In summary, the state goals are:

To encourage orderly growth and development in appropriate areas of a community while protecting the rural character of a community,

To plan, finance and develop an efficient system of public facilities and services,

To promote an economic climate that increases job opportunities,

To encourage and promote affordable housing,

To protect the quality of the State’s water resources,

To protect the State’s other critical natural resources,

To protect the State’s marine resources from incompatible development and to promote public access to the shore,

To safeguard the State’s forest and agricultural resources,

To preserve the State’s historic and archaeological resources, and

To promote the availability of outdoor recreational opportunities including access to surface waters.

In addition to these State goals, the law requires that a town’s growth management program contain sections on inventory and analysis, goals, and implementation strategies.

Finally, as a coastal town, Lincolnville is required to address the coastal policies outlined in the Maine Coastal Act.

The value to Lincolnville of developing a plan conforming to these State standards is that it gives our town the opportunity to seek a “certificate of consistency” from the State which, in the future, will allow Lincolnville to receive preferential treatment when applying for certain types of state funding.