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Welcome to the Land Use Planning page for the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission. Following is a listing of services offered by the Land Use Team. Please contact if you have any questions or comments. Click here to contact the Land Use staff. More… |
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What's New
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….More continued For those member communities who do not have "in-house" capacity to review development applications, SMRPC offers the expertise to do the job. Member of our land use team will review subdivision and site plan applications for completeness and for compliance with standards, and even prepare findings of fact for the Planning Board. In most communities, local ordinances or regulations provide the ability for the community to charge the applicants for these services, so our assistance can be obtained without using taxpayer funds. Some communities arrange for regular monthly assistance that includes attendance at meetings, while others simply request us to prepare memoranda for their Planning Boards on an "as needed" basis.
SMRPC has decades of experience in preparing Comprehensive Plans in compliance with Maine's Growth Management Act, and will even help communities apply for State funding when available, at a minimum cost to the community. We can take the lead role in preparing a plan, or may serve as a subcontractor to a community's lead consultant. Some town will engage our services for just a limited component of the plan, such as an inventory update or community survey.
From cell tower standards to shoreland zoning, or from building permit limits to subdivision regulations, members of our land use team will prepare draft language for consideration by the Town Meeting or Council.
Often members of the Land Use team are engaged to facilitate a series of meetings to work on a particular problem that a community needs to solve on a short term basis. Given our experiences with a variety of Towns and Cities, and our "out-of-town" status, our planners can provide the leadership needed to conduct a productive public discussion.
Utilizing the latest techniques in digital mapmaking and geographic analysis, SMRPC can provide maps for zoning, comprehensive planning, or site studies. We can also act as a broker to find the contractor you need, if more complicated GIS work is required.
SMRPC follows the State legislative and rule-making process each season, and tracks changes that may have an impact on our member communities. Each year workshops are held on important changes, particularly in the field of subdivision review.
SMRPC serves as a federally designated "Census Data Center" and can help you gain access to the Census resources you may be looking for. Click here to access the Census Page.
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