Last month, Gov. LePage kicked off Maine’s new “Certified Business Friendly Community” program to encourage local communities to become more business friendly.
Making the state more business friendly is the goal of nearly every gubernatorial candidate, but it’s a task that’s easier said than done. Here’s what the governor’s new “business friendly action team” should focus on, to really make a difference:
Encourage Maine communities to update their land use ordinances. Most Maine towns and cities are working with outdated ordinances that are difficult for both developers and planning boards to interpret. Those difficulties often turn into conflicts, delays and misunderstandings. Local print shops, food processors and high tech manufacturing facilities are examples of businesses that are subjected to zoning restrictions based on concerns about noise, smells and traffic impact that may no longer be valid. Updating municipal land use ordinances assures that 21st-century businesses are treated fairly, and not subjected to 20th-century restrictions.
Retool the Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Act of 1988. Over the past 25 years Maine communities have invested heavily – both in time and dollars – in the comprehensive planning process. Comprehensive plans were supposed to form the basis of updated ordinances and accomplish broad-based policy goals like preserving open space and reducing sprawl. Unfortunately, the process is so lengthy and cumbersome that few communities have the energy or political willpower to translate their comprehensive plans into modern ordinances – indeed, many municipal ordinances still precede the 1988 Planning Act. Many more ordinances have been enacted without being tied to their community’s approved comprehensive plan. Maine towns and cities should take a break from the state-mandated 10-year comprehensive plan update and invest the same resources in a complete, top-to-bottom overhaul of their existing land use ordinances.
Separate residential from commercial projects in the planning process. After years of municipal budget cuts, most municipal planning offices are understaffed and underfunded. Commercial and residential projects typically move along the same review track. In a small planning office, that track can be a slow one. Commercial projects – especially those that create jobs and bring new investment to the state – should move to the head of the pack. Reviewing a new residential subdivision is not as important as reviewing and approving an expansion at a local manufacturing facility or a new corporate office building.
Outline the permitting costs up front. Municipal permitting fees rarely hamper inexperienced developers or delay their project approvals. It is engineering costs to meet state and federal requirements for traffic movement, stormwater management and other wetland documentation that hit small and inexperienced developers the hardest. While an experienced, well-financed developer will usually have required engineering work available for planning board review in a short time, a developer unprepared to cover the same up-front costs can take months to have the same work completed.
Providing up-to-date, modern land use ordinances, a fast-track review process for commercial projects and a clear outline of engineering permitting costs will send a clear message to the development community – that this town or city is “Open for Business.”
Keith Luke is the former director of economic and community development for both Westbrook and Windham. He lives in Cape Elizabeth.
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