The witch is dead! The witch is dead! Long live the witch! (Augusta: appointed)

[Submariner]

I got an email from the Governor's office that says Governor LePage today signed legislation to replace LURC [a 40-year-old agency that has overseen Maine's 10.4 million acres of Unorganized Townships without allowing any representation by UT residents], with a new land-use board, the MLUPC [Maine Land Use Planning Commission].

This new board [the MLUPC] is to focus its mission on both conservation and economic development, and it is to allow local input and improved permitting processes.

Gov. LePage said "We have retained planning and permitting in the Unorganized Territories, yet we also have replaced reactive rezoning with forward-looking planning."

<which sounds like politico speak to me>

"... The signing of L.D. 1798 provides a great opportunity to set aside old battles that often pitted landowners against those who see the Great Maine Woods as a public good,"



The MLUPC [Maine Land Use Planning Commission] gets one member appointed Governor as a beard, and the eight counties with the most unorganized areas each get to pick a member to represent each of them. So now Mainers will begin to have representation for their taxation.

The purpose and scope of the new Commission [the MLUPC] is expanded to include:
1- the well-planned and well-managed multiple use, including conservation, of land and resources and to encourage and facilitate regional economic vitality.

2- To hold Commission meetings in a location within the Commission's jurisdiction, with project-review meetings to be held as close as possible to the project site;

3- To move land-use staff out of Augusta into field offices closer to the Commission's jurisdiction;

4- To reform the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) for the UT. to reflect the new legislation;

5- To identify areas of the UT that display significant potential for economic investment and job creation;

6- To provide an annual report to the legislative oversight committee.

Grid-scale wind projects in the UT now will now be reviewed and permitted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Regulation of forestry activities in the UT will be handled by the Maine Forest Service.

So maybe the next CLUP will no longer have the 'no-human-presence' and 'primitive-use-only' language in it?

Yahoo !



One problem I see is that I can pronounce LURC, not sure how to pronounce 'MLUPC'.

[Submariner]

Please delete this thread, another thread already exists.