LUPC legislation: Goodbye local control
By V. Paul Reynolds
In 2011 under Republican Gov. Paul LePage, the Land Use Regulation Commission, which had planning and zoning authority over Maine’s unorganized territories as well as townships and plantations, was reconstituted by the state legislature. The replacement entity was also renamed the Land Use Planning Commission or LUPC, which exists today.
The policy aim at that time was to grant local control, to make sure that the appointed regulators serving as commissioners of LUPC represented the areas of the state being zoned and regulated. There were eight members of the commission and by statute they were appointed by the respective county commissioners from the unorganized territories. The governor had the authority to appoint one of the eight members of the land use planning commission.
Politics being politics, there is within the legislative halls of Augusta an attempt to go full circle to reconstruct the present Land Use Planning Commission in a way that undermines the local control facet of LUPC and weaken the member appointment process markedly.
A proposed legislative change now working its way through the law- making process is LD 870. This bill would water down the local control element of LUPC’s zoning authority by changing the makeup of the commission in a stunning way. Under this bill, LUPC would comprise 13 members instead of eight. The governor would be able to appoint five additional commissioners instead of one.
The summary statement of LD 780 does not state the purpose of this change. Can you guess why this would be the case? What else could it be other than an attempt to “pack” the commission, or to redirect the balance of LUPC’s regulating power from the representatives of the unorganized territories to the state’s executive branch.
Not surprisingly, at a recent work session on the bill, a number of county commissioners and other organizations testified against the bill. Andre Cushing, president of the County Commissioners Association, testified that “This would result in the chief executive appointing 1/3 of the newly constituted board, and these four appointments coming on at the same point would potentially add an unhealthy imbalance. This change in light of the additional language in the bill eliminates the requirement that appointees to the commission reside in or work in the unorganized territories.”
The Natural Resources Council and the Nature Conservancy, testified in strong support of this measure.The Maine Forest Products Council and the County Commissioners Association opposed this legislation.
Cushing also testified that “The bill allows the eight county appointees to serve if they have ‘significant professional experience’ in the Commission’s jurisdiction. Notably, the term ‘significant professional experience’ has no definition, so experience as minimal as a single major project in an unorganized territory would be sufficient qualification, regardless of where such individual lives or works. In our view, this level of connectivity to the unorganized territories is insufficient, and we are concerned that decision-making by the Commission could increasingly be made by individuals with less of a personal investment in the region.”
The current structure of LUPC has existed since 2011. There have been no problems finding qualified individuals to serve, nor have there been any significant issues that have not been satisfactorily resolved by the present commission.
As one commissioner observed, LD 780 is a solution in search of a problem.
The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide and host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network. He has authored three books. Online purchase information is available at www.sportingjournal.com.