The Biddeford City Council is facing a looming state deadline to finally get its 2023 Comprehensive Plan approved by state officials
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
For a variety of reasons – most notably staffing turnover in the city’s planning department – Biddeford’s Comprehensive Plan remains stalled and uncompleted.
On Monday, the Biddeford City Council is hoping to approve plan updates that were earlier rejected by the state of Maine as “insufficient and incomplete.”
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The council’s review is taking place under the wire – with a looming state deadline that is also scheduled for June 29.
The city’s Comprehensive Plan provides an overview and guidance for future growth, and it impacts issues such as zoning and planning decisions. It also allows the city to legally defend its zoning ordinances.
Without a state-approved comprehensive plan, the city could become ineligible for state and federal grants and other funding assistance.
The state of Maine requires all municipal comprehensive plans to be “consistent” with state standards as outlined in the Maine Municipal Planning Assistance Program.
Although the city previously submitted its 2023 Comprehensive Plan for state approval nearly two years ago, state officials rejected several of the plan’s sections, describing them as “incomplete and insufficient.”
The development of a comprehensive plan – generally updated every 10 years – is a complex process that requires extensive and rigorous public input standards.
In his memo to the council, City Planner David Galbraith explained that staffing turnover within the planning department has thwarted getting the plan finalized and ready for resubmission and state approval.
Galbraith said the plan only needs some “minor revisions” and some updated maps in order to meet state guidelines.
The Planning Department has been trying to complete the city’s 2023 Comprehensive Plan Update for “a number of years,” Galbraith wrote.
Shortly after submitting the city’s 2023 Comprehensive plan, Greg Mitchell – the city’s director of planning and development – resigned his position. Galbraith was hired as the city’s planner in 2023.
“Due to the staffing level of the Planning Office, this project was not restarted until after a new employee was hired and assigned the task of completing the remaining chapters and items identified by the state as either missing or deemed inconsistent,” Galbraith wrote in his memo to the council.
In March, the city council authorized a funding request and directed former City Manager Truc Dever to enter into an agreement with the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC) to assist in completing the city’s comprehensive plan.
According to Galbraith, the city’s Conservation Commission, Planning Board and others have been “working diligently” to complete the plan within the fast-approaching state-imposed deadline of June 29.
Although the city council approved the updates on June 16, they also identified several minor issues that needed to be clarified, including spelling errors.
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Where we are
The city’s plan shows that Biddeford occupies approximately 30 square miles of land, comprising approximately 7,800 parcels, which support “a varied mix of land uses.”
Of the land that is developed, a relatively high proportion is devoted to residential uses, open space, agriculture, forestry, and recreation.
“With continued growth, development patterns east of U.S. Route 1 have become increasingly intensive, characterized by a higher concentration of commercial and industrial uses along the U.S. Route 1 and I-95 corridors.”
Land designated as “residential” is the largest land use category at approximately 40 percent of the city.
Just under 7.8 percent of land is assessed as Open Space/Tree Growth, and 5.2 percent is assessed as Commercial uses. There is also a significant amount of land categorized as Industrial (4.6 percent) and Education, Literary and Scientific (3.5 percent).
Commercial and Industrial uses combined make up approximately 10 percent of the city’s land. According to the City Assessment, a significant amount of land is considered vacant or undeveloped (approximately 21 percent).
VIEW / DOWNLOAD Biddeford’s Existing Land Uses
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