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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	August, 2007	Return to newsletter index

The Planning Department from my perspective

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By Maggie Edwards
Administrative Assistant

The City of Saco Planning Department has experienced staff that consists of Peter Morelli, Development Director, Bob Hamblen, City Planner, and Maggie Edwards, Administrative Assistant.

Projects that are reviewed by the planning Department could be anywhere from a small 1,000 sq. ft. building or a large Site Plan such as a 68,000 sq. ft. supermarket, like Shaw's, which would require Planning Board approval. We also review subdivision proposals, such as the very large mixed use project off Portland Road, called Park North and the newly approved mixed use project, Saco Island. There are Conditional Use reviews, Contract Zone request, and Map amendment requests as well. Whatever plan that is being proposed, it will need to be reviewed by the Planning Department and the Planning Board.

We work hard to make it as easy as possible for the customer to bring his/her project through the various review processes in order to reach its completion. Depending on the size of the project, it could take anywhere from 1-4 months for a small project and on larger projects that might require DEP permits and/or other permits that are dependent on other agencies, it could take longer.

There are a lot of details that go into planning a project and there are a lot of people who are involved. Some plans may require, lighting consultants, landscape consultants, wetland consultants and traffic consultants. Depending on the size of the project, it may require all of these, or maybe just a few. All plans are first reviewed by City Staff that include, but are not limited to, the Police Department, Fire Department, Code Enforcement, Parks and Recreation, City Engineer, Conservation Commission and Deluca Hoffman Associates, the City's engineering consultant.

I assist both Peter and Bob with whatever is needed to get the job done. I am in the forefront for when plans come into the office. My responsibilities consist of, but are not limited to, receiving applications/plans, which are in turn stamped and distributed to city staff for their comments. Depending on the application and its requirements, it may also need to go out to outside consultants for their peer review as well. Once I receive those comments back from staff, I in turn forward them to the applicant/engineer in order that they may respond with changes and submit newly revised plans, which again are forwarded to staff (not all staff, only those who had specific comments) for, hopefully, their final review.

Once all or most information is in, Bob will schedule that applicant to go before the Planning Board. From the time that applicant has submitted his/her application and plans have gone out to city staff, about two weeks have gone by. During this time I have been collecting comments and forwarding them to the appropriate person(s) I prepare to send out abutter notices for every applicant that will be on the PB agenda. The Thursday before a Planning Board meeting, Bob is working furiously on getting all the information together and I assemble the packets that will be mailed out to the Planning Board in order that they may review and get prepared for the meeting the following Tuesday.

I record the minutes at all Planning Board meetings. Once a project is approved and ready for development, I am responsible for having all plans signed by the City Planner and/or Planning Board. I am the keeper of the Financial Guarantees for all projects. I manage and keep all project files and their plans. I manage the paperwork for billing and for collections for all the projects that go through the Planning Department. The Planning Board Agenda's and Minutes are put on the City's website for public viewing. I also record the minutes for the Historic Preservation Commission and the Economic Development and managed those files as well.

While The Planning Department has its own responsibilities, we also do a lot of crossing over into the Inspection Department. It makes for a cooperative relationship that helps meet the needs of the customer.