LCRPC is Hiring!

Lincoln County is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Economic and Community Development Planner at the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC), a department of County government. This full-time (40 hours per week) position provides economic development and community planning strategy, broadband planning guidance, public engagement and facilitation knowhow, and comprehensive planning analysis to Lincoln County and its municipalities.

Shoreland Zoning Workshop

In December of 2023, LCRPC and MCOG hosted our continuing workshop series geared towards planners, planning boards, code enforcement officers, and municipal leaders. This workshop focued on shoreland zoning with guest speaker, Colin Clark, MDEP Shoreland Zoning Coordinator.

View the recording and presentation slides at this webpage!

Subdivision Law Workshop

The Midcoast Council of Governments (MCOG) and Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC) hosted a workshop for planning boards and town planners on Maine's Subdivision Law. The recording of this workshop covers an introduction to subdivisions, the subdivision process, and recommendations. View the workshop materials and recording at this webpage!

Housing Legislation - L.D. 2003

L.D. 2003 is An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions. The bill was passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor in April 2022. The law went into effect July 27, 2022, however, a majority of the bill’s requirements do not take effect until July 1, 2023. The Commission was established under LD609 and provided 9 recommendations to increase affordable housing that was intended to address the shortage in Maine.

L.D. 2003 Q&A Sessions will be held throughout April 2023 and May 2023. Learn more here.

*This page is updated as new information becomes available*

NEW! June 5th 2023 L.D. 2003 Workshop: Ben Averill and Hilary Grove of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) provided an overview of L.D. 2003 with updates related to rule making, grants, and legislation that may impact L.D. 2003. View here. 

ARPA Affordable Housing Investment Process

The Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission is pleased to announce that the County Commissioners voted at their June 20, 2023 meeting to allocate $1.5 million of American Rescue Plan funds to the creation of the ‘Lincoln County Affordable Housing Investment Process’ with the intent of providing financial support for the development of affordable housing units in Lincoln County. 

This Process and corresponding ARPA allocation is the first strategy to be implemented from the Lincoln County Housing Needs Assessment, published in May 2023. The Assessment found that 900 affordable units will be needed in the next decade to house working families and older adults of modest means in the County. The Lincoln County Affordable Housing Investment Process is a mechanism for the County to provide financial support in advancing the construction of a significant number of the needed units.

Lincoln County Housing Needs Assessment

The Lincoln County Housing Needs Assessment completed with Camoin Associates is now available. This Housing Needs Assessment outlines county-wide demographics and economic profile, housing inventory and market trends, housing needs assessment, future growth opportunities, and strategies for the County and the municipalities. 

The final report and the recording of the final presentation by Camoin Associates are available on this webpage!

LCRPC Resource Hub

The LCRPC has created the Resource Hub, a platform for exploring GIS data and resources. The intent of the Resource Hub is to provide an easy to navigate “one-stop-shop” for municipal officials, board and committee members, and residents to access data and resources relevant to Lincoln County towns from the State, federal agencies, and directly from LCRPC. The resources and data are targeted toward assisting with climate and general project planning at the town, county, and regional level. These resources provide GIS data sets that are not only easy to download for GIS users, but also easily viewable for non-GIS users.

Community Resilience Partnership

The Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) program, The Community Resilience Partnership, is heading into it's second year! Lincoln County currently has 2 towns enrolled (Monhegan Island and Westport Island) with 4 more underway. Southport, Boothbay Harbor, Boothbay, and Wiscasset are currently in the process of enrolling in the Partnership with the assistance of their Service Provider. 

Spring 2023 grants are now open! 

Service Provider Grant applications are due June 23, 2023.

Community Action Grant applications are due July 7, 2023.

To learn more about The Community Resilience Partnership, check out our webpage!

LCRPC 5-Year Strategic Plan

LCRPC's Strategic Plan provides a set of specific priorities and actions to benefit Lincoln County communities. Here's a link to the Five-Year Plan. This guiding document was created by a dedicated committee of the LCRPC board (representing a variety of towns) that met every 2 weeks for 8 months.

The Plan will help LCRPC staff create yearly work plans, formulate budgets, assess progress, and be effective in creating positive change for Lincoln County towns, residents, and businesses.

Bremen Goes Fiber

Bremen will become the first mainland town in the midcoast to become a 100% "Fiber to the Home" Community.

After a highly competitive process, the ConnectME authority awarded three broadband infrastructure grants statewide last week. The Town of Bremen, partnering with Tidewater Telecom, was chosen to receive one of those grants. $120,000 was awarded to support the Bremen fiber optic build-out that will bring high speed broadband to approximately 400 more unserved homes and businesses.