Table of Contents
PART 1: BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Chapter One Past Planning Activities 1-1
Chapter Two Recent Development Profile 2-1
Chapter Three Overview of Updated Inventories 3-1
PART 2: GOALS AND POLICIES
Chapter Four Community Vision 4-1
Chapter Five Community Goals and Policies 5-1
Chapter Six Land Use Goals and Policies 6-1
PART 3: IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Chapter Seven Regional Coordination 7-1
Chapter Eight Implementation Strategy 8-1
Chapter Nine Capital Investment Strategy 9-1
APPENDICES
Appendix A Population and Demographics A-1
Appendix B The Local Economy B-1
Appendix C Natural Resources C-1
Appendix D Marine Resources D-1
Appendix E Utilities E-1
Appendix F Transportation F-1
Appendix G Housing G-1
Appendix H Public Facilities H-1
Appendix I Recreation and Open Space I-1
Appendix J Historic, Archeological, and Cultural Resources J-1
Appendix K Fiscal Capacity K-1
Appendix L Land Use L-1
Appendix M Historical Overview of Saco M-1
Appendix N Ten-Year Capital Improvement Plan N-1
Appendix O Summary of Public Participation O-1
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Introduction
The City of Saco has a long history of planning for its future growth and development. Saco completed its first Comprehensive Plan in the mid-1960s, more than 20 years before the State of Maine enacted the Growth Management Act. In 1978 the City developed a new Comprehensive Plan that led directly to the implementation of its current land use regulation system. The City adopted a revised plan in 1987 and completed a full update of the Comprehensive Plan in 1999.
This 2011 Update of the City of Saco's Comprehensive Plan serves as a guide for the decisions the City must make about growth, development, redevelopment, and change over the coming decade. The Plan continues the City's established long range planning process, and creates a framework for managing future development. In many cases, the recommendations of the 2011 Plan continue the basic policy directions set by the previous Plan. In other cases, the 2011 Plan addresses emerging issues or provides a fresh look at ongoing issues.
The 2011 Plan is divided into three parts. Part 1 presents background information. Chapter One summarizes the key elements of the 1999 Plan and outlines planning activities conducted by the City of Saco since 1999. Chapter Two contains a detailed profile of the past ten years of residential and commercial development activity in Saco. Chapter Three offers summaries of the Plan's twelve inventory sections. Full versions of the inventories are contained in Appendices A through L.
Part 2 of the Plan sets out the Comprehensive Plan's vision, goals, and policy recommendations. Chapter Four discusses the City's existing vision statements and their relationships to the Plan's "mini-visions" for growth and development. Chapter Five presents goals and policies for addressing issues facing the community related to all plan elements aside from land use. Chapter Six contains goals and policies for land use, including a Future Land Use Map and a vision and detailed summaries of preferred use and development patterns for each land use designation.
Part 3 lays out the actions needed to achieve the goals and policies proposed in Part 2. Chapter Seven addressed how Saco should coordinate its planning activities with neighboring municipalities and regional organizations. Chapter Eight sets out a detailed program for carrying out the various strategies, and assigns responsibility for the implementation of each strategy to a particular department, board, or agency. Chapter Nine identifies the capital investments needed to both support future growth and development and to enhance the community's quality of life.
The appendices to the Plan include the full inventories for the twelve Plan elements, as well as an overview of Saco's historical growth and development, a copy of the City's present Capital Improvement Plan, and a summary of public participation in the development of the Plan.
The Comprehensive Plan is intended to conform to the requirements of the State's Growth Management Law for comprehensive plans. As provided by state law, the Plan will also serve as the basis for the City's zoning and land use regulations.
The Comprehensive Plan Update Committee
Bob Barris
Jeff Christenbury
Marty Devlin
Mike Eon
Don Girouard
Sandra Guay
Rene Ittenbach
Christina O'Brien
John Read
Neil Schuster
Don Sharland
Sandy Shaw
City Staff
Peter Morelli, Development Director
Bob Hamblen, City Planner
Angela Blanchette, City Engineer
Emily Cross, Assistant Planner
Planning Decisions, Inc.
Mark Eyerman
David Versel
Antje Kablitz
Frank Zayac, Facilitator
