York Town News
State Planning Office seeks public input
AUGUSTA - The Maine State Planning Office recently announced plans to gather public input on how municipal comprehensive plans are reviewed by the state.The State Planning Office reviews local plans for consistency with the legislated goals of the state's Growth Management Act.
"We hope the new review process will expedite reviews for municipalities and at the same time result in more useful local plans," explained Stacy Benjamin, director of Land Use Planning at SPO.
The proposed process would focus on the community's future and how it wants to grow.
The State Planning Office has five public meetings planned between Sept. 20 and Nov. 9 to be held in Augusta, Houlton, Waterville and Saco.
People will also be able to participate by video conference from Presque Isle, Machias and North Berwick.
Details of how to participate in the meetings are all at a special website: www.SPO-Comp-Plan-Rules.com.
"These meetings," Benjamin noted, "are an excellent opportunity for planning professionals and community leaders to see what we have in mind and give their reactions."
Martha Freeman, director of the State Planning Office, agreed.
"Municipal land use planning is so important to the future of our state," Freeman said. "It is in all of our long term interests for these plans to be very thoughtful and deliberate about where we want future growth and where we don't."
At the same time, she added, "We need to make the process simple and friendly for municipalities so they take up the task with enthusiasm."
Even after this public input process, the proposed new procedure will still have to go through formal rule-making as required by the state's Administrative Procedures Act. That will likely begin in December with a public hearing in January.
To ensure high quality public input, SPO has hired Good Group Decisions of Brunswick to manage the public meetings and the website.
Revising the review process came out of a six-month evaluation conducted by the State Planning Office in 2005 at the behest of the 122nd Legislature. It is one of a number of recommendations designed to improve the efficacy of the state's Growth Management Act.
To learn more, please visit www.SPO-Comp-Plan-Rules.com.
