South Portland 2040 Comprehensive Plan
Welcome to Phase IV!
The current draft of the Comprehensive Plan can be found the right. Additional documents, prior drafts, background materials, and meeting minutes are located in the drop down menus below.
Click the image above to view the committee’s draft comprehensive plan (updated as of July 30, 2025 CPC meeting).
April - June 2023
Phase I SoPo Yesterday & Today
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The Comp Plan update starts with compiling inventories and projected needs through 2040 of the plan elements. This includes reviewing all relevant local and regional plans and studies, collecting data to further develop and refine the analysis, and consulting with key staff, local officials, and other members of the community to establish a baseline understanding of the community. Focus group discussions and interviews also help to inform the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Constraints (SWOC) analysis.
In this phase, the team will compile the inventories and needs projections for each element into a summary report, including inventories with maps illustrating the current conditions of the built and natural environment and resident demographics.
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Inventory Chapters (coming soon)
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Watch recordings of past CPC meetings via SPC-TV!
June 2023 - March 2024
Phase II SoPo Tomorrow
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A plan’s vision, when based on a clear understanding of community values, hopes, and dreams, is the heart of a Comprehensive Plan. The vision statement then becomes the driving force behind the plan.
A plan’s goals describe conditions to aim for to achieve the community vision over time. Throughout Phase II, the project team will guide the community to think ambitiously about what the ideal future vision and goals for the community could be. What conditions have changed in the recent decades? What has been accomplished? Have the community’s priorities changed or shifted in any ways? This phase focuses on developing a community vision and setting associated goals.
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Vision, Core Themes, and Goals
Vision, Core Themes, and Goals - Final Draft (March 2024)
Community feedback summary (November 2023)
Aggregated Community Engagement Summary (ACES) Report and ACES Appendix (August 2023)
Waterfront and Cash Corner Workshop (October 2023)
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Watch recordings of past CPC meetings via SPC-TV!
March 2024 - August 2024
Phase III Achieving Tomorrow
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In Phase III, the community, City partners, City staff, and the Committee will think critically about how best to achieve the future conditions identified in the vision statement and goals, including identifying best practices.
Strategies are ways that the City will work to achieve the goals. They are actionable and will involve funding, regulations, programs, and/or use of other City resources, such as staff or volunteer time. Community planning efforts have meaning only if they are implemented. It is vital to develop a strategic, realistic, and fiscally responsible planning document with an implementation plan that is thoroughly vetted by local policymakers. -
Key Policy Questions
Policy Alternatives ballot and informational packet (June 2024)
Policy Alternatives engagement summary memo and full comment submissions (August 2024)
Policy Alternatives engagement Results and Analysis (August 2024)
Policy Alternatives Committee Workshop Notes (August 2024)
Community Design Charettes
Front Street / Ferry Village charette presentation, site strategies, and engagement results
Cash Corner / Crosstown Connector presentation, Street Design Manual, and engagement results
Waterfront Resilience
Waterfront Vulnerability Assessment (May 2024)
Coastal Resilience Workshop Booklet (June 2024)
Waterfront Resilience survey (closed August 31st, 2024)
Waterfront Resilience engagement summary memo and full comment submissions
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Watch recordings of past CPC meetings via SPC-TV!
August 2024 - Spring 2026