SoPo 2040 Team
Comprehensive Plan Committee
Made up of residents, staff, and elected officials appointed by the City Council, the South Portland Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC) serves as a guide for the decisions the City must make about growth, development, redevelopment, and change over the coming decade. The primary duties of the CPC are to audit and assess the City’s policies and objectives regarding growth, development, and change over the coming decade, and to work in collaboration with City staff and consultants to prepare, update, and implement South Portland’s Comprehensive Plan.
The CPC meets in Council Chambers at City Hall (25 Cottage Road). The schedule can be found here. Meetings are held in-person and virtually and are open to the public!
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Peter Stanton, District 1 Representative, joined the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee in 2014, and has served as Chairperson of that committee, and now the Comprehensive Plan Committee, since 2018. He is committed to maintaining an open and inclusive process where the public is encouraged to participate.
Mr. Stanton and his wife moved to South Portland in 1994. After several years renting in the Pleasantville neighborhood, they were fortunate to purchase a home near Willard Beach. A commitment to volunteerism grew out of support for his children's education, where he has held leadership positions for the South Portland Music Boosters, Mahoney Middle School PTA, Small School Playground Greening Committee, and the Children's Nursery School. He was a founding member of South Portland Age Friendly, where he helped launch the Sand Buckets for Seniors program. He helped organize the successful Neighbors for Neighborhoods campaign to oppose the short-term rental takeover of our neighborhoods, and has been a longtime public participant at the Portland Jetport's Noise Advisory Committee.
Mr. Stanton earned undergraduate degrees in Geology and Environmental Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MS in Geological Sciences from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He worked professionally as a specialist in sandstone depositional environments and diagenesis.
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Check back soon for Mike’s bio!
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I serve on the Comprehensive Plan Committee as the liaison and representative of the South Portland Economic Development Committee. In addition to being supportive of the overall CPC and remaining neighborhood friendly, I want to ensure that the CPC also represents the local and national businesses we are fortunate to have in South Portland.
After living in Portland for many years, my partner and I moved to Willard Beach area in 2009. Since retiring in 2016, I’ve been able to choose my community activities as well as my recreational ones. In addition to being a member of the Economic Development Committee, I’m passionate about educating our immigrant community. Accordingly, I’ve spent the past six years in Portland Adult Education English classes or tutoring students in English, citizenship, or healthcare courses.
After receiving an undergraduate degree in nursing from University of Southern Maine, I earned an MBA and MSN from the University of Virginia. I’ve spent my career in healthcare starting as an operating room technologist and ending as a Vice President of Nursing at Maine Medical Center.
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Elyse Tipton is South Portland’s City Councilor, District Five. She was elected in 2023 after serving on the South Portland Board of Education (school board), including as chair, and as a member of the city’s Affordable Housing Committee. A Maine resident since 2001 and a South Portland resident since 2010, Elyse believes in public service and the power of collaborating for positive change. She’s excited to be part of a comprehensive planning process to create a shared vision for the future of a growing and diverse South Portland community. Professionally, Elyse is communications director for the Genesis Community Loan Fund in Brunswick. During a communications and fundraising career that began in Washington, D.C., she has been a director for national and state organizations including, in Maine, Maine Audubon, the Center for Grieving Children, and Defend Our Health.
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Kathleen moved to Portland in 1975, where she became part of the regeneration of the Old Port with her family's creation of the Port Bakehouse and Baker's Table restaurant. She also studied and taught piano, raised her children in Cape Elizabeth and Peaks Island, and worked in development for local nonprofits. Moving to Knightville in 2005, she commuted over the bridge by foot, bike, bus and sometimes by car. Her last job, at Portland Trails, woke her to the importance of establishing green spaces and native habitats in urban environments. Kathleen makes daily use of the walkable streets and services of Knightville/Mill Creek and would like to see more people-friendly neighborhoods thrive in South Portland.
Kathleen was raised in the wilds of central New Jersey and has a BA in Human Studies from Brown University and a BA in musicology from the University of Southern Maine.
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Anne Jordan, a life long Mainer, has lived in South Portland for nearly thirty years. She recently retired after 38 years of practicing law including time as a prosecutor, private practitioner, a court administrator and as the first, and only, female Commissioner of Public Safety for Maine. In that role, one of her many responsibilities was chairing a committee of dedicated volunteer professionals who drafted the first Maine MUBEC code. Anne volunteers with the Maine Children’s Trust and is the immediate past president of the National Criminal Justice Association, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to using evidenced based practices to advance public safety.
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Christopher is the South Portland Conservation Commission's representative on the Comprehensive Plan Committee. Full bio coming soon!
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Natalie West is an at large member of the South Portland City Council.
She lives in the Willard Beach neighborhood, where she walks the beach almost every day - usually with her spouse and sometimes accompanied by an adult child or grandchildren.
Natalie worked as a municipal attorney before retiring to South Portland. She grew up in Massachusetts and spent her adult life in California.
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I joined the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Committee as the representative from the Energy and Recycling Committee in 2014. After leaving the ERC I continued to serve on the CPIC to ensure that the 2012 Plan remained in motion. When the City Council changed the CPIC to the current Comprehensive Plan Committee I sought a nomination from the at-large councilor. After speaking with her I was nominated and appointed to the committee. I was re-nominated at the end of my first term and was reappointed. I have lived in the city for thirty years and have been involved in numerous ways to support the city and move it forward. I feel that it is important to ensure that we plan for the future so that future generations can live in an inclusive and sustainable community city where everyone is provided with equitable opportunities.
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Check back soon for Pedro’s bio!
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Check back for Jeff’s bio soon!
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Full bio coming soon!
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Howard Kunin was appointed District 2 representative to the CPC near the end of 2024. He moved to South Portland in 2000 with his wife where they raised their two children. Prior community involvement includes 5 years on the board of South Portland National Little League, and serving on the Learning Commons committee of the high school renovation project. He also serves on the Policy Council of the Maine Psychological Association, including in the role as treasurer for the past 6 years.
Howard was born and raised in southern Connecticut, went to school in the Boston area, and has now lived in South Portland for longer than anywhere else. He is committed to working collaboratively and to supporting our preparedness for a sustainable future. He retired in 2024 after 35 years as a practicing clinical psychologist, including 24 years on staff at New England Rehabilitation Hospital. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant director at the Irish Hospice Foundation in Dublin, Ireland, and before that was a staff psychologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital.
Staff and Consultants
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South Portland Planning Division
City staff leading the SoPo 2040 Comprehensive Plan update
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JM Goldson
Lead Comprehensive Plan consultant
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Cambridge Econometrics
Areas of focus: Economic modeling and data analysis
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Woodard & Curran
Areas of focus: Civil, site, and environmental engineering.
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Levine Planning Strategies
Area of focus: Housing policy
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McMahon Associates
Areas of focus: Transportation and transit planning
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Greater Portland Council of Governments
Areas of focus: Coastal resilience
