AUGUSTA, Maine — Members of a legislative committee on Thursday unanimously endorsed a bill to reform Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission after lawmakers reached an accord to remove the most contentious aspect of the measure.
The bill, LD 1798, will replace the seven-member slate of commissioners nominated by the governor with a nine-member commission of which eight members will be county commissioners or their designees. All nine members still would have to be vetted by the Legislature, however.
Earlier this month, members of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee had endorsed competing measures after deadlocking on the issue of whether counties should be able to withdraw from LURC if local officials were unhappy with the state’s oversight.
But the committee held onto the bill and, after lengthy behind-the-scenes negotiations, lawmakers agreed to drop the “opt out” option. The result was a 12-0 vote in support of the bill with one member absent.
Senate President Kevin Raye, R-Perry, called the unanimous vote an “important step forward in the effort to bring greater local control and accountability to land use planning in Maine’s Unorganized Territory.” Raye had been a vocal proponent of LURC reform, even sponsoring a bill last year to dismantle the agency and hand over most responsibilities to counties.
“I appreciate the willingness of stakeholders and legislators with diverse views, as well as the LePage administration, to do the hard work necessary to build consensus,” Raye said in a statement. “This result shows what can happen when people are willing to listen and respond to each other respectfully in order to bridge differences.”
LURC is responsible for permitting, zoning and planning on more than 10 million acres, or nearly half of the state of Maine. But the agency has long been accused by some landowners of stymieing economic development and putting too much emphasis on protecting natural areas. Those criticisms gave rise to a task force whose work formed the basis of LD 1798.
Under the proposed changes, county commissioners in each of the eight counties with the most land within the Unorganized Territory would nominate one member. Supporters claim that change will ensure localities have more say on decisions.
The bill also would:
• Transfer some minor permitting responsibilities to counties.
• Have the Maine Department of Environmental Protection handle all commercial wind power projects.
• Relocate some central office LURC staff out of Augusta to areas closer to the Unorganized Territory.
• Direct LURC to work with counties to develop regional planning and zoning.
Democratic committee members had been the most vocal in opposition to the opt-out clause, which they dismissed as a way to gradually weaken the agency. Supporters of the opt-out clause, however, said the stipulations counties would need to meet before withdrawing would be set so high that few if any would likely attempt it.
But several Republican lawmakers from counties with significant acreage in LURC territory had also opposed the withdrawal option. And in the end, it appeared that legislative leaders may have counted the votes.
The bill now heads to the full House and Senate for consideration. Because it may arrive with unanimous committee support, however, the bill could avoid floor debate.
Environment Maine, one of the groups heavily involved in the debate over LURC, said in a statement Thursday evening that they were “thrilled that the worst part was thrown out as a result of the public outcry.
“But we continue to have concerns about the makeup of the new Commission and the standards that will guide their decisions,” the group said. “We’re committed to closely watchdog the changes as they are implemented and to continue to fight to protect the North Woods for future generations.”
Develop the unorganized territories and watch your property tax bill go through the roof.
…and watch your property value go right along with it!!
I beleive the magnitude of the increase in property value would far outweigh the increase in property tax obligations.
that’s a pretty basic concept…
Yeah and as the value goes up so does the tax bill. And with no jobs to generate the money to pay the tax bill guess what’s next. Can we all say ‘Tax Sale’ ? This one is so simple that even LePage can see it, not to mention the fact that this is Irving’s and Quimby’s most wild fantasy come true. Start looking at West Virginia and get a good long preview of what Maine’s gonna’ look like over the next 10 years. And as an aside, guess what’s gonna’ be the 1st project that this ‘new’ process is gonna be working on ? Can we all say ‘Vigue and the East-West Highway Study’ ?
It’s also a basic concept that increases in property values eventually mean increases in taxes which make it harder to pay each year.
Abolish LURC
Long overdue but getting rid of LURC would be even better. LURC is nothing but a tool used by Environmentalist to further their agenda to destroy the economy of Northern Maine.
I agree!
Will this pit the counties against each other?
LURC has been chopped, and isin’t it interesting that it happend right after Martin and the Irving / Bald Mountain ‘deal’ came out. Now, who here really believes in the tooth fairy or has my coffee got too much moose poop in it as a creamer ?
Same old same old.
Environment Maine has no business telling rural Mainers how to do their LOCAL planning.
These people are out to destroy the economy of rural Maine in order to further their socialist agenda of forced preservationism through the federal takeover of private properties.
Shame on you Republican legislators for not taking the opportunity handed to you by the rural voters of this state to get rid of this non-responsive, oppressive, enviroterrorist bureaucracy.
Does this mean I can build a set of front steps on my camp in the middle of a 50 acre wood lot??? I’m getting tired of having to lay down on the ground an let my wife use my back as a step to get in the camp.
In the past how many LURC members do you think have taken bribes????
I don’t know-most are very honest,but a bit radical for my taste. It is well known that many environmentalists are pushing Agenda 21 but not always realizing it.
I agree with you Nathaniel. I don’t think every environmentalist is an A21 proponent. I do believe many are trying to do a good thing and are in-turn duped by the core A21 crowd into doing things that result in A21 success stories. That is why we have to fight.
Legislators – this is a graded exercise. You can still potentially amend it on the floor.
Daring to fight the Progressives by taking on LURC – “A”. Not sustaining the fight when you have plenty of dry powder and ammo – “D”. The socialists win this battle because we still cannot have our freedom. Thanks for at least trying – it shows there is at least a little calcium in your spines.
But not enough to actually matter !
I always thought the teapartyers were the ones denying everything the left put forward as a conspiracy, and yet here you all are with your “Agenda 21” and “destroy the economy” pipe dreams. What a ship of fools.
Teapartyers believe in saving this country,following the US Constitution,in the pursuit of liberty and an individual’s self reliance-if needing help, then to help others with their gifts(talents). Using the philosophy of teaching others how to fish, but not giving them a fish everyday unless they can’t help themselves(literally and figuratively-don’t misuse the principles of the US Constitution as bad or you someday will wish we could have this wonderful life again. Some people see a person drop a pencil,knowing that it is not theirs, but they still keep it. Tea Party members and those with similar beliefs, follow the laws of this land with a strong belief of backing up laws with high, positive morals.