An Act To Ensure Consistency of Language in Municipal Documents with the Language in Comprehensive Plans
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1391
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: WADSWORTH
Amends: 30-A MRSA §4312, 30-A MRSA §4323, 30-A MRSA §4324, 30-A MRSA §4326

Legislative Document
No. 1391
H.P. 1005
House of Representatives, March 26, 2019
An Act To Ensure Consistency of Language in Municipal 
Documents with the Language in Comprehensive Plans
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative WADSWORTH of Hiram.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §4312, sub-§2, ¶G, as amended by PL 2001, c. 578, §7, is 
further amended to read:
G.  Encourage the widest possible involvement by the citizens of each municipality in 
all aspects of the planning and implementation process, in order to ensure that the 
plans developed by municipalities have had the benefit of citizen input; and
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §4312, sub-§2, ¶I, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 578, §8, is 
amended to read:
I.  Encourage the development and implementation of multimunicipal growth 
management programs.; and
Sec. 3.  30-A MRSA §4312, sub-§2, ¶J is enacted to read:
J.  Encourage a municipality to ensure that the language and requirements in charters, 
ordinances, policies, codes, regulations, bylaws and documents setting out or 
assessing fees align with each other and meet the overall intent of a comprehensive 
plan approved by the municipality.
Sec. 4.  30-A MRSA §4312, sub-§3, ¶K, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 349, §2, is 
amended to read:
K.  To encourage municipalities to develop policies that assess community needs and 
environmental and economic effects of municipal regulations, lessen the effect of 
excessive parking requirements for buildings in downtowns and on main streets and 
provide for alternative approaches for compliance relating to the reuse of upper floors 
of buildings in downtowns and on main streets.
Sec. 5.  30-A MRSA §4323, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 
and Pt. C, §10, is amended to read:
3.  Other.  Do all other things necessary to carry out the purposes of this subchapter, 
including ensuring that the language and requirements in charters, ordinances, policies, 
codes, regulations, bylaws and documents setting out or assessing fees align with each 
other and meet the overall intent of a comprehensive plan approved by the municipality.
Sec. 6.  30-A MRSA §4324, sub-§11 is enacted to read:
11.  Alignment of language and requirements with comprehensive plan.  A 
municipality or multimunicipal region shall ensure that the language and requirements in 
charters, ordinances, policies, codes, regulations, bylaws and documents setting out or 
assessing fees align with each other and meet the overall intent of a comprehensive plan 
approved by the municipality or multimunicipal region.
Sec. 7.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§1, ¶H, as amended by PL 2015, c. 349, §3, is 
further amended to read:
H.  Residential housing stock, including affordable housing, and policies that assess 
community needs and environmental and economic effects of municipal regulations, 
lessen the effect of excessive parking requirements for buildings in downtowns and 
on main streets and provide for alternative approaches for compliance relating to the 
reuse of upper floors of buildings in downtowns and on main streets;
Sec. 8.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§2, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, 
§45 and Pt. C, §10, is amended to read:
C.    Address any conflicts between regional and local issues; and
Sec. 9.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§2, ¶D, as amended by PL 2001, c. 578, §15, is 
further amended to read:
D.  Address the State's coastal policies if any part of the municipality or 
multimunicipal region is a coastal area.; and
Sec. 10.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§2, ¶E is enacted to read:
E.  Ensure that the language and requirements in charters, ordinances, policies, codes, 
regulations, bylaws and documents setting out or assessing fees align with each other 
and meet the overall intent of a comprehensive plan.
Sec. 11.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§3-A, ¶A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 655, Pt. 
JJ, §17 and affected by §41, is further amended to read:
A.   Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, identify and designate 
geographic areas in the municipality or multimunicipal region as growth areas and 
rural areas, as defined in this chapter.
(1)  Within growth areas, each municipality or multimunicipal region shall:
(a)  Establish development standards;
(b)  Establish timely permitting procedures;
(c)  Ensure that needed public services are available; and
(d)  Prevent inappropriate development in natural hazard areas, including 
flood plains and areas of high erosion.
