Maine Government News
Maine Land Use Regulation Commission: Commission Votes Unanimously for New Director
August 6, 2012
Conservation
Jeanne Curran, (207) 287-3156
AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) has voted unanimously to appoint Nicholas D. Livesay of Brunswick as its director.
The seven-member board, which handles planning and zoning for Maine’s unorganized areas, voted in favor of the appointment during its monthly meeting on Friday in Greenville, after Livesay was nominated for the position by Conservation Commissioner Bill Beardsley.
Livesay will assume the director’s position on Aug. 20 and lead LURC staff members as the Commission transitions after Sept. 1 into the Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC), as stipulated by legislation signed into law this past session by the Maine Legislature.
The Commission is a nine-person board with eight of the commissioners nominated by county governments that represent the LUPC jurisdiction. The composition of the new Commission will be transitioned in overtime as vacancies occur.
“On behalf of my fellow commissioners, I would like to welcome Nick Livesay as our new director,” said Gwen Hilton, LURC chair. “We look forward to working with him to carry out our overall legislative directive, which is ‘to extend the principles of sound planning, zoning and development to the unorganized and deorganized townships of the state.’ As a citizen board, we have strong ties to and are passionate about improving the quality of life in these very rural areas of our state.”
“With new statutes, a new mission, a shift towards decentralized land-use planning and a greater focus on land-owner and local government input and a balance between economic vitality and conservation, there is an extraordinary opportunity to lead the new Land Use Planning Commission,” said Commissioner Beardsley. “Nick Livesay has the breadth of experience and strength of character we need to revitalize the UT economy while conserving its quality of place.”
“I am very excited to serve as director of LURC,” Livesay said. “I look forward to working with the members of the Commission and staff to carry out our legislative charge and to help serve the people living in and around the unorganized territory and the State of Maine.”
The new director is an attorney with Pierce Atwood LLP of Portland, practicing as a member of the firm’s Environmental and Land Use Practice Group. In that capacity, he has worked extensively on permitting, rule making, project development, conservation and environmental matters, with clients ranging from small and large landowners, value-added processors, energy suppliers and conservation groups.
Livesay worked previously as an environmental specialist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and as a research analyst with the environmental consulting firm, Industrial Economics Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.
He holds a Doctor of Law degree from Boston University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Bowdoin College.
LURC, under the Maine Department of Conservation, was created in 1971 to serve as the planning and zoning board for Maine’s unorganized areas, coastal islands, and numerous towns and plantations. LURC’s jurisdiction encompasses approximately 10.4 million acres, roughly half the size of the State of Maine.
The new Land Use Planning Commission continues this responsibility with added focus on economic development and land owner-citizen involvement in planning and oversight.
For more information about the Maine Department of Conservation, go to: http://www.maine.gov/doc
