Fuller Farm Preserve in Scarborough  Courtesy of Scarborough Land Trust

The Scarborough Town Council formally accepted the Parks & Facility Master Plan, which is intended to help keep the town on track with its goals regarding parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation programs and services, on March 1.

The town created the plan with consulting firm BerryDunn with a focus on “identifying fiscally and environmentally sustainable methods to manage growth and development,” according to the plan.

It was created to be aligned with the town’s existing goals from the 2021 comprehensive plan such as improving Scarborough’s walkability and connectivity, sustainably creating parks, trails, and recreation programs, and meeting community needs.

“This is a working document but what this does, at least, puts the wishes of the community in a cumulative, one place where we can start putting some things together then adjust it,” said Community Services Director Todd Souza. “Our board has talked about providing an annual report, (asking) what have we done, what have we accomplished?”

The master plan will also help the town understand the possibility of creating a community center, a project many were in favor of in the fall 2021 community survey.

A draft of the master plan was finished in January. Since then, the plan has been available for review online as well as going through the Feb. 1. town council meeting.

“It’s not definitive, but what it does do is it allows you to tee up projects or slate them, give them some definition, and to the extent that growth will impact them, then you can charge fees to that growth,” said Councilor John Cloutier.

The plan was formally accepted by the town council in the meeting on March 1. The council charged the Community Services Advisory Board to create recommendations on the plan’s implementation by June 7.

“(This) is a roadmap for our committees to do work and make recommendations and so I’m in favor of supporting this tonight,” said Councilor April Sither.

More information can be found on the town’s website at https://www.scarboroughmaine.org/stay-connected/municipal-projects/parks-facilities-master-plan