Standish Town Council held a joint workshop with the Comprehensive Plan Committee regarding the town’s recently completed comprehensive plan.

Planning Director Zach Mosher told the council that, since the spring of 2024, town staff and the committee had been working with North Star Planning, represented at the meeting by Charles Tetelman. The new comprehensive plan would replace the existing one, which was adopted in 2006.

“A lot’s changed in Standish since 2006, so it was a good time to do the plan,” Mosher said.

Tetelman, a senior planner with North Star, reflected on the work of the committee. He said the committee met once a month, and held two public workshops in Standish: one for visioning in November, and another for future land use in March. He also said while municipalities are not required to have comprehensive plans, having a state-approved comprehensive plan unlocks opportunities such as funding, Community Development Block Grants and other opportunities such as building ordinances around impact fees.

According to Mosher and Tetelman, the comprehensive plan was made up of a vision statement, as well as topics including housing, transportation, natural resources and the fiscal health of the town. The most important pieces of the plan, they said, were the five major goals and individual policies within each goal, as well as the future land use map. Regarding the land use map, the new plan amended the growth areas from the 2006 plan, which included the villages of Steep Falls, Standish Corner and Sebago Lake Village, to focus primarily on the latter two.

Tetelman said that, after holding conversations with the committee and members of the public, the planners learned that growth has been occurring everywhere in Standish, rather than just being contained to the growth areas and transitional zones, and crafted a plan that looks at Sebago Lake Village and Standish Corner as primary growth areas.

Steep Falls, they said, was the subject of a lot of discussion, but the committee eventually concluded that the area might not be the best to support increased housing and development. The plan is also focused on the Watchic Transition Corridor, which links Standish Corner with Limington. Tetelman said the corridor had “good bones” and the potential for increased economic and recreational activity.

The five goals of the comprehensive plan are to protect open lands, water resources, and rural identity; reinvest in villages and improve connections; increase housing choice and affordability; grow a resilient local economy; and build resilient infrastructure and services.

Each major goal presents three to four policy areas that focus on a different strategy that advances the goal.

Tetelman gave the example of Goal No. 2’s “enhance and reinvest in village centers” policy, which consists of strategies such as encouraging public-private partnerships to activate vacant or strategic village sites, providing incentive for mixed-use development, and developing a coordinated signage and wayfinding strategy to highlight local landmarks, among other goals.

Tetelman also spoke about a state-required implementation table, which gave every strategy an ID and identified which parties were responsible for implementing what items and whether they are to be implemented in the short, medium or long term. He characterized the table as a “living document,” meaning that the Town Council was ultimately not bound to the exact words of the comprehensive plan and it can decide whether to switch a goal from being short term to long term, and vice versa.

While the council was quick to express its gratitude for all the work the committee did, a few members had questions about the implementation of the plan.

Councilor Jennifer Thomas asked if the new plan changed density requirements as far as residential housing in the area. Tetelman responded that future land use maps don’t change zoning overnight, but there are state statutes, such as LD-2003 and LD-1829, that talk about how residential developments operate in growth areas.

Councilor Robert Deakin, meanwhile, said that he had not seen anything regarding sewer development or a map of existing waterlines, saying that Standish, unlike other towns in the area, does not have a public sewer system.

A draft of the comprehensive plan was submitted to the state in late June, and state approval is expected by September. Meanwhile, the town of Standish will accept public comment until mid-August.