05/08/06 (updated 06/12/06)
Comprehensive Plan Committee making progress, seeks input
from public June 15
The Comprehensive Plan Committee will hold its second public forum on Thursday,
June 15 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall.
The committee has been meeting since June, 2005. Almost a year later, several
"chapters" of the new Comprehensive Plan are in draft form and have been
posted on the town website. Click here to view
special section. (new drafts added 06/12/06. Maps accompanying
Critical Natural Resources draft and Water Resources draft will be available
for review at the June 15 forum.). The committee hopes that many
Cape residents take advantage of website postings in preparation for a public
forum.
Public's input is crucial
For the June 15 public forum, the committee will focus on the draft
recommendations prepared as of June. Draft recommendations for the following
chapters will be presented:
-
Economy
-
Housing
-
Recreation
-
Transportation
-
Marine Resources
-
Water Resource
-
Critical Natural Resources
The committee will provide an overview of the specific recommendations and
reserve time for the public to comment. As always, the public forum will
be an opportunity to also make general comments about the new comprehensive
plan.
Third public hearing expected
Areas still to be developed by the committee include: Agriculture and Forestry
Resources, Historical and Archeological Resources, Public Facilities, Fiscal
Capacity, Regional Coordination and the Land Use Plan. The Comprehensive
Plan Committee is considering specific issue requests as the related chapter
is developed, or at the end as part of the whole plan review. A third public
forum will be held in January 2007 to present a complete draft plan with
all recommendations.
After plan drafted, what then?
The original charge of the Town Council to the Comprehensive Plan Committee
was to complete a draft plan in 18 months. The Committee has added meetings
to meet this deadline, but it is possible that a few more months may be needed
to deliver a quality draft plan to the Town Council for consideration. Once
the Town Council receives the plan, it will review the recommendations and
hold a public hearing prior to considering adoption.
If the new plan is adopted, the next step will be to implement the plan's
recommendations. Some recommendations will require Zoning Ordinance amendments.
The ordinance amendment process, which includes review and public hearings
by both the Planning Board and the Town Council ,could take 6 months to a
year before adoption. Therefore, ordinance amendments and policy changes
emanating from the comprehensive plan currently under development may not
occur until 2008.
For more information
All Comprehensive Plan Committee meetings are open to the public and the
meeting schedule is also on the website. For more information, please contact
the Town Planner at ceplan@maine.rr.com
or 799-0115.
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