Bethel forum on proposed Site Location Law changes draws 75

75 concerned citizens from bankers to business owners, Realtors to contractors crowded the Bethel Inn Conference Center on Wednesday morning to hear Main-Land's presentation on the potential impacts of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's proposed changes to the Site Location of Development Law.

Main-Land President/Owner Darryl Brown told attendees that "In the 37 years I've been doing this, I've never heard of any changes that are more sweeping than these. If enacted as proposed, this could dramatically slow down or altogether stop development in Maine."

Especially given the trying times the state and the country is facing economically, "This is absolutely the wrong time for a proposal like this to see the light of day," he stressed.

Of particular concern is that if enacted, the changes to the Site Location of Development Law would limit large scale non-residential development to designated growth zones, urban compact zones, census designated areas or those areas served by public sewer systems. It would also require the preservation of at least 55 percent of the land area within residential subdivisions larger than 30 acres and prohibit the disturbances of slopes 20 percent or greater.

Attendees of the Bethel forum, which is the first of seven in the series Main-Land is sponsoring, were also particularly concerned with a provision in the proposed act to update the law that would allow MDEP to approve or reject site contractors selected by an applicant for project construction.

In a question-and-answer session following Main-Land's presentation, several attendees commended the company for being proactive in educating those who would most be impacted by the law about its affects.

Main-Land's next forum on this issue will be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3 in Farmington at the Fairbanks Meeting House. You can read our press release announcing that event here in the Morning Sentinel and here on the Daily Bulldog (an online news source for Franklin County). There will also be a forum next Friday in Norway/South Paris at the Norway Legion Hall, also beginning at 8 a.m. All are welcome to attend.

And, you can click here to read coverage of our Bethel forum in the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Main-Land survey crew hard at work in Bethel

In our ongoing efforts to update our new website which launched last week, I recently headed out into the field to shoot some of our Main-Land survey crew working over in the Bethel area. Despite the two plus feet of snow that had fallen earlier in the week, the crew was hard at work setting pins for their latest project.

Here is Roman...





And Scott...



If you are looking for a land surveyor in western Maine from Rangeley to Rumford, Bethel to Bridgton to Belgrade, we encourage you to contact our chief of surveying, Chuck Buker.

Main-Land hockey team in the New England Pond Hockey Fest

Main-Land Development Consultant had its hockey team skate to a quarterfinals finish in the third annual New England Pond Hockey festival, held in Rangeley from February 6-8. The team made went 3-0 in its first three games to qualify for the quarterfinals, where they lost to the Old Clippers, the team that went on to win the tourney. The Main-Land team includes (from left to right): Mike Pomerleau, of Lewiston; John Aube, of Lewiston; Andy Dube, an employee of Main-Land who lives in Kent's Hill and is the team captain; Mike Saucier, of Winthrop; Laurie Bourgeois, of Hallowell; and Trevor Campbell, of Lewiston. Congratulations!!!

Main-Land and owner Darryl Brown featured as success story in Livermore Falls Advertiser/Franklin Journal

Our hometown newspaper - the Livermore Falls Advertiser- did a wonderful feature in this week's paper on Main-Land Development Consultants and how the company has grown in its nearly 35 years. The story, which featured an interview with our owner/president Darryl Brown, also was published in the Franklin Journal. We're so grateful for the opportunity to share our story and we think LFA reporter Barry Matulaitis did a fine job, really capturing how our company is a very modern one with the latest technology yet still retains a family business feel where you know a real person will pick up the phone (and it might even be Darryl)! Enjoy!

Main-Land sponsored forum featured in the Bethel Citizen

The Bethel Citizen published a great story in advance of our Wednesday, Feb. 25 forum about the proposed Act to Update the Site Location of Development Law at the Bethel Inn Conference Center that we're putting on in conjunction with the Bethel Area Business Association. Read the story on their website here, or below.

And remember, this forum, which begins at 8 a.m. is open to the public and we'd love to see you there. Coffee and light refreshments will be provided. Call us at 207.897.6752 or email darryl@main-landdevelopment.com with any questions.

Forum here next week on proposed tightening of DEP land-use restrictions
By Alison Aloisio of the Bethel Citizen

A public forum will take place Wednesday in Bethel on a bill before the Maine Legislature that includes restrictions on the construction of roads to hillside developments, and on the layout of some residential developments larger than 30 acres.

The bill, proposed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, would update the Site Location of Development Law.

The law regulates medium-to-large-scale development in the state.

The proposed updates have raised concerns among some development-related businesses and have prompted one of them, Main-Land Development Consultants Inc. of Livermore Falls, to hold a series of forums in western Maine.

The Feb. 25 Bethel meeting, which will take place from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Bethel Inn Conference Center, is co-hosted with the Bethel Area Business Association.

In a press release dated Monday Darryl Brown, the president/owner of Main-Land, voiced his worries about some of the bill’s proposals:

“If enacted, it would limit large-scale non-residential development to designated growth zones, urban compact zones, census designated areas or those areas served by public sewer systems.

