Coastal Services Center

Urban Sprawl – The spreading of urban developments (as houses or shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city. (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)

Whether you picture strip malls or cul-de-sacs, most people have a mental image of "urban sprawl." What doesn't spring to mind as readily are the impacts of sprawl—environmental degradation, lost open space and coastal access, displacement of natural resource-dependent industries, vanishing community character, and the financial and social burdens placed on local and state governments. Coastal communities throughout the U.S. are experiencing the effects of sprawl, and even predominantly rural coastal states, such as Maine, are seeing the consequences of the public's increasing desire to live on the coast.

"Because so much of our development is concentrated along the coastal zone, we see what we're experiencing there as a microcosm of what's going on across the state," says Beth Della Valle, coordinator of the Maine State Planning Office's Land Use Team. "We have documented that Maine's population is spreading out—and not just in southern Maine or around the largest cities, but even in the most remote parts of the state."

A multiyear effort led by the Maine State Planning Office has resulted in recently passed legislation providing more than $1.7 million for initiatives to implement "smart growth" measures. These include prohibiting state investments outside of designated growth areas; providing grants to communities to evaluate and redevelop growth plans; developing a marketing campaign for homebuyers; and creating a smart growth toolbox to help communities tackle their specific sprawl issues.

"You could pose the question of why a slow-growing state like Maine is paying attention to growth management," comments Kathleen Leyden, manager of the Maine Coastal Program. "There has been a tremendous outpouring of public concern.... People in Maine are very sensitive to change. Even those who aren't from here moved here seeking a certain type of living experience and lifestyle. When the traffic increases, and strip malls get developed, and you're not able to get into your favorite state park on a hot summer day, well, others may be used to it, but Mainers have a low tolerance."

Sprawl's Hidden Costs

"One of the staggering things we discovered," says Della Valle, "is that from 1970 to 1990 we developed as much land in Maine as had been developed over the entire previous history of the state, consuming land four times faster than population growth. If we continue with that same pattern, land use consumption will double again by 2010."

Della Valle says this spreading population costs the state "perhaps $50 to $75 million per year in what ought to be controllable expenses, for things such as schools and buses." It costs local budgets millions more to pay for new and redundant infrastructure and lengthened service routes for things like police and road maintenance.

And the costs go beyond dollars and cents, Leyden says. Spreading out also creates more air pollution from automobiles, water pollution from development runoff, and fragmentation of wildlife habitats. The character of communities is changed as traditional coastal cottages are torn down and "McMansions" are built in their place. Lands that have traditionally been available for public use are being closed, and there is the disruption of traditional farming, fishing, and forestry activities.

"The issues of sprawl really boil down to good land use planning and financial investments that support planning," Leyden says.

Taking on the Problem

Maine first took action to address sprawl 13 years ago with the adoption of the Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act. This mandated that all communities in the state adopt a comprehensive plan and land use ordinances consistent with state goals. Research done in 1996, however, documented that sprawl was continuing and having "unanticipated and unintended consequences," Della Valle says.

Soon afterwards, a statewide conference was held to "share the results and ask questions," explains Della Valle. "People said, 'yep, we're concerned and think the state should get involved, but we don't think pursuit of additional regulatory responses is the right way to go. We should use the laws on the books, and find other nonregulatory ways to deal with these issues.'"

The conference spawned the formation of a multi-constituent group to examine the issue and come up with environmental priorities. At the same time, the state governor identified sprawl as one of his top priorities, and directed his cabinet to develop an integrated response.

Leading Legislation

What resulted was a "collaborative response" where the state "came up with three guiding principles, and from that five strategies" that led to the development of the legislative smart growth measures. The most important of these, Della Valle says, was setting up "a standard where the state could not make growth-related capital investments outside of growth areas without a waiver.

"A lot of the strategies are not new," she says. "This is stuff land use planners have been talking about for 40 years. The piece that is new and unique, and the part that state and federal governments need to understand, is that government is influencing how development happens by their investments. If you build a road, they will come. If you develop a job center, people will go to it. If you build a school, houses will develop around it. We are now opening our eyes to the direct and indirect impacts of public policy choices."

The intent of the legislative initiatives is to combine more compact and efficient growth patterns with state and local financial incentives for compact village development, along with a better understanding of the real estate market. Strategies include efforts to keep rural areas healthy, comprising everything from reevaluating tax policies and marketing supports, to acquiring open spaces. Other efforts strengthen investments and policies for service centers, increase support to municipalities for local and regional planning, and create education tools and marketing to assist local communities in integrating smart growth measures and informing the public about the consequences of their home buying decisions.

"There are many, many pieces," Della Valle says. "We think we have adopted a package of legislation that is landmark legislation. This package poises us among the top states in the country in terms of dealing with the issues of smart growth."

She adds, "The thing that is so amazing to us is that many of these issues are things that we have been talking about for 20 to 30 years in this state. Sometimes it felt like you were singing to the choir. People who supported you understood and were always there, but there was never any way to get beyond them to the full congregation. Sprawl and smart growth are becoming household words in Maine. It's evident that this is a concept whose time has come."

For more information about urban sprawl on the coast and smart growth, point your browser to www.csc.noaa.gov/smartgrowth/. For more information about Maine's legislative smart growth initiatives, point your browser to www.state.me.us/spo/. You also may contact Beth Della Valle at (207) 287-2851 or Beth.Dellavalle@state.me.us, or Kathleen Leyden at (207) 287-3144 or Kathleen.Leyden@state.me.us.