The Northeast Regional Center for Rural
Development Land Use Toolbox
Maine - Planning/Zoning
links
University
of Maine
Maine
Image Analysis Laboratory,
http://www.ume.maine.edu/~MIAL/welcome2.htm
Description:
Since 1991, the Department of Forest Management's Maine Image Analysis
Laboratory (MIAL) has provided technical skills and education in remote
sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIs) as well as conducted
groundbreaking research. In addition, the MIAL had provided workshops
and training programs in support of users in industry, business and governmental
sectors.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
University
of Maine
Maine
NEMO: Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials,
http://www.umaine.edu/waterquality/Newsletter/2002/linking_land_use_to_water_qualit.htm
Description:
Maine NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) is an educational
program for land use decision- makers that addresses the relationship
between land use and natural resource protection, with a focus on water
resources.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
University
of Maine
Yankee
Woodlot Forestry Camp,
http://www.umaine.edu/umext/YankeeWoodlot/
Description:
Forestry information for landowners in Maine.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, What You Can Do
Jurisdiction: Maine
University
of Maine
PEARL,
http://pearl.maine.edu/
Description:
PEARL is the on-line GIs-based, searchable database for Maine lakes. Over
the years, PEARL has expanded to become the GIS-searchable on-line resource
for environmental information in Maine. It allows scientists, educators,
community organizations, and students to find environmental information
in one location.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do
Jurisdiction: Maine
University
of Maine
Water
Quality Team,
http://www.umaine.edu/waterquality/
Description:
The Water Quality team at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension
(UMCE) provides information to the public on protecting Maine's water
resources. We focus on lake and watershed issues, and work with agricultural
producers to implement best management practices (BMPs) on their farms.
Through applied research we provide growers with information on efficient
nutrient and weed management practices.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Conservation
Law Foundation
Conservation
Law Foundation,
ht.://www.clf.org/
Description:
The Conservation Law Foundation is the oldest and largest regional environmental
advocacy organization in the United States. We're based in New England,
where our attorneys, scientists, economists, and policy experts work on
the most significant threats to the natural environment of the region
and its residents.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Conservation
Law Foundation Ventures
Conservation
Law Foundation Ventures,
http://www.clfventures.org/
Description:
CLF Ventures is redefining environmental advocacy. Through innovative
partnerships with private and public sector clients, we combine CLF's
longstanding reputation for environmental protection with our financial
and business transaction skills. As a result, we are able to provide our
clients with innovative solutions to complex environmental problems.
Topics: Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Department
of Conservation
Land
Use Regulation Commission,
http://www.state.me.us/doc/lurc/lurchome.htm
Description: The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC or the Commission) was created by the Maine Legislature in 1971 to serve as the planning and zoning authority for the state's townships, plantations and unorganized areas. The Commission has land use regulatory jurisdiction over these areas because they have no form of local government to administer land use controls, or they have chosen not to administer land use controls at the local level.
Topics: Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Conservation
Statewide
Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan,
http://www.state.me.us/doc/parks/programs/SCORP/Draft/contents.html
Description: A plan identifying outdoor recreation issues of statewide importance.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Economic and Community Development
Community
Development Block Grant Program,
http://www.meocd.org/
Description: Maine's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program provides funding and technical support for projects that achieve local community and economic development objectives, while principally benefiting low-moderate income persons. These programs are only available to Maine towns, cities and counties for the benefit of Maine residents. Check out the link to Frequently Asked Questions.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Housing, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Economic and Community Development
Office
of Community Development Grant Programs,
http://www.meocd.org/grants/
Description: A listing of grant programs available through the Office of Community Development.
Topics: Housing, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Environmental Protection
Maine
Watershed Planning and Management,
http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/watersh.htm
Description: Watershed planning and management involve a number of activities, including: targeting priority problems in a watershed; promoting a high level of involvement by interested and affected parties; developing solutions to problems through the use of the expertise and authority of multiple agencies and organizations; and measuring success through monitoring and other data gathering.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Environmental Protection
Office
of Land and Water Quality Grants and Loans,
http://www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/grants.htm
Description: List of Grants and Loans available for land and water quality initiatives.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of the Secretary of State
Online
Rules of Maine State Government Agencies,
http://www.state.me.us/sos/cec/rcn/apa/depts.htm
Description: Rule chapters in the Code of Maine Rules (CMR) are arranged by unique numbers which identify the department, departmental unit, and chapter. For example, 01-015 CMR Chapter 1 represents Chapter 1 of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, Maine Milk Commission. Click on the highlighted departmental designation to reach a complete list of its current chapters.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Healthy Communities, Historic Preservation, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Department
of Transportation
Transportation
Planning,
http://www.maine.gov/mdot/Trans-Planning.php
Description: Links to information about transportation planning.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Transportation
Jurisdiction: Maine
Environmental
Protection Agency
Smart
Growth Strategies in New England,
http://www.epa.gov/region1/ra/sprawl/index.html
Description:
EPA New England launched a Smart Growth Program in 1999 at our Smart Growth
Strategies for New England conference. The conference's success demonstrated
widespread interest in the twin problems of sprawl and urban decay. Smart
growth is an alternative to sprawl and urban decay, and is an innovative
approach to addressing EPA's environmental mandates. Our Smart Growth
Action Plan involves working with diverse partners to shape land use and
growth so that it has minimum impact on environmental, economic, and community
health.
