The Land Use Planning Commission is currently reviewing the adjacency principle, which is a policy that guides where new zones for development can be created, via a survey.
The Commission oversees zoning for unorganized townships, plantations, and some towns. Zoning is a map and set of rules that say what type of buildings or uses are allowed in any given place. The goal of zoning is to help avoid conflicts between different types of uses and make it easier to predict how an area will change over time.
The Commission’s service area is a big place, and a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always mean new development happens in the most suitable locations. Sometimes additional flexibility is needed to account for site conditions. For example, wetlands or steep slopes in the area may make it difficult to locate new development within a road mile of existing types of development.
In order to improve the zoning system, the Commission wants to understand the land use needs and desires of people who care about the UT. Property owners and others with connections to towns, townships or plantations the commission serves can help influence the future by completing the survey and telling the LUPC what their community or area should look like in the future, and where new development should locate.
For more information about the Adjacency Project, or to receive a paper copy of the survey in the mail, contact Ben Godsoe at 207-287-2619, or e-mail Benjamin.godsoe@maine.gov.
