Comprehensive Plan Update

The Eliot Comprehensive Plan, Celebrating Our Past While Planning for Our Future, was completed in 2009.

In the fall of 2022, the Town began an update to the plan, with the consulting assistance of the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC). The update is being guided by a Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC) made up of citizens, Town advisory committee representatives, and Town staff. The Select Board created the CPC, appointed its inaugural members, and is responsible for making any additional appointments. The CPC is made up of subcommittees that focus on specific topics: land use, transportation, housing, economic development, environment and open space, and parks and public facilities. The CPC also includes a Youth Advisory Group made up of middle school and high school students who live in Eliot.

The Comprehensive Plan Committee web page includes a roster of members and agendas and minutes for the CPC and subcommittees.

In winter 2022-23 and spring 2023, the effort focused on gathering data for the Existing Conditions Inventory and collecting Community Survey responses. The rest of 2023 has involved writing the Inventory chapter drafts, conducting a Youth Survey, establishing a Vision Statement, conducting stakeholder interviews of businesses and other organizations, and the subcommittees beginning to update the goals, policies, and strategies (GPS).

In the first half of 2024, we expect that the subcommittees will wrap up the GPS updates, the future land use map will be developed, and a final draft document will be reviewed by the CPC and Planning Board. There will be additional public input opportunities, including a public hearing on the final draft plan. From there, we expect that the final draft plan will be presented to voters for consideration of adoption, possibly in the fall of 2024. More details to follow.

Community Vision Statement

In October and November 2023, the CPC created a final draft Community Vision Statement for the new Comprehensive Plan. This was informed by public input received to date -- surveys, the March 2023 Community Visioning workshop, and other public input. The CPC also created an "Our Role in the Region" statement, which is required for State consistency (more on State consistency below).

Our Vision

We seek to create and maintain a vibrant, sustainable, and connected community that celebrates our rural heritage and history, protects and conserves our valuable natural resources, and provides a high quality of life for people of all ages and backgrounds.

To achieve this, we will encourage community members to be engaged and active, create a flourishing local economy, sustain local farming, preserve and expand open space and natural resources, support excellence in our schools, diversify housing choices, improve multimodal transportation options, invest in our infrastructure, prioritize resilience to climate change, and connect neighbors through community services, programs, and resources.

We will work to ensure that our community is inclusive, safe, and welcoming to all.

Our Role in the Region

Eliot is a primarily residential community, with many residents working within a 10-mile radius. Our contributions to the regional economy reflect being centered in key regional transportation networks, deep water access to the Piscataqua River, and prime agricultural soils. Today, commerce and business are concentrated along the state arterial, Route 236, and provide critical inputs to the region’s agricultural and maritime economy.

Eliot collaborates with communities throughout York County to exchange information, assets, and cost sharing. With our neighboring communities, we share a sense of responsibility to serve the needs of residents, businesses, and visitors across the region. We will contribute to regional initiatives to improve housing choices and affordability. We share vital ecological connections that extend beyond our town borders, and we will continue to partner with conservation organizations to protect and conserve these important connections – especially as we all face the challenges of a changing climate.

Youth Survey

While the Community Survey has a significant sample size of about 700 respondents, the self-reported question about the age of the respondents indicated that not many people (less than 10) aged 24 years or younger completed the survey. The Youth Advisory Group recommended a supplemental Youth Survey to allow more young people in Eliot to have a voice. The Youth Survey was distributed via the schools in spring of 2023 and received over 60 responses. It is shorter than the Community Survey, and it phrases some of the questions differently, but the subject areas covered are similar. You can find a preliminary summary of the Youth Survey results via the attachments list below.

Beginning With Habitat Presentation

Wednesday, June 7, part of the Conservation Commission meeting, 5:30pm

Presentation by Steve Walker of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW).

This was not exclusively a Comprehensive Plan-related presentation, but the information provided will help to inform the Comp Plan development.

Community Visioning Public Input Session and CPC Meeting #2

Regatta Room at Eliot Commons, Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Community Visioning Session: 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm (drop in anytime); CPC Meeting: 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm (public welcome)

This input session had approximately 80 attendees. Thank you to the community members who attended and offered your ideas. The ideas presented by the public informed the Community Vision Statement (above).

Community Survey

The Community Survey was open from mid-December through mid-February. Thank you to the over 700 residents who filled out the survey! The survey was available in online and paper form. A link to the survey was posted on this page, shared in two Town web news releases, publicized by Town advisory committees, and shared by Eliot residents and organizations on social media and email lists. In December, postcards with a survey link, QR code, and options for filling out the paper version were mailed to every Eliot household. Blurbs about the survey were published in the Weekly Sentinel. Paper copies and postcards were available in Town Hall and at the William Fogg Library, and Eliot Connects volunteered to help deliver and pick up paper copies. In the attachments section below, you will find preliminary results for text-based and map-based responses. More details to come.

Comprehensive Plan Committee and Subcommittee kickoff meetings

The first Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC) meeting was held on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at Eliot Town Hall, with Zoom option. Click here for a video of the meeting. Subcommittees of the CPC had their first meetings in December and January.

Growth Management Act consistency

The State of Maine encourages Maine communities to create and maintain comprehensive plans that are consistent with the state's Growth Management Act (Title 30-A MRSA Ch. 187). Although consistency is not required, there are several benefits of doing so. Without a consistent plan, a community has less flexibility to make certain zoning changes, establish impact fees, or manage growth in ways the community might want to do these things. A community may also be eligible for certain grants or loans that might not be available to it without a consistent plan. The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry (DACF) reviews plans for consistency. For more information, visit DACF's Comprehensive Plans web page.

Town staff and the CPC are committed to achieving consistency with the new Eliot Comprehensive Plan. This means we need to follow a rigorous set of requirements for the content of the plan -- topics covered, data, analysis, policies, maps, and other content. Additionally, our plan will need to include a public participation summary, program for regional coordination, implementation strategy, measures to evaluate progress on implementing the plan after it is adopted, and a future land use map.

For more information, contact Jeff Brubaker, AICP, Town Planner, at jbrubaker@eliotme.org or 207-439-1813 x112.