“Meanwhile, if a residential development larger than 30 acres is proposed outside these zones, that development would be classified as a conservation subdivision, requiring the preservation of at least 55 percent of the land area.

“The law changes would also prohibit the disturbances of slopes 20 percent or greater, limiting projects in Maine’s mountainous regions, like the greater Bethel area.

“In nearly four decades as a land planner, never have I been more worried about the impact of a piece of legislation than I am now. This would essentially prohibit development in rural Maine and the jobs and revenue it brings.

“In these trying economic times, we should be encouraging investment in our communities, not legislatively preventing it.”

DEP response

Jim Cassida, the licensing coordinator for DEP’s Division of Land Resource Regulation, acknowledged that the bill currently includes wording requiring the preservation of at least 55 percent of the land in some developments larger than 30 acres.

But, he said, “I think we’ll see a lot of discussion about that number. Where we end up could be some place different.”

Cassida said towns that currently have conservation subdivision ordinances requiring such preservation are “all over the map” with their percentages.

But, said Cassida, “Fifty-five is high compared to most.”

As for restrictions aimed at development on steep slopes and ridgelines, Cassida said the bill would not prevent such development, but would limit the design of the roads leading to it.

The intent, he said, is to prevent roads that go “straight up the mountainside.”

Such roads minimize the land area taken up with infrastructure and allow a developer to create more lots, said Cassida.

But roads with lesser grades that follow a more meandering route would generally fit into a hillside environment better.

Other changes

Other parts of the bill include a change in the groundwater standard that replaces a requirement to avoid an unreasonable risk of discharge to a “significant ground water aquifer,” with a requirement to avoid an unreasonable risk of discharge to “ground water;” as well as the repeals of current exceptions for lots of more than 40 and 500 acres in the definition of “subdivision.”

Cassida said DEP welcomes public input on the bill, and anyone wishing to be added to an e-mail list providing updated information on it can contact him at james.cassida@maine.gov.

More information on the bill is currently available on the DEP website at www.maine.gov/dep/blwq/docstand/sitelaw/2009/index.htm.

Main-Land's new website is live!

After months of work, we're thrilled that the new Main-Land Development Consultants website has finally launched!

Created by talented local web designer Heather Peel, of Foliage Web Design in Fayette, our new site allows us to better showcase our services, our past projects and the Main-Land team. More importantly, it allows our clients and potential clients to easily find the information they need, whether it is the email address for their Main-Land contact person or a downloadable agent authorization form to ensure their project moves along right on schedule.

We hope you enjoy the new site. Make sure to bookmark it (www.main-landdevelopment.com) and visit often to see the latest project news and views.

Main-Land Launches Seven-Part Series to Educate Western Maine on Proposed Planning Policy Changes

Bethel forum to focus on proposed land planning policy changes
The event is co-hosted by Main-Land Development Consultants and the Bethel Area Business Association

BETHEL- An upcoming public forum will allow area residents to learn more about massive reforms to Maine's land development policy being proposed by the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

The February 25 forum, co-hosted by the Bethel Area Business Association and Main-Land Development Consultants, is the first in a series of seven forums around western Maine being put on by Main-Land –a Livermore Falls-based land planning firm – in response to the Maine DEP's proposed changes to the Site Location of Development Law.

Darryl Brown, president/owner of Main-Land and a former legislator, said he initiated the series over concerns that the proposed changes to the law and rules related to it could drastically slow down – if not all together stop – development in the state.

The Act to Update the Site Location of Development Law, sponsored by Rep. Bob Duchesne (D- Hudson), does not yet have an LD (legislative document) number but is expected to be taken up this session, says Brown.

If enacted, it would limit large scale non-residential development to designated growth zones, urban compact zones, census designated areas or those areas served by public sewer systems. Meanwhile, if a residential development larger than 30 acres is proposed outside these zones, that development would be classified as a conservation subdivision, requiring the preservation of at least 55 percent of the land area.

The law changes would also prohibit the disturbances of slopes 20 percent or greater, limiting projects in Maine's mountainous regions, like the greater Bethel area.

“In nearly four decades as a land planner, never have I been more worried about the impact of a piece of legislation than I am now,” explained Brown, who along with engineers from his firm, will be presenting an overview of the DEP's proposal and its potential impacts on the Bethel region at the forum. “This would essentially prohibit development in rural Maine and the jobs and revenue it brings. In these trying economic times, we should be encouraging investment in our communities, not legislatively preventing it.”

DEP has held informational meetings on its plan in Portland and Augusta, which Brown and his staff attended, but he says many western Maine small business owners didn't know about those meetings, or have the time to go to. He hopes through the forums, stakeholders will be educated about the law and rules changes that are proposed, and be empowered to participate in future public hearings when the state Legislature considers the act later this session.