Topics: Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
Greater
Portland Neighborhoods Coalition
Greater
Portland Neighborhoods Coalition,
http://www.maineneighborhoods.org/
Description: The Greater Portland Neighborhoods Coalition (GPNC) was founded and established by Carol R. Schiller in April 2003 to unify and strengthen community work. The GPNC mission is to provide a forum for residents, neighborhood associations, businesses, and institutions to communicate, educate, and collaborate on common issues.
Topics: Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Healthy Communities, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
GrowSmart
Maine
GrowSmart
Maine,
http://www.growsmartmaine.org/
Description:
We are working to create an organization that can engage, inspire and
mobilize the people of Maine to protect our communities, our environment
and our economy from the potentially devastating effects of sprawl. We
hope to build a new kind of organization to take on this problem, one
that combines citizen involvement with technical sophistication and that
attacks the many facets of the sprawl problem - in public policy, planning,
public attitudes and the marketplace - in an integrated way.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Lakes
Environmental Association
Lakes
Environmental Association,
http://www.mainelakes.org/
Description:
The Lakes Environmental Association is a private, non-profit organization
founded in Naples, Maine in 1970 to protect the water quality and watersheds
of the Sebago-Long Lake Region. The Association serves the towns of Bridgton,
Denmark, Harrison, Naples, Sweden, and Waterford as well as Sebago Lake.
Check out the information about lake protection and GIS mapping and watershed
modeling!
Topics: Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Association of Conservation Commissions
Maine
Association of Conservation Commissions,
http://users.clinic.net/macc
Description:
The Maine Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) promotes the
Conservation Commission movement in Maine and provides technical assistance
to Maine Commissions. We help Commissions develop and carry out projects,
publish a newsletter, and from time to time sponsor special projects.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Association of Planners
Maine
Association of Planners,
http://www.meplan.org/
Description:
The Maine Association of Planners is a professional organization dedicated
to enhancing the professional practice of planning in Maine. This page
is intended to enhance membership in the organization by providing information
for planners and friends of planning.
Topics: Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Coastal Program
Right-of-Way
Discovery Grant Program,
http://www.state.me.us/mcp/projects/getting_to_shore.html
Description:
The Maine Coastal Program helps communities keep track of existing public
shoreline access through a Right-of-way Discovery Grant Program. Discovery
grants are intended to help communities find and assert public rights-of-way
to the shore which may be lost by the passing of generations and changing
land ownership patterns.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Coastal Program
Weathering
the Storm,
http://www.state.me.us/MCP/projects/weathering_the_storm.html
Description:
Coastal hazards include natural events and processes such as storms, shoreline
erosion, landslides and sea-level rise that cause the loss of property,
threaten public safety and destroy natural resources on the coast. In
Maine, the risks from coastal hazards are mostly the loss of public and
private property near the shore caused by a combination of shoreline erosion,
storms and sea-level rise.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Downtown Center
Maine
Downtown Center,
http://www.mdf.org/downtown/index.html
Description:
The Maine Downtown Center is a program of the Maine Development Foundation
devoted to fostering new vitality at the heart of Maine Communities. The
mission of the Maine Downtown Center is to foster downtown development
that is dynamic and community-based, and results in economic development,
business growth, job creation, housing revitalization, historic preservation,
and cultural enhancement.
Topics: Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Healthy Communities, Historic Preservation, Housing, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Environmental Policy Institute
Maine
Environmental Policy Institute,
http://www.meepi.org/
Description:
The mission of the Maine Environmental Policy Institute (MEPI) is to help
Mainers understand the importance of healthy ecosystems to their families
and communities. The Institute, an independent nonprofit organization
based in Hallowell, Maine, is dedicated to researching environmental challenges
facing the state and reporting this research to policy makers and the
public.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Island Institute
Maine
Island Institute,
http://www.islandinstitute.org/
Description:
We are a membership-based community development organization focusing
on the Gulf of Maine, particularly the fifteen year-round island communities
off the Maine coast. We provide our services directly to communities and
through research and publications. The Island Institute is a learning
organization, operating at different scales throughout the region, annually
reshaping its programs to respond to changing conditions and challenges.
It assists in fund-raising for other groups and organizations that are
better positioned than the Institute to deliver local services.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Judicial Branch
Supreme
Court Opinions,
http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions/supreme/index.html
Description: The opinions of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court have been published on this site since January 1, 1997. The permanent official version of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court's opinions is that published in Atlantic Reporter, 2d Series, which has been Maine's Official Reporter since 1966.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Healthy Communities, Historic Preservation, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
Maine
Municipal Association
Maine
Municipal Association,
http://www.memun.org/
Description:
The Maine Municipal Association is a voluntary membership organization
of the State's cities, towns, plantations and organized townships to provide
a unified voice for Maine's municipalities to promote and strengthen local
government.
Topics: Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Planning/Zoning, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Natural
Resource Conservation Service - USDA
Maine
NRCS,
http://www.me.nrcs.usda.gov/
Description:
NRCS soil conservationists, soil scientists, agronomists, ecologists,
engineers, planners, and other specialists promote land stewardship by
providing technical assistance through teams to address surface and groundwater
quality; wetlands, riparian areas, and biodiversity; aquatic and terrestrial
habitat; and impacts of landuse changes. NRCS teams work on all of a state's
landscapes: agricultural, wetlands and riparian areas, suburban, rural,
urban centers, and forested.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Northeast-Midwest
Institute
Northeast-Midwest
Institute,
http://www.nemw.org
Description:
The Northeast-Midwest Institute is a Washington-based, private, nonprofit,
and non-partisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality,
environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
Office
of GIs
Maine
Office of GIs,
http://apollo.ogis.state.me.us/
Description:
MEGIS coordinates GIs activities and provides services to encourage and
guide the development of GIs in Maine to serve both public and private
sector applications. MEGIS is responsible for providing services which
ensure the quality of and access to these data. To this end, MEGIS manages
the State's GIs database to maximize data sharing and compatibility between
local, state and national programs, develops GIs standards and guidelines,
provides quality control services, and maintains public "one-stop
shopping" for digital geographic data. MEGIS operates a GIs computer
center for state agencies and provides an array of application development
and technical services.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer, What You Can Do With Others
Jurisdiction: Maine
Smart
Growth Network
Maine
Smart Growth News Articles,
http://www.smartgrowth.org/news/bystate.asp?state=ME&res=800
Description: Listing of news articles relating to smart growth issues in a specific state.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Historic Preservation, Housing, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Transportation, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
State
Planning Office
Floodplain
Management Program,
http://www.state.me.us/spo/flood/
Description:
The NFIP is a voluntary program that offers community residents the opportunity
to purchase flood insurance provided by the Program in exchange for the
community's commitment to practice sound land use management. Currently,
there are over 6,900 flood insurance policies in effect in Maine with
coverage totaling over $899 million. Mortgage loans and disaster assistance
are severely limited in communities that do not participate in the NFIP.
Topics: Fiscal Impact/Taxation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
State
Planning Office
Land
and Water Resources Council,
http://www.state.me.us/spo/natural/lwrc/index.php
Description:
The Council investigates natural resource issues of state significance
and recommends state policies to protect these resources. Check out their
publications!
Topics: Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning, Water/Sewer
Jurisdiction: Maine
State
Planning Office
Land
for Maine's Future,
http://www.state.me.us/spo/lmf/
Description:
The Land for Maine's Future Program coordinates and finances acquisition
of public lands for conservation, water access, outdoor recreation, wildlife
and fish habitat and farmland conservation for state of Maine agencies
and local partners. The program is assigned by statute to the State Planning
Office.
Topics: Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
State
Planning Office
Maine
Land Use Planning Team,
http://www.state.me.us/spo/landuse/
Description:
The Land Use Team provides technical and financial assistance to municipalities,
advises the legislature, coordinates with other state agencies, and, in
general, advocates for sound land use planning. The Land Use Team administers
SPO's Community Planning and Investment Program (CPIP), covering the topic
areas of community planning, growth management and smart growth.
Topics: Ag & Rural Change, Healthy Communities, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Maine
State
Planning Office
Municipal
Code Enforcement Training Program,
http://www.state.me.us/spo/ceo/program/
Description:
The Municipal Code Enforcement Training Program has two primary functions:
Provide a program of specialized professional training to prepare individuals
to work as municipal code officials, as well as provide continuing education
courses. Conduct examinations for state certification in the areas of
land use, shoreland zoning, internal plumbing, external plumbing, and
building standards.
Topics: Planning/Zoning, What You Can Do
Jurisdiction: Maine
USDA
Forest Service
Northeast
Center for Urban & Community Forestry,
http://www.umass.edu/urbantree/index.shtml
Description:
The Northeast Center for Urban and Community Forestry is a cooperative
partnership among the USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and
Private Forestry, the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, and the seven
states of New England and New York. The Center responds to Urban and Community
Forestry needs, facilitates and supports new and existing research, and
coordinates the exchange of information among the states in the region
in order to contribute to healthy and sustainable communities.
Topics: Healthy Communities, Land Preservation, Planning/Zoning
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont
EPA
State Brownfields & Voluntary Response Program:Region 1, www.epa.gov
Description: Region 1: CT; ME; MA; NH; RI; VT.
Topics: land preservation, planning&zoning, fiscal impact/taxation, healthy communities,
Jurisdiction: Connecticut, Maine, Massachussetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
NERCRD ©2004
The Toolbox is a joint effort of The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD)
and Penn State Cooperative Extension in Adams County.
This page was last updated on July 13, 2005.
For questions, suggestions or to report broken links, please contact NERCRD: nercrd@psu.edu.