Transportation & Land Use

Land Use Planning

Program Description
GPCOG provides technical assistance to municipalities in land use planning activities, including comprehensive plans, ordinance development, development review assistance and regional workshops. GPCOG also facilitates the work of three regional corridor coalitions in which municipalities are working together to link transportation investments with local land use decision-making and policy development.

Funding
Program Funding is from a technical assistance contract with the Maine State Planning Office matched by dues from member municipalities. Funding for Corridor Coalitions is from MaineDOT, the Maine Turnpike Authority and participating towns.

Falmouth Corners Report

The 62-page report describes a neighborhood vision, findings and recommendations, regional planning initiatives and a summary of Falmouth plans and ordinances. To learn more, contact Neal W. Allen at nallen@gpcog.org or David Willauer at dwillauer@gpcog.org .
Click here to download report.


Comprehensive Planning

Assistance applying for SPO Comprehensive Plan Update Grants
General information on comprehensive planning
Determining local Comprehensive Plan update needs
Serving as Comprehensive Plan consultants
Developing Interlocal Planning Support packages
Providing State Comprehensive Plan data packages
Developing bid documents to obtain proposals for consultant assistance
Public opinion surveys and/or public meeting facilitation
Library of local, regional, state and national planning resources
A “Smart Growth Tool Box” planning library

Ordinance Development

Assistance applying for SPO Implementation Grants
General information on latest State Law and related rules
Drafting and/or Updating Zoning, Subdivision, Site Plan or Shoreland Zoning ordinances
Developing Aquifer Protection, Lake Phosphorus, or Mobile Home Park ordinances
Providing sample or model ordinances

Development Review Assistance

Serving as Interim Town Planner when needed with extended assistance available
Providing Development Review technical assistance to local Planning Boards
Helping to determine when professional peer review of an application is needed
Helping with Ordinance Interpretation and Administration

Maine Smart Growth Toolbox

Books

Benfield, F. Kaid, et al, Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl is Undermining America’s Environment, Economy and Social Fabric . Natural Resources Defense Council, Surface Transportation Policy Project, Washington D.C., 1999.

Kelly, Eric Damian, Managing Community Growth: Policies, Techniques and Impacts . Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, 1993.

Daniels, Tom and Bowers, Deborah, Holding Our Ground: Protecting America’s Farms and Farmland . Island Press, Washington, D.C., 1997.

Maine Study Reports

O’Hara, Frank, et al., The Cost of Sprawl . Maine State Planning Office, Augusta ME, 1997.

Task Force on Regional Service Center Communities, Revitalizing Service Centers . Maine State Planning Office, Augusta ME, September 1998.

Richer, Evan, et al., Markets for Traditional Neighborhoods: An Analysis of a Survey of Recent Homebuyers in Maine . Maine State Planning Office, Augusta ME, August 1999.

Booklets

Bragado, Nancy, et al., Building Livable Communities: A Policymaker’s Guide to Infill Development . The Local Government Commission, 2001.

O’Neill, David J. et al., The Smart Growth Tool Kit: Community Profiles and Case Studies to Advance Smart Growth Practices , Urban Land Institute, Washington D.C., 2000.

O’Neill, David J., Smart Growth: Myth and Fact . Urban Land Institute, Washington D.C., 1999.

Farley, Dana, et al., Growing Smarter: Best Site Planning for Residential, Commercial & Industrial Development. Vermont Forum on Sprawl, Burlington VT, 2001.

ULI — the Urban Land Institute, ULI on the Future: Smart Growth. Economy, Community, Environment . Washington D.C.: ULI — the Urban Land Institute, 1998.

Articles

Planning Commissioners Journal Reprints, Taking a Closer Look: Sprawl and Today’s Landscape. Click here for list of articles.

Videos

Hilton, Thomas, Eitzen, Dirk, Save Our Land, Save Our Towns. Includes 16-page Viewer’s Guide, Bullfrog Films, Oley PA, Running Time 57:00 minutes, 2000.

ULI — Urban Land Institute, Smart Growth Tool Kit Video , Infosentials Films, Running Time 7:45 minutes, December 2000.

Handbooks

Community Visioning and Public Participation

O’Hara, Frank, Helstedt, Erik, Community Visioning Handbook: How to Imagine — and Create — a Better Future . Maine State Planning Office, Augusta ME, 2003.

Model Smart Growth Codes

Adams, Bill, et al., Smart Development Code Handbook. Transportation and Growth Management Program, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem OR, 1998.

Adams, Bill, et al., Appendix: Smart Development Code Handbook. Transportation and Growth Management Program, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem OR, 1998.

Adams, Bill, et al., The Infill Development Code Handbook . Transportation and Growth Management Program, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem OR, 1999.

Gardiner, Gloria, et al., Model Development Code and User’s Guide for Small Cities . Transportation and Growth Management Program, Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, Salem OR, 1999.

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