(2)  Within rural areas, each municipality or multimunicipal region shall adopt 
land use policies and ordinances to discourage incompatible development.  These 
policies and ordinances may include, without limitation, density limits, cluster or 
special zoning, acquisition of land or development rights, transfer of development 
rights pursuant to section 4328 and performance standards.  The municipality or 
multimunicipal region should also identify which rural areas qualify as critical 
rural areas as defined in this chapter.  Critical rural areas must receive priority 
consideration for proactive strategies designed to enhance rural industries, 
manage wildlife and fisheries habitat and preserve sensitive natural areas.
(3)  A municipality or multimunicipal region may also designate as a transitional 
area any portion of land area that does not meet the definition of either a growth 
area or a rural area.  Such an area may be appropriate for medium-density 
development that does not require expansion of municipal facilities and does not 
include significant rural resources.
(4)  A municipality or multimunicipal region is not required to identify growth 
areas within the municipality or multimunicipal region for residential, 
commercial or industrial growth if it demonstrates, in accordance with rules 
adopted by the department pursuant to this article, that:
(a) It is not possible to accommodate future residential, commercial or 
industrial growth within the municipality or multimunicipal region because 
of severe physical limitations, including, without limitation, the lack of 
adequate water supply and sewage disposal services, very shallow soils or 
limitations imposed by protected natural resources;
(b) The municipality or multimunicipal region has experienced minimal or no 
residential, commercial or industrial development over the past decade and 
this condition is expected to continue over the 10-year planning period;
(c) The municipality or multimunicipal region has identified as its growth 
areas one or more growth areas identified in a comprehensive plan adopted or 
to be adopted by one or more other municipalities or multimunicipal regions 
in accordance with an interlocal agreement adopted in accordance with 
chapter 115 with one or more municipalities or multimunicipal regions; or
(d) The municipality or multimunicipal region has no village or densely 
developed area.
(6)  A municipality or multimunicipal region exercising the discretion afforded 
by subparagraph  4  (4) shall review the basis for its demonstration during the 
periodic revisions undertaken pursuant to section 4347-A;.
A municipality or multimunicipal region shall ensure that the language and 
requirements in charters, ordinances, policies, codes, regulations, bylaws and 
documents setting out or assessing fees align with each other and meet the overall 
intent of a comprehensive plan approved by the municipality or multimunicipal 
region;
Sec. 12.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§3-A, ¶G, as amended by PL 2015, c. 349, §4, 
is further amended to read:
G.  Ensure that the municipality's or multimunicipal region's land use policies and 
ordinances encourage the siting and construction of affordable housing within the 
community and comply with the requirements of section 4358 pertaining to 
individual mobile home and mobile home park siting and design requirements.  The 
municipality or multimunicipal region shall seek to achieve a level of at least 10% of 
new residential development, based on a 5-year historical average of residential 
development in the municipality or multimunicipal region, that meets the definition 
of affordable housing.  A municipality or multimunicipal region is encouraged to 
seek creative approaches to assist in the development of affordable housing, 
including, but not limited to, cluster housing, reduced minimum lot and frontage 
sizes, increased residential densities, use of municipally owned land and 
establishment of policies that assess community needs and environmental and 
economic effects of municipal regulations, lessen the effect of excessive parking 
requirements for buildings in downtowns and on main streets and provide for 
alternative approaches for compliance relating to the reuse of upper floors of 
buildings in downtowns and on main streets;
Sec. 13.  30-A MRSA §4326, sub-§3-A, ¶K, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 349, §6, 
is amended to read:
K.  Encourage policies that assess community needs and environmental and 
economic effects of municipal regulations, lessen the effect of excessive parking 
requirements for buildings in downtowns and on main streets and provide for 
alternative approaches for compliance relating to the reuse of upper floors of 
buildings in downtowns and on main streets.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing growth management programs to require that a 
municipality or multimunicipal region ensure that the language and requirements in 
charters, ordinances, policies, codes, regulations, bylaws and documents setting out or 
assessing fees align with each other and meet the overall intent of a comprehensive plan 
approved by the municipality or multimunicipal region.  It also amends the law to 
encourage the consideration of economic effects by municipalities in their planning.