Comprehensive Plan Update Underway

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A Newsletter by the City of Saco, Maine	August, 2009	Return to newsletter index

The Planning Board and the Planning Department staff have begun working of an update of the City's 1999 Comprehensive Plan. The 1999 plan was the city's fourth Comprehensive Plan. Like those before it, the plan laid the groundwork for updates to the city's zoning and land use ordinances, and other city policies, including capital.

State law defines the areas to be considered in the plan:

Population
Economy
Natural Resources
Marine Resources
Water - Sewer Service
Land Use
Housing
Public Facilities
Recreation and Open Space
Cultural resources
Historic and Archaeological Resources
Fiscal Resources

A major change since the previous effort is that the state rules for state plan approval have now defined the inventory requirements and some other parts of the planning process in greater detail. This is a reaction to criticism that state approval was arbitrary and aggressive in pursuing issues not required under the law. The Planning Department staff is now compiling this detailed inventory and adding it to the extensive inventory which was done in 1998 and 1999.

While the inventory is one starting place, we are also beginning the process of identifying new and continuing issues by the reviewing the 1999 plan and discussing the "issues and implications" sections to see what is unchanged and what needs a fresh look.

Some early thoughts include:

What are the implications of the creation of the student housing at Thornton Academy, the Middle School at Thornton, and the Regional School Unit?
Housing needs to be considered in light of a new higher cost environment for energy.
Many elder housing units, including the Villager at Seal Rock, and subdivisions with a focus on over 55s have been built. Implications?
Does Saco changing demographics have implications for schools, recreation and leisure services, and transportation?

While work on the plan has begun with the Planning Board, it will be ramping up with other city committees in the next few months. For instance, the Saco Historic Commission will weigh on issues related to preservation, and the Economic Development Commission and Saco Spirit will be asked to review economic development issues. There will be several opportunities for residents not already involved in city affairs to get involved in the plan's development. The City Council will also have involvement in the plan's development, as well as final approval.

The staff is working on the plan with the assistance of Planning Decisions, a South Portland firm who assisted the city on the 1999 plan. The work will continue for the next year.