Smart growth in Maine

1. A Short History
of a Big Idea
Smart Growth in Maine
2003-2013
Evan Richert

2. Maine’s Connection to TND Founder Duany
Ingraham Corner, West Rockport
1989
2010 rev

3. Smart Growth 2003-2013
HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAYED
STARRING ROLE

4. The Forerunner: Historic Preservation
• Union Station, 1961, an early trigger in Maine
• 1966 National Historic Preservation Act
– Response to 2 major programs that destroyed
historic structures and dismantled downtowns
• National Interstate System (1956)
• Urban Renewal (1960s)
– In Maine, 51 Historic Districts with commercial
components placed on the National Register
1970-2013, including 9 since 2003.

5. Historic Preservation Tax Credits: a
Financial Underpinning of Smart Growth
• 1976 – Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit
• 1999 – First Maine tax credit for re-use of
historic buildings
• 2007 – Special state tax credit for rehab of
Hathaway Mill in Waterville
• 2008 – State tax credit expanded to
statewide, w sunset date of 2013, later
extended to 2023

6. No. of State Historic Tax Credit Projects
Maine, 1999 - 2013
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
10
10
9
5
3
State Historic Tax Credit expanded
1
4
0
3
3
3
GrowSmart ME est.
0
1
0
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
12

7. Through the Great Recession: $$
Spent Rehab of Historic Buildings
$45.0
Millions
$40.0
State Historic Tax Credit
expanded
$35.0
$31.6
$40.3
$36.9
$30.0
$25.0
$19.1
$20.0
$15.0
$10.0
$6.9
$5.0
$0.0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Source: Planning Decisions and Maine Preservation, April 2011

8. Signatures of Smart Growth…
• Former mills, schools, churches and
commercial blocks
Gilman St. School, Waterville
Pepperell Mill, Biddeford

9. …Signatures of Smart Growth…
• In the heart of downtowns, historic
waterfronts, established neighborhoods
• On transportation lines
Bates Mill #3
Downtown Lewiston

10. …Signatures of Smart Growth
• Meeting variety of
housing, commercial and
industrial needs
• And innovating with
energy and environment
LEED certified former
Baxter Library
Portland Press Herald and LiveWork Portland
Blog photos

11. Smart Growth 2003-2013
ENTERED A DEMOGRAPHIC
GOLDEN AGE FOR SMART GROWTH

12. Demography Catches Up with Smart Growth
• Baby Boom (1946 – 1964)
• Echo of the Boom – GenY (~1982 – ~2001)
Thousands
0
100
>65 yrs
Baby Boom
Gen X
Gen Y
0-9 yrs
200
300
400
382,000
301,000
State of Maine, 2010 Census

13. The Impact of Two Generations
Baby Boom fueled sprawl of 1970s – 2000s
BUT :
– Now entering retirement with different needs
– And had the decency to give birth to Gen Y, which
experiences the world differently
Age in 2003
Baby Boomers
Gen Y
Age in 2013
Age in 2023
39 - 57
49 - 67
59 - 77
2 - 21
12 - 31
22 - 41

14. Where 1st Wave of GenY Homeowners Lives
“They are willing to pay for the ability to walk. They don’t
want to be in a cookie-cutter type of development. The
suburbs will need to evolve to be attractive to Gen Y.”
-- Melina Duggal, RCLCO Real Estate Advisors, 2011 NAHB
Rural
Suburban
Urban (Downtown, In-Town
Neighborhood, Small City)
14%
38%
49%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

15. Fewer and Shorter Vehicle Trips
Change in Vehicle Trips and Miles
Per Person 18-34 yrs old, 2001-2009
0.0%
-5.0%
-4.2%
-10.0%
-15.0%
-20.0%
-25.0%
-16.6%
-21.5%
Population Vehicle trips Vehicle miles
18-34
Source: National Household Travel Survey,
US Dept of Transportation

16. We Had an Inkling in 1999
First Market Study to document
demand for traditional neighborhood
development in Maine
Predicted market share of ~37% of
home buyers
Included the “Young Turks” –
young, educated Maine natives, the
leading edge of the “connected”
generation
Prefer to be close to services &
amenities
Young
Turks
12%

17. Number of 2003-2013 Developments
Fit with Changing Demographics
• Brick Hill (collaborative private-public project to
redevelop Youth Training Center)
• Dunstan Crossing (first Maine TND-style project)
• Eastern Village in Scarborough
• Bayside projects in Portland (starting with Unity
Village in 2000)
• The mills – e.g.
Pepperell, Hathaway, Bates, Goodall
• Bangor EcoHomes
• Brunswick Landing
• In-town retirement communities
• Co-housing developments in Brunswick (1998)
Belfast and Buxton

18. Smart Growth 2003-2013
DOWNTOWNS TURNED A CORNER

19. 1970-2000: Figuring Out
How to Adapt
• Battered by 40+ years of
highway strip development
• With loss of department
stores, grocers &
hardware, most forced
down the hierarchy of retail
centers
• Vacancies, loss of
population, aged
buildings, hard to re-use
SuperRegional
Regional
Community
Neighborhood
Convenience

