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Land Use Planning

Site Plan Review Handbook: A Guide to Developing A Site Plan Review System

The Models for Site Plan Review are taken from the Site Plan Review Handbook: A Guide to Developing A Site Plan Review System, prepared for the Maine State Planning Office by Planning Decisions, Inc. with assistance from Kent Associates. The Handbook is designed to show Municipal Officials how site plan review can be used and how to develop a site plan review system that addresses local needs.

Part A, is designed to familiarize you with site plan review; Part B, is designed to help you craft site plan review provisions that meet your community's needs. Part B is broken into sections that provide a basic site plan review system that is appropriate for many communities, alternatives for structuring the site plan review process for communities with more complex needs, and additional review standards that deal with areas that are not included in the basic system. Communities with existing site plan review provisions can also use these sections, especially the sections dealing with alternative review processes and additional review standards, to make improvements to their current ordinances.

PLEASE NOTE that these ordinances should not be adopted without careful review to assure that the provisions are appropriate for the community.

It is strongly recommended that you obtain and use a copy of the Handbook to help guide your decisions in working with the text.


To order a copy of the Handbook, please use the Publications Order Form (PDF, 90 KB)


Download the Full Site Plan Review Handbook (PDF, 30 MB)

Download the Site Plan Review Handbook by Section

Cover Material, including Table of Contents (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Introduction (PDF, 1.2 MB)

Part A - Overview of Site Plan Review

Section 1 - The Purpose of Site Plan Review (PDF, 734 KB)

Section 2 - Where Should the Site Plan Review Provisions be Located? (PDF, 555 KB)

Section 3 - What Activities Should Be Subject to Site Plan Review? (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Section 4 - Who Should Be Responsible for Reviewing Site Plans? (PDF, 655 KB)

Section 5 - What Aspects of a Development Proposal Should Be Covered by Site Plan Review? (PDF, 581 KB)

Section 6 - What Information is Required from an Applicant for Site Plan Review? (PDF, 874 KB)

Section 7 - How Will the Review Process Work? (PDF, 2.6 MB)

Part B - Developing a Site Plan Review System (PDF, 159 KB)

Section 8 - The Basic Format of the Site Plan Review System (PDF, 1.1 MB)

Section 9 - The Basic Site Plan Review System (PDF, 6.2 MB)

Section 10 - Alternatives for Structuring the Site Plan Review System (PDF, 5.7 MB)

Section 11 - Additional Standards for Approval (PDF, 3.3 MB)

Appendix A - Basic Model Site Plan Review Ordinance for a Community with Limited Nonresidential Development and Limited Staff Support (PDF, 2.6 MB)

 

Simple Site Plan Ordinance: This model includes Appendix A of the Handbook. It provides the text for a site plan review ordinance for a small community with limited nonresidential development and limited staff support.

Basic Site Plan Ordinance: This model sets out the components of a site plan review system in which the local Planning Board reviews all projects using a single set of standards and procedures. Please note that alternative ordinance provisions are included for many of the sections. Section 10 provides alternatives for structuring the site plan review system. This section includes alternative ordinance provisions for delegating site plan review to a Site Plan Review Board or to staff. It also includes alternative ordinance provisions for creating a bilevel review system. Section 11 provides additional standards that some communities may want to include in their site plan review system. Most of these involve "good neighbor" and design issues.