“We want these forums to be educational, not accusatory,” stressed Brown. “From our perspective, there are both positive and negative portions of the MDEP's proposal and it is our objective to simply present to people potential impacts of the changes in their area so that if they wish, they can be an informed voice in the process of developing this public policy that will shape the landscape of Maine's future.”

The forum will be held from 8 to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the Bethel Inn Conference Center. It is open to the public and coffee and light refreshments will be provided.

Subsequent forums will be held in Farmington (March 3), South Paris (March 6), Bridgton (March 17), Skowhegan (March 19), Auburn (March 24) and Kingfield (March 26).

For more information, contact Darryl Brown at 897-6752 or darryl@main-landdevelopment.com.

ABOUT MAIN-LAND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS
Main-Land Development Consultants has been providing land use planning services including surveying, soils testing, mapping, engineering, permitting and wastewater design to both public and private projects throughout western Maine and beyond since 1974. The company, now in its 35th year, is based in Livermore Falls and can be found online at www.main-landdevelopment.com. For more information, call (207) 897- 6752.

Main-Land in the Media

The release we sent out last week about MLDC's owner/president Darryl Brown's appointment as chair to the UMaine Foundation's board has been appearing in media outlets around western Maine.

The Lewiston Sun Journal ran the story here in late February. The firm's local paper, the Livermore Falls Advertiser, ran the release on Page 6 of their Thursday, Feb. 12 issue and the release also appeared online on the Daily Bulldog, an online news source for Franklin County. We expect the release to appear in other area papers soon so keep an eye out for it.

Thanks to our friends in the media for the coverage! And congratulations to Darryl again for this honor.

UMaine Foundation Board Chooses Darryl Brown as Chair

The Livermore Falls man is a former legislator and owner of MLDC

ORONO- A longtime Livermore Falls businessman and former legislator has been chosen to chair the board of the University of Maine Foundation.

Darryl Brown, the owner of Main-Land Development Consultants, was unanimously elected to head the board for the foundation, a private on-profit organization dedicated to securing and stewarding private gifts and grants to benefit the University of Maine and its students.

Brown, who grew up in Richmond and attended the University of Maine thanks to scholarships he received from the foundation, earned both a Bachelor of Science in Soil Sciences degree in 1966 and a Masters in Agronomy degree in 1969 from the university.

This is his third consecutive year on the nine-person volunteer board which he now chairs.

In his new position, Brown will lead the board's meetings and sit on all board committees, including the investment committee.

“As a seasoned board member, Darryl brings strong leadership and experience to the Foundation along with the unique perspective that comes from being Maine small business owner,” said Amos Orcutt, CEO of the foundation.

“Darryl knows first-hand the difference a scholarship can make to a student, especially during these difficult financial times, and his work as the chair of the board will be felt by students and faculty of the University of Maine for generations- it will brighten a lot of lives.”

Brown's devotion to the university extends beyond his work on the board. At Main-Land Development Consultants, the Livermore Falls-based land planning firm he founded 35 years ago and now heads as president, six of the company's employees in addition to Brown are graduates of the University of Maine, including Main-Land's general manager, its two lead engineers and the chief of surveying.

“As an alumnus of the University of Maine and now a Maine small business owner, I've seen that the vitality of the school is linked directly to that of the state,” explained Brown. “Given the volatility of the markets and the economy in these extraordinary times, it has never been more important to invest in this institution.”

Brown, who represented House District 81 in the Maine State Legislator for four straight terms in the 1970s and 1980s, has also chaired the boards of the Franklin Community Health Network and Franklin Memorial Hospital in the past, and remains an active board member in both. He also been a long-standing member of the board of directors for both the Maine Rural Water Association and the National Rural Water Association, of which he is former national president.

Brown and his wife, Penny, live in Livermore Falls. He has four grown children.

ABOUT MAIN-LAND DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANTS
Main-Land Development Consultants has been providing land use planning services including surveying, soils testing, mapping, engineering, permitting and wastewater design to both public and private projects throughout western Maine and beyond since 1974. The company, now in its 35th year, is based in Livermore Falls and can be found online at www.main-landdevelopment.com. For more information, call (207) 897- 6752.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE FOUNDATION
The University of Maine Foundation is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization established in 1934 to encourage gifts and bequests to promote academic achievement, foster research and elevate intellectual pursuits at the University of Maine in Orono and other charitable organizations. The Foundation manages more than 1,200 named endowment funds and has assets as of June 30, 2008 totaling nearly $185 million, including over 7,350 acres of forest land held for the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture, and annually distributes earnings providing private support as determined by its donors for University programs, students and faculty. The Foundation has offices in both Orono and South Portland, and can be found online at www.umainefoundation.org.

Welcome to the Main-Land Development Consultants Blog

Welcome to the new blog for Main- Land Development Consultants, a western Maine land planning firm based in Livermore Falls. We've got many great stories to share about our Main-Land family, and we'll do so here, so check back often for the latest company news.