AUGUSTA - The Legislature's Joint Select Committee on Housing has voted to advance legislation sponsored by Rep. Melanie Sachs, D-Freeport, that would encourage smart housing development in Maine by updating the state's growth management program law.
Maine's growth management program law, which was implemented in pieces in 1989 and 1991, governs the preparation and adoption of local comprehensive plans and the land use ordinances to implement them. As amended, LD 1976 would make changes to the existing law to reduce the administrative burden on municipalities to meet state requirements, help communities more efficiently plan for the future and tackle the key challenges of housing, climate change and economic development.
"Right now, Maine is experiencing a statewide housing shortage, and our 35-year-old law that governs comprehensive planning and land use management is not meeting the moment," said Sachs. "Encouraging inclusive, thoughtful planning is critical for communities to meet their land use goals, which may include housing, conservation, development and recreation, among other key local priorities. The amended version of LD 1976 would provide a meaningful structure and streamlined framework to the planning process while preserving Maine's strong tradition of local control."
"This legislation aligns the comprehensive planning process with all of the good progress we've made on housing to date and lays the foundation for all the work ahead of us," said Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennebunkport, who serves as House chair of the Joint Select Committee on Housing. "By focusing the vital work of local comprehensive planning committees on understanding community needs and addressing local challenges through best practices in planning, the new approach values the time and dedication of those committees and makes it easier for communities to submit relevant and meaningful plans."
The amended version of the bill:
- Updates the state goals of the growth management program law to reflect current housing needs and focus development and state capital investment in areas where human activity and community resources already exist. These changes will encourage housing and reduce sprawl into environmentally sensitive rural areas.
- Streamlines comprehensive planning by focusing a community's process on engaging the full community, defining areas for development in centers of human activity and identifying the specific changes to policies and ordinances to put the plan into action.
- Focuses the state certification process on assuring full community engagement to identify needs and goals, visually mapping the community to show where development is allowed, and producing a clear and viable implementation plan. The framework and metrics for plan certification will be developed during the rulemaking process.
Additionally, the bill is supported by numerous organizations, including the Maine Municipal Association, Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, Maine Audubon, Build Maine, GrowSmart Maine, the Maine Center for Economic Policy, the Maine Council on Aging, Maine Farmland Trust, the Maine Real Estate and Development Association (MEREDA), National Farmland Trust, the Natural Resources Council of Maine and Sierra Club Maine.
"There is an urgent need to update and modernize Maine's vital growth management law in order to help ensure that wildlife and habitat are considered as towns plan for the future," said Sally Stockwell, director of conservation at Maine Audubon. "LD 1976 will help Maine towns create the types of neighborhoods and communities they want while also protecting wildlife in the state that we love."
"We know much of our membership is excited to support an improved growth management act, which should unlock a more predictable housing and commercial development process in local Maine communities," said Jason Howe, co-chair of the MEREDA public policy committee. "The revised law should give communities more time and resources to proactively plan, which should ultimately result both in a more predictable permitting process for developers and greater development opportunity overall."
"LD 1976 preserves the ability of rural communities without zoning to continue to provide the most flexible approaches to development while also continuing their ability to preserve the extraordinary beauty and pristine condition of Maine's natural landscape and resources," said George O'Keefe, economic development director for the Town of Rumford. "This legislation represents two hard years of work by numerous stakeholders behind the scenes and is an exceptional example of transparency and open outreach in legislative policy making. The Town of Rumford is deeply appreciative to Rep. Sachs and the Joint Standing Committee on Housing for their careful consideration of the needs of rural towns such as ours."
The bill faces votes in the full House and Senate in the coming days.
Rep. Sachs is serving her second term in the Maine House and represents House District 102, which includes Freeport. She serves as House chair of the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee.
Rep. Gere is serving her second term in the Maine House and represents Kennebunkport and parts of Biddeford and Kennebunk. She is the House chair of the Joint Select Committee on Housing and also serves on the Labor and Housing Committee.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Gere, Sachs], 305-965-2744