Introduction
A PURPOSE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
The Comprehensive Plan is intended to meet several needs:
1. To compile an “inventory” of the Town s resources in many different fields of interest to serve as a reference work for people involved in Town affairs.
2. In so doing, to seek out, describe, and analyze existing conditions which affect the Town s development and welfare, and to project such conditions into the future.
3. To identify problems and issues which are of concern to the Town, to draw conclusions about them, and to propose goals and policies through which they may be dealt with in the future.
4. To set forth strategies through which the recommended policies can be implemented.
B HISTORY OF PLANNING IN KENNEBUNKPORT
Comprehensive planning is not new to Kennebunkport. In 1965, the Town s Planning Board worked with Wright and Pierce, Consulting Engineers, to draft a Master Plan for Kennebunkport. Their report reads, in part: “Some conflicts of land use are not being experienced in the villages as commercial establishments seek store expansion and off-street parking space in adjacent residential areas.” Clearly, many of the challenges we face today were easily perceived 30 years ago.
In 1976-77, the first Comprehensive Plan was written. The 1977 report attempted to review the Town s resources, and became the first Comprehensive Plan to be approved by the Town Meeting.
During the next six years, Kennebunkport felt the effects of the development boom which was sweeping over southern Maine. To reflect the changes which had occurred in the community, the Planning Board produced an updated Comprehensive Plan in 1982. This Plan, which was 24 pages long, basically reiterated the problems and challenges which the Town was facing. There was no formal set of recommendations, but possible solutions were offered throughout the text.
At the Town Meeting in 1985, a Growth Planning Committee was created to review the Comprehensive Plan, and to update it as necessary. This Committee prepared a draft plan and was prepared to submit it for acceptance by the Town in 1986. During 1986, however, the Maine State Legislature began drafting a Growth Management Act, with which all towns would be forced to comply. The proposed Act would require a Comprehensive Plan of much greater complexity, and so, in the face of this new requirement, the 1986 draft was set aside.
C DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESENT PLAN
At the March 1987 Town Meeting, the Growth Planning Committee became a permanent standing committee charged with the review of any proposed changes to the Land Use Ordinances and with meeting the Comprehensive Planning requirements mandated by the State. The State s requirements were first set forth in the comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act of 1988 (Title 30 M.R.S.A. Sec. 4960). The “Guidelines” based on this Act, which were issued to the towns by the State Office of Comprehensive Planning, were in themselves 71 typewritten pages in length. In 1990, the Office of Comprehensive Planning “clarified” the “Guidelines” by issuing a “Comprehensive Plan Review Criteria Rule” which added another 32 pages of instructions.
After endeavoring to digest this seemingly endless set of requirements, the Growth Planning committee began surveys of the town s various resources, undertook studies on the impact of development and tourism, and analyzed need for capital improvement planning. Public meetings were scheduled in which various subjects covered by the Plan were discussed and comments solicited. In 1991, the committee put together a 17-minute video tape that was shown on our local TV channel and made available at the two town libraries. It was designed to introduce the whole idea of growth planning and to show in old photographs and current video footage some of the historic land use patterns in town. The Committee met with staff from the Maine State planning Office and the Southern Maine regional
Planning Commission to discuss the implications of the new Growth Management Act. The Committee also received assistance from the University of Southern Maine Institute of Real Estate, Research and Education as a participant in an Affordable Housing Project. This study enabled the Committee, at no cost to the Town, to work with professionals in the real estate field to collect data and establish trends in Kennebunkport.
After all of these inputs were assimilated, a Plan outline was developed, and work began to draft the text. Progress, however, was slow and frustrating. Each time the Committee felt that it was nearing its objectives, the requirements were changed by the State. In the midst of this effort, however, the Town was offered a State Planning Grant. The Town s Grant application was approved and it has so far received about $12,000 for expenses. Two payments from the State remain, totaling about $5,000, the final payment to be triggered by formal approval of the Plan by the voters.
Although the members of the Growth Planning Committee are all volunteers who work without compensation, the Committee felt that it would now be appropriate to use some Grant funding for professional assistance. After studying other comprehensive plans and consultants studies, the Committee found the work of the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission to be straightforward, down to earth, and realistic. The Committee, therefore, entered into a contract with SMRPC to provide assistance in writing the Goals and strategies Sections of the Plan.
It is our expectation that the plan, as described in this report, will be submitted to the voters for approval in June 1996. In the meantime, copies of the full report will be available for inspection at the Town Office and at the Cape Porpoise and Graves Libraries. Copies will also be provided to newspapers and other media in the area. The Committee normally meets at 7:00 p.m. in the Pasco Room of the Graves Library on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, and interested parties are always welcome to attend. The Committee also expects to schedule public meetings at which the Plan Report will be summarized, and questions and comments solicited.
It should be noted that each chapter was finished separately. Hence, information in one chapter may be more current than in other chapters. Deadline constraints allowed no more revisions. The Committee feels strongly that updating the information contained in the Plan should be done on a five-year basis. Information updates would drive the need to examine Goals, Policies, and Strategies on a similar time schedule. If this practice is followed, the Comprehensive Plan will be contemporary and useful.
D HOW THIS REPORT IS ORGANIZED
During the McKernan administration, the Growth Management act was amended to make it merely a guideline for town planning, and not a mandate. Nevertheless, the Town of Kennebunkport has chosen to adhere to the planning process as originally specified by the State.
This report, therefore, covers 11 fields of interest to the Town, as listed in the Index. For each subject on which conclusions and recommendations are appropriate (Chapters III XI), the report is broken into three sections:
1. INVENTORY. This section summarizes the Committee s findings on the subject, and draws attention to areas in which there may be problems or controversial issues. In order to make this factual material easier to understand, extensive use has been made of maps, tables, and charts. Where these exhibits are too large to be inserted into the text, they can be found at the end of the pertinent chapter. The original maps can be found at the Town Office.
2. ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS. This section summarizes the Committee s opinion concerning the implications for the Town of the factual findings in the previous section. Attention is drawn to topics where problems are foreseen, improvement is needed, or recommendations are called for.
3. IMPLEMENTATION. This section sets forth the State s minimum goals for the subjects covered by the chapter, as defined in the Growth Management Act, and suggests further goals which are appropriate for the Town. For each of the concerns identified in the previous section a policy is proposed for dealing with it. The section then recommends specific strategies through which these policies can be implemented. Where action is required, the appropriate agencies of the Town are identified and a time frame proposed.
E ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND APPRECIATION
We would like to thank all of the consultants and committee members who have contributed to the many aspects of this report. Their vision and enthusiasm for the future of Kennebunkport have enabled us to continue our efforts while maintaining our perspective throughout the long and often difficult course of the project. This report has been strengthened by the talents and experiences of each of them.
Consultants:
Geoffrey Coombs, USDA Dan Fleishman, SMRPC
Robert Ditson, USDA ret. Valerie Lamont, USM
James Steele, Land Use Consultant Laura Jepson, Professional Office
Services
Former Members of the Growth Planning Committee:
Ross Anderson Roland Finlay
Thomas Anuszewski Mary Jane Grant
Althea Beard Erland Hardy
Thomas Bradbury Margaret Hollingsworth
David W. Brown Lawrence Horwitz
Robert Brown, Jr. Peter Hussey
John Consla William Junker
Joan Dennis Diane Vreeland
Respectfully submitted,
The Growth Planning Committee
Maureen King, Chairman
Cecil Benson, Jr.
John Colmey
Helen Palaima
Ronald Ritchie
Lawrence C. Soule, Jr.
30 March 1996
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