The Town of Scarborough has several citizen-led boards and committees working on issues to enhance our community. See what some of the active boards and committees have been up to in the past few months. Find the full details on the Town of Scarborough website, shared in our latest Board & Committee Newsletter.
Conservation Commission
The Conservation Commission continues to find ways to incorporate conservation principles into Town decision-making. They provided a workshop to the Town Council on April 19 about the importance of conserved land. The commission also worked with councilors to develop a resolution supporting 30×30, an initiative to conserve 30% of Scarborough lands by 2030. The resolution passed with unanimous Council support in June. Their conservation efforts will continue for the foreseeable future, as the commission successfully advocated for funding to complete an Open Space Plan in the FY2024 budget.
Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee has most recently been involved in supporting the Planning Department and the Long Range Planning Committee with updates to the Town’s commercial lighting standards and more within the Town’s Commercial Design Standards. The Commercial Design Standards are used by developers as a guide for how buildings in Scarborough should look. Ahead, the committee is working on developing a sustainability-focused budget line item, capital improvement project, and reserve account to support sustainability projects and programs.
Long Range Planning Committee
The Long Range Planning Committee is currently working to consolidate the Town’s Ordinances by reducing redundancy in the Site Plan, Zoning, and Commercial Design Standard Ordinances. They hope to forward proposed amendments to the Ordinance Committee soon.
Planning Board
The Planning Board has been busy reviewing a wide variety of development proposals. Most recently, at the end of June, the Board approved the Downs Town Center subdivision, a seven lot subdivision with a mix of retail, restaurant, residential, and mixed uses. They also reviewed the first roundabout in town, working with a nationally recognized traffic engineer used by MaineDOT statewide. The roundabout was approved for Downs Road and Innovation Way, and is expected to be built by the Fall.
Most recently, the Board held a workshop and Public Hearing to review the ordinance requirements for compliance with the new state law LD 2003, which removes regulatory barriers to increase housing production in Maine.
Transportation Committee
The Transportation Committee has been focusing on bicycle transportation in Scarborough. Many bike racks have been installed and more are anticipated in the near future. The committee also formed an ad hoc subcommittee to begin work on a bike byways map. The committee is also working with Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) on a grant application identifying critical locations for Demonstration Projects with the goal of eliminating fatalities or severe crashes along the Route 1 corridor. Looking ahead, the committee will begin public outreach about the Town-wide Transportation Study, move forward on the implementation of transportation tasks outlined in the Comprehensive Plan, and begin revising Traffic Impact Fees.
Coastal Waters & Harbor Advisory Committee
The Coastal Waters committee has a number of items to work through. They plan to review and update the Coastal Waters Ordinance and discuss the new mooring and pier/co-op use fee and how it’ll be implemented. They also made recommendations to the Town Council for pier, float, and pedestrian walkway repairs. The committee is currently undertaking a comprehensive study of the parking lot at the Pine Point Co-op. They will report back to Town staff for action by next spring.
Zoning Board of Appeals
The Board has been hearing a number of special exception requests for various activities. Special Exceptions are uses that would not be appropriate generally or without restriction throughout the zoning district but which, if controlled as to number, area, location or relation to the neighborhood, would promote the public health, safety, welfare, morals, order, comfort, convenience, appearance, prosperity, or general welfare. Such uses may be permitted in zoning districts where special exceptions are provided for in the Zoning Ordinance.
Senior Programs Advisory Board
The Senior Advisory Board’s current focus is supporting the very active Age Friendly Scarborough subcommittee. The Age Friendly Initiative has held several events in the past few months as part of its Speaker Series, with topics like internet safety and emergency preparedness. The Age Friendly Scarborough subcommittee started up a Walking Club on the municipal campus in partnership with the Scarborough Public Library. Age Friendly Scarborough was also awarded the AARP Challenge Grant to add more benches and mileage markers to the walking routes on the Municipal Campus.
Learn More
Read the full Board & Committee Newsletter on the Town of Scarborough website. All meeting minutes and agendas can be accessed from the Boards & Committees page under the “Government” menu. Subscribe to the Town Newsletter for regular updates on what’s happening in Scarborough.
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