LD 1940 - An Act to Revise the Growth Management Law
LD 1940 provides an update of Title 30-A, Chapter 187, the current Growth Management Law, to modernize the statute, which directs the Comprehensive Planning process used by municipalities across the State.
This bill is one of two Growth Management Laws coming in front of the Committee of Housing and Economic Development this coming week, May 8th, and this is the bill we support. LD 1940 is sponsored by Melanie Sachs (sponsor of the Maine Redevelopment Land Bank), and co-sponsored by both chairs of the Committee on Housing and Economic Development, Representative Traci Gere and Senator Chip Curry, as well as Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau and Senate President Mattie Daughtry.
LD 1940 is supported by over 40 diverse organizations all coming together to work on and advance this bill. LD 1940 is also a key priority bill of the Environmental Priorities Coalition, comprised of 39 organizations that work across Maine.
The recommended updates to the statute do the following:
Emphasizes planning for the future, not the present and the past, with an emphasis on outcomes-based planning.
Lifts the burden of comprehensive planning on communities small and large by eliminating the exhaustive State data checklist.
Gives municipalities the time and flexibility to focus on visioning and to more deeply explore issues of utmost importance to the community.
Provides a tighter, leaner, faster process for working through a local comprehensive plan.
Focuses inventory activities on critical natural systems and environmental systems mapping as the basis for local planning and conservation work.
Creates a more nuanced and meaningful set of definitions for rural areas to help better protect working lands and critical natural areas.
Redefines “growth areas” with recognizable placetypes such as crossroads, villages, neighborhoods, downtowns, and high-impact corridors. This updated framework better helps communities meet local goals and provides the foundation for effective policy and implementation.
Expands the public process with suggestions for creative and effective engagement tools for increasing public participation.
Affirms current statute by continuing to reward communities that undertake critical planning work.
The goal of Policy Action 2025 is to address barriers to and create incentives for equitable, sustainable growth and development that strengthens downtowns and villages of all sizes while pulling development pressure away from productive and open natural areas. We do so acknowledging that Maine has urban, rural, and suburban settings for which any solution may/not be a fit and a variety of people who deserve to be welcomed to their communities.
Questions related to this bill? Reach out to the working group point person karawilbur@gmail.com.
The public hearing for LD 1940 is scheduled for May 8, 2025 at 9:00 am before the Legislature's Committee on Housing and Economic Development.
Begin your letter with:
[DATE]
RE: Testimony IN SUPPORT of LD 1940, An Act to Revise the Growth Management Law
Senator Curry, Representative Gere, and Members of the Committee on Housing and Economic Development;
My name is [ENTER NAME] and [I live in / I work for ENTER TOWN or ENTER ORGANIZATION NAME]. Please accept this testimony IN SUPPORT of LD 1940, An Act to Revise the Growth Management Law.
[Describe your reasons for supporting the bill.]
LR LD 1940 is supported by the Environmental Priorities Coalition, which includes the following organizations:
