fight the Not-In-My-Back-Yard (NIMBY) attitude and ways to revitalize communities without contributing to sprawl.   8/16/2001

Resource(s): www.centralmaine.com

With overwhelming community support for open space ...

With overwhelming community support for open space preservation, the Brunswick Town Council allocated $225,000 for a purchase of 112 acres in two tracts near the Town Commons, for inclusion in the new Brunswick-to-the-Ocean Trail. The rest of the $525,000 purchase price will be covered by grants from the Land for Maine's Future Board and other state agencies, and by contributions from environmental groups, private foundations and more than 500 residents. Town Manager Don Gerrish says the preserved tracts will greatly benefit the community. Friends of the Commons member Pete Didisheim notes that the tracts would certainly have been developed had residents not rallied behind the purchase. "Trails are almost worshiped by this community," he adds.   7/24/2001

Resource(s): www.centralmaine.com

With a pledge of policies to spur ...

With a pledge of policies to spur affordable housing and a warning that the Not-In-My-Back-Yard attitude "has no place in Maine," Governor Angus S. King (I) said in his State of the State speech he will "propose a 'Smart Growth' package of initiatives that will preserve our neighborhoods, keep our communities alive, and strengthen the natural resource economy of our rural areas." He promised to work with businesses on a "Smart Production" initiative that will lead industrial processes "toward zero environmental impact," while increasing Maine's market competitiveness. He also promised a pilot program to redefine forest management, with a focus "on results instead of regulations," a bill "to get mercury out of product in Maine" and further joint efforts with adjacent states to make Maine fish advisories "a thing of the past." Toward the end of his speech, the governor said, "We must nurture and bring the best of our past and present -- our caring, our community, our unparalleled quality of life -- forward with us." But at the same time, he continued, "we must be prepared to seize the best and most promising of the future to create new opportunities and new prosperity." This will ensure a still richer economy, more vibrant communities, better educated residents and "an environment even cleaner and more beautiful than it is today."   1/29/2001

Resource(s): www.nga.org

In an interview for the Government Technology ...

In an interview for the Government Technology magazine, Governor Angus S. King said he is working very hard "to balance the economic growth, the greater prosperity that everybody wants, with maintaining the character of Maine, which is a state of smaller towns, open space and limited sprawl." The problem is, he continued, that with prosperity come strip malls and that it takes "a lot of effort and deliberate thinking to prevent that from happening, and you're never going to prevent it altogether." Still, he stressed, "we don't want to trade what is special about Maine in terms of our quality of life for an extra couple of percentage points of personal-income growth. I believe very deeply that we can do both."   1/29/2001

Resource(s): www.govtech.net

Focusing on the economy, education and those ...

Focusing on the economy, education and those "things that haven't changed," Governor Angus King has begun a series of meetings with his cabinet and departments, telling officials to "think big, find solutions, identify issues." The first two cabinet brain-storming sessions dealt with sprawl and tax reform. The governor will announce his agenda after a retreat with department chiefs in October.   9/13/1999

Governor Angus King and the New England ...

Governor Angus King and the New England Forestry Foundation announced the nation's largest private land conservation deal, in which private groups must raise $30 million for purchase of development rights to 750,000 acres of prime Maine forest owned by the Pingree family. The family, long known for ecologically sound forestry on its million acres of North Woods, will continue limited logging while protecting the area's wildlife and rare plant species.   3/1/1999

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