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Comprehensive Plan Committee
The City of South Portland's Comprehensive Plan (Updated 2012)
The City of South Portland (the City) has a long history of planning for its future growth and development. The Planning Board adopted the General Plan for the City of South Portland, Maine, in 1967 and has developed updated Plans twice since then. In 1992, the City adopted a revised plan that has served as the City’s land use and development policy for the past twenty years. Subsequent to the adoption of the 1992 Plan, neighborhood plans were developed for Ferry Village, Willard, and Knightville/Mill Creek along with Project Plan that looked at a number of issues.
This 2012 Update of the City of South Portland’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 2012 Plan continue the basic policy directions set by the 1992 Plan. In other cases, the 2012 Plan addresses emerging issues or provides a fresh look at ongoing issues.
The 2012 Plan is divided into three parts. Part 1 presents background information. Chapter One summarizes the key elements of the 1992 Plan and outlines planning activities conducted by the City of South Portland since 1992. Chapter Two contains a detailed profile of the past ten years of residential and commercial development activity in South Portland. Chapter Three offers summaries of the Plan’s thirteen inventory sections. Full versions of the inventories are contained in Appendices A through M.
Part 2 of the Plan sets out the Comprehensive Plan’s vision, goals, and policy recommendations. Chapter Four sets out the City’s Vision for its future – what we want our community to be in ten or twenty years. 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 addresses how South Portland 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 thirteen Plan elements, a copy of the City’s present Capital Improvement Plan, a copy of the City’s Economic Development 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.