20. Learned from Those that Adapted…
• Old Port Exchange, Rockland, Bath, others; and
• Those with built-in strengths, like Bar
Harbor, Bethel, others

21. …And a Lot of Bootstrapping
• Property owners reinvesting
• Small businesses taking risks -shopkeepers, restaurateurs, innkeepers &
professional offices
• Renys!
Maine Downtown Center
Helping Downtown organize and reinvent themselves
Grew from 4 to 10 Main Street Communities, with
• $169.7 million in downtown improvements, 2002-12
• 269 net new businesses

22. Assisted by Key Public Programs
• Historic Preservation Tax Credits
• EPA Brownfields Program ($51.5 million, 1994-2013)
• Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (points for smart
growth – 2007)
• Clean-up of Harbors and Rivers along which many
Downtowns were built
• Community Development Block Grants
• Downtown Tax Increment Financing Districts

23. Recipe for Downtown Success
Remained the Same:
• Establish at least two primary activities –
“go-to” activities for residents of the trade
area – that Downtown can perform better
than any other location
• Add two or three complementary activities

24. But a New Menu of Activities to
Replace What Was Lost
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Financial Institutions
Government
Arts, Culture, Education
Entertainment
Food! Restaurants, Farmers’
Markets, Natural Foods and
Other Specialty Foods
Other Specialty Retail & Shops of Artisans
Residential
Business Services
Professional Offices incl. new formats like Co-Work

25. Revived Waterfronts Helped Build
Critical Mass
• Arts, entertainment, recreation venues
• Working waterfronts
Bangor’s revived
waterfront:
• American Folk
Festival
• Waterfront Concert
Pavilion
• Walk & Bikeway

26. Smart Growth 2003-2013
THE PUBLIC POLICY FRAMEWORK:
HOW IT SAVED MAINE’S FIRST TND
PROJECT AND HELPED SET THE COURSE

27. The 1989 Comprehensive Planning and Land
Use Act (aka Growth Management Program)
• MEREDA, MMA, NRCM jointly supported
• Enacted in 1989, gutted in 1991, partially
restored in 1993
• No teeth…but a tooth:
“…any portion of a municipality's … rate of growth, zoning or
impact fee ordinance must be consistent with a comprehensive
plan adopted in accordance with the procedures, goals and
guidelines established in this (act). The portion of a rate of
growth, zoning or impact fee ordinance that is not consistent with
a comprehensive plan is no longer in effect.”

28. How It Saved Dunstan Crossing
Once upon a time, at the turn of
the century, Elliott and John
Chamberlain decided to build
the Great American
Neighborhood.
After 2 years of charrettes and negotiation, they won a contract
zone. The Comprehensive Plan said there should be a new village at
Dunstan Corner in Scarborough. And the Chamberlain’s wanted to
build it:
• 445 units of mixed housing
• Neighborhood stores
• Public space
• Conserved open space
• TND design

29. It was very
different from the
development
every one was
used to.

30. See How Different?
S-P-R-A-W-L

31. People were VERY worried and scared.
They held a referendum in 2003. They
killed Dunstan Crossing.
But wait! The Chamberlains sued based
on the Growth Management Act!

32. And the Good and Wise Court said the repeal
was INCONSISTENT with the Town’s own
Comprehensive Plan and was NO LONGER IN
EFFECT!
The moral to the story: As long as you have a
tooth and good gums, you can prevail!

33. Everyone in Scarborough still liked each
other, and in 2006 the Town and John &
Elliott agreed to a smaller, lower density
version but still faithful to the TND design.
NOT YET the End…

34. Because Scarborough Didn’t Stopped There
It overhauled zoning in the Route 1 Corridor:
• In 2004 adopted TND Option Overlay District
• In 2007 re-zoned corridor based on Town and
Village Centers
TVC Districts
TND District

35. Growing Number of Supportive
Zoning Plans in Last Decade
A Sampling:
• Portland’s Bayside Vision (2000) and rezoning to enable its
implementation
• South Portland’s Village Commercial and Knightville Design
District and infill housing zoning
• Standish’s form-based system
• Development fee transfer systems in
Gorham, Scarborough, Topsham
• Other experiments with Transfer of Development Rights
• Many types of clustered development provisions, from
incentive-based to mandatory

36. Infill on <5000 sf Lots, So. Portland
Photos: Kristel Sheesley

37. Smart Growth 2003-2013
TRANSPORTATION EMERGED AS A
PARTNER

38. Transportation Policy Turns “Sensible”
• 1991 Sensible Transportation Policy Act
– Required capacity-expanding transportation
improvements to consider the alternatives
• But 2003 was a threshold year: Required
MaineDOT to adopt a rule in coordination with
Growth Management Act and to link
transportation and land use processes

