Growth Management Legislation - L.D. 1751
LD 1751, An Act to Improve the Growth Management Program Laws
(Signed by Governor Mills on Friday, 06/20/2025)
Bill supported by the Maine Association of Planners and Maine Municipal Association (MMA) to improve Maine’s growth management program and encourage communities to develop and update comprehensive plans through efficiency, flexibility, and cost effectiveness.
Specifically:
- Updates goals to include housing priorities, natural resources, and natural hazards.
- Saves time and money for small towns by encouraging the creation of multi-municipal regions to conduct comprehensive plans.
- Streamlines the state review timelines. Also creates an expedited review process for municipalities to receive answers quicker.
- Continues the current growth area exemption, providing flexibility for small communities.
- Allows each municipality the ability to conduct planning board reviews.
- Simplifies the inventory process by only requiring already available information. It removes the inventory listing in statute and refers the inventory needs to only what is necessary to meet state goals.
- Provides communities with consistency by linking the inventory with state goals.
- Promotes consistency with Maine’s Climate Action Plan.
- Allows communities to invest less volunteer capital on inventory and more time on action.
- Acknowledges the variations of Maine’s communities.
- Encourages first-time comprehensive plans by using existing state tools.
- Directs rulemaking to improve the technical details of the comprehensive plan process.