Land Use Planning
Comprehensive Planning Data Packets
Upon request from a town's comprehensive planning committee, we will collect and share some types of state data that are appropriate and useful to towns undertaking local comprehensive planning efforts. Since we collect this information from a variety of state agencies we only gather it twice a year (spring and fall). If you are a town official or on a local comprehensive planning committee, you may contact the State Planning Office to request a data package for your town.
SPO has compiled hundreds of resource packages for communities. See a list of those communities (Excel 31KB) and when their packages were last provided.
Data Package Round
Fall 2009
Athens | Fairfield | Freedom | Fryeburg | Frye Island | Lebanon | Newcastle | Otisfield | Pembroke | Perry | South Bristol | South Portland
Spring 2009
Carmel | Corinna | Cumberland | Damariscotta | Dexter | Freedom | Freeport | Jay | Lowell | Manchester | Monson | Randolph | Saco | Waterville | Whitneyville | Winthrop
Additional Planning Data
Demographic and Economic Information
Maine has 22 cities, 433 towns, 34 plantations, 3 Indian reservations and 423 unorganized townships.
Frequently Requested Demographic Data - Commonly requested Census data from the State Planning Office's Economics and Demographics Team.
Municipal Comparisons: State of Maine, Service Center Communities, Fast Growing and Slow Growing Towns (PDF, 30 KB)
Projections: Economy, Government Revenues, Population, School Enrollment, Housing
State of the Cities Data Systems - Provides a wide variety of demographic and economic data, including building permit and public finance data for individual Metropolitan Areas, Central Cities, and Suburbs. (US Department of Housing and Urban Development)
Census 2000 Low and Moderate Income Summary Data - The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published estimates, by town, calculated at three income levels: Moderate Income (80 percent of median income) level, Low Income (50 percent), and Very Low Income (30 percent) level.
Geographic-Based Information (Geographic Information Systems)
Maine GIS Internet Mapping - Free public access to internet mapping applications hosted by the Maine Office of GIS.
Maine GIS Data Catalogue - Catalogue of available digital geographic data from the Maine Office of GIS.
Beginning with Habitat - The Beginning with Habitat initiative can create a series of maps showing the locations of valuable plant and animal habitats in your town.
Historic Maps
Historic U.S. Geological Survey Maps of Maine (University of New Hampshire Documents Department and Data Center)
Buffer Publication Resource List
This document lists publications available in Maine regarding lake buffers, including a description of each publication, a small color photo of each publication cover, contact information, and links to electronic versions if available. See Maine DEP's Buffer Publication Resource List.
State Review Consistency Status
In accordance with state statute (Title 30-A, §4347-A), SPO reviews comprehensive plans and growth management programs for consistency with the goals and guidelines of the Act. Municipalities voluntarily submit their comprehensive plans and growth management programs to SPO for review. As the lead agency, SPO coordinates its findings with the input of 10 other state agencies. Each agency, including SPO, reviews the comprehensive plan or growth management program for consistency with appropriate state and federal rules and regulations, as well as agency policies and programs. (SPO relies on the Comprehensive Plan Review Criteria Rule, Chapter 208 to guide the consistency review findings.)