39. Another Step in 2007-08
The Rule added incentives to adopt local and
regional transportation plans that use land use
strategies to reduce pressures on state
transportation corridors

40. First Two Attempts to Link Transportation
and Land Use in Major Corridors
• Gateway 1: Route 1, Brunswick to Stockton
Springs
• Gorham East-West Corridor: Portland to
Standish, guided by PACTS Land Use Policy in
Destination Tomorrow
• Neither has materialized yet, but…

41. …Best modeling available demonstrated the
benefits across nearly every metric

42. Meanwhile…Local Initiatives Grew
• Complete Street policies have been adopted –
including Portland (2012) and Auburn (2013 –
500th city in the nation)
• Franklin Arterial Street Study, using Context
Sensitive Solutions model
• Advent of Transit Oriented Development
(TOD) Tax Increment Finance Districts to fund
transit operations – So. Portland & Orono

43. Alternative Modes Gained Steam
• Maine as high as No. 2 in
U.S. for bike friendliness
(League of American
Bicyclists 2010)
• New sidewalks and
trails, extension of
Eastern Trail
• Bus ridership grew across the State as gas prices
increased – and Island Explorer, started in
1999, greeted 3 millionth passenger in 2009

44. The Downeaster Proved Itself…
and Expanded
600,000
528,292
Passengers
500,000
400,000
Brunswick Station, Opened 2012
300,000
200,000
262,691
100,000
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2005 2006 2009 2010 2011 2012

45. The Housing + Commute Equation Shifted
Est. Annual Housing + Commuting Costs
(work in Portland)
$25,000
$20,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
Commuting
Cost
Housing Cost
$0
Source: E. Richert, calculated from U.S.
Census and U.S. Consumer
Expenditure Survey, 2010

46. Smart Growth 2003-2013
THE FLIP SIDE OF THE COIN:
CONSERVING PRODUCTIVE NATURAL
PLACES

47. 3 More LMF Bond Issues Passed,
2003-2013
• Totaled $37 million
• Bringing LMF bonds to $134 million since
inception in 1987
LMF PROJECTS, 1987-2012
Type
Conservation & Recreation
Farmland
Working Waterfront
Water Access
Number
187
36
19
52
Source: Land for Maine’s Future Program FY 2011-2012 Biennial Report

48. Partners Statewide and Locally
• Since 2000, each LMF dollar leveraged $3 of
private funds
• MCHT - $100 million Campaign for the Coast
• Maine Farmland Trust – protected 35 farms
through buy/sell, 108 through easements

49. Partners Statewide and Locally
• The Nature Conservancy of Maine – including
landscape-level projects in the St. John River
Valley and Moosehead Lake Region
• The Forest Society of Maine – focused on
Maine’s North Woods
• Trust for Public Lands – including “parks for
people”
• 98 Land Trusts in Maine Land Trust Network

50. Lake Concept Planning
in Unorganized Territory
• 3 new plans 2004 – 2009
• Plum Creek’s Moosehead
Lake Region Plan
– Green-lined growth
areas of 16,000 acres
– Permanent conservation
of 392,500 acres
– TNC, Forest Society of
Maine, Appalachian
Mountain Club
– Connects network of >2
million acres from St.
John River to Baxter
State Park

51. Smart Growth 2003-2013
INVESTED IN INNOVATION – AND
THEREFORE IN DOWNTOWNS AND
SERVICE CENTERS

52. Innovation as Part of the
Smart Growth Ecosystem
Patents, 2000-2011
100%
87%
80%
60%
40%
13%
20%
0%
Metro/Micro
Areas
Non-Metro
Shares of Enrollment in
Colleges & Universities
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
72%
On 27
campuses
28%
71 Service
Centers
On 6
campuses
Rest of Org.
Towns (418)

53. Incremental Progress 2003-2013
• Maine Technology Institute funded 500th
company in 2005
• In 2012-13, funded 253 projects with $10.5
million, leveraging $33.7 million in match
• Maine performing relatively well on the
entrepreneurial index (2013 = 0.36; goal is
0.50)
• 2011 - Blackstone Accelerates Growth grant
for entrepreneurship

54. But a Red Flag
from Measures of Growth
From Measures of Growth, 2013

55. Urban Scaling: Innovation Rates Increase
with Agglomerations of People
Investment in Innovation =
Investment in Service Centers and
Downtowns

56. Some Milestones
2003-2013
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2004 - First GrowSmart Maine Summit
2006 – Charting Maine’s Future released
2007 – Model Town Community project initiated in Standish
2008 – Successfully advocated for Historic Preservation Tax Credit
and Uniform Building and Energy Code
2009 – Successfully advocated for Communities for Maine’s Future
bond
2010 -- Reinventing Maine Government published
2011 – Project Canopy project with Maine Forest Service
2012 – Charting Maine’s Future: Making Headway published
2013 - Reinventing the Commercial Strip project completed