06/30/10
Planning Board begins work on amendments to land-use policies
The Planning Board has begun work on amending the zoning ordinance to comply with land-use recommendations of the 2007 Comprehensive Plan.
In early 2008, following adoption of the Comprehensive Plan, the Town Council directed the Planning Board to develop five ordinance amendment packages intended to implement the high-priority recommendations of the Plan. So far, the Planning Board has prepared three of them – the Business A District amendments, the shoreland zoning update amendments and the agricultural amendments – for Town Council consideration. All three were adopted after Town Council review and revision.
The Planning Board is now working on the “Land Use” amendments package, which are intended to implement recommendations 9, 14, 15, 82, 83, 85, 86, 90, and 91 of the Comprehensive Plan.
The bulk of the proposed Land Use amendments implement recommendations from the Land Use chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. Because a Comprehensive Plan is predominantly a land-use document, the Land Use chapter can be considered the heart of the Comprehensive Plan.
When the volunteer committee appointed by the Town Council developed the Comprehensive Plan, the committee commissioned a public opinion survey. [Click here to view survey report] The survey revealed that Cape Elizabeth residents highly value open space, farmland, and preservation of environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands. They also value quality schools and municipal services and a moderate tax rate. The recommendations in the Comprehensive Plan reflect these values and utilize progressive land use policies to implement the vision of town residents.
In addition to what the survey showed citizens wanted, the State of Maine requires that any community that implements land-use regulations such as a zoning ordinance must also adopt a comprehensive plan that is consistent with state law for comprehensive plans.
Maine Statute 18A Sec. 4352 states:
2. Relation to Comprehensive Plan. A zoning ordinance must be pursuant to and consistent with a comprehensive plan adopted by the municipal legislative body …
The 2007 Comprehensive Plan was prepared to comply with state law and was deemed consistent by the State Planning Office in 2007. (See related story) Because the Town of Cape Elizabeth has a long history (and continuing desire) of valuing careful regulation of new development, it is legally necessary to comply with state comprehensive planning law, which requires consistency between the town’s comprehensive plan and its land use regulation ordinances.
Growth predictions required
When preparing a comprehensive plan, state rules require that a community predict how much new growth may occur during the planning period, in this case 2007-2020. The state also provides growth estimates; however, they routinely overpredict the amount of growth expected in Cape Elizabeth. For this reason, the comprehensive plan committee developed a lower rate of growth prediction, which the state accepted as reasonable because it was based on available data. This is a growth prediction of what development may happen in order to formulate the Comprehensive Plan, not a goal to “encourage” growth.
The method used by the Comprehensive Plan Committee to estimate growth was to look back at the number of new homes constructed from 1990-2006, which averaged 24.6 building permits per year. During this period, issued permits ranged from a low of 16 to a high of 36 (see chart in Comprehensive Plan, page 145). To predict future growth, the committee agreed to use an average of 24 permits a year from 2007-2017 (10 years) and then reduce the average annual permits to 22 a year. This resulted in a potential of 330 new homes to be planned for during the 2007-2020 planning period, as state law requires the town to do.
The Comprehensive Plan Committee next had to develop a plan that would accommodate that expected level of development and still preserve open space, farmland, preservation of environmentally sensitive areas, schools and municipal services and moderate taxes – the expressed wishes of the citizens of the Town of Cape Elizabeth. During this planning period, some property owners will still want to sell or develop their land, as is their right. Cape Elizabeth will continue to be a desirable place where people will want to live, raise their families, and remain as senior citizens. Residents will continue to support only moderate taxes.
The Comprehensive Plan Committee then conducted a build-out analysis to evaluate existing lots based on the level of development allowed under current zoning regulations. The Committee identified 11 lots where they recommended that 10 or more units be constructed in order to reduce the need for development of more land townwide. The Committee identified approximately 90 individual existing lots that would be available for infill development. The conclusion of the proposed build-out was then compared to current zoning provisions. In most cases, existing land use policies facilitated the Committee’s recommendations. However, some adjustments are recommended to support both state law and local land use goals (See p147-148 of the Comprehensive Plan). These adjustments will be reflected in the proposed Land Use amendments to achieve these goals, and will be discussed and debated by the Planning Board, and then by the Town Council.
The board welcomes the public’s participation in this process. Please see the "contact officials" section of this website for contact information.
The 2007 Comprehensive Plan can be downloaded in pdf format on this website. Each recommendation is individually numbered and can be found listed at the back of the Comprehensive Plan, as well as in the pertinent chapter. Copies are also available for review at the Thomas Memorial Library and for review or purchase at the Town Hall.
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