LD 1535
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Page 1 of 5 An Act Making Improvements to the Laws Regarding Local Land Use Ordinances ... Page 3 of 5
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LR 2018
Item 1

 
often reach across municipal boundaries, the complexity and
regional effect of many modern developments, the need to combat
sprawl both within and beyond individual municipalities and the
need to foster fair and evenhanded statewide approaches to land use
planning and regulation.__Under this chapter:

 
A.__Municipalities may be required to take actions relative
to planning and land use control;

 
B.__Certain municipal land use regulations are permitted
only if the regulations are in compliance with state
guidelines and limitations designed to achieve overall
fairness and equal treatment under the law; and

 
C.__Certain municipal decisions and actions are subject to
state-level appeals.

 
Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §4360, sub-§3 is enacted to read:

 
3.__Application.__This section applies only to rate of growth
ordinances enacted before the effective date of section 4360-A.

 
Sec. 6. 30-A MRSA §§4360-A and 4360-B are enacted to read:

 
§4360-A.__Municipalitywide rate of growth ordinances

 
A municipalitywide rate of growth ordinance is a temporary
measure allowing a municipality to slow the rate of growth for a
reasonable period of time in order to plan for services or
provide needed infrastructure to better absorb growth.__A
municipality pursuant to its home-rule authority may limit the
number of residential building permits issued in any calendar
year when the rate of growth ordinance meets all of the
requirements in this section.

 
1.__Need; municipalitywide.__Before a municipalitywide rate of
growth ordinance may be enacted that either affects both growth
and rural areas of a municipality, as defined in this chapter, or
affects an entire municipality that, pursuant to exemptions in
section 4326, subsection 3-A, paragraph A, subparagraph (4) or
(5), has not designated a growth area, the municipality must
document in a comprehensive plan adopted or amended under this
chapter that a need for the ordinance exists.__Need must be based
on the rate of population growth and the rate of issuance of
building permits compared with past experience and regional
averages, the increase in full value mill rates and debt levels
required to serve growth in population and housing and the
shortage of municipal infrastructure needed to absorb the growth.__
The office shall establish by rule a rating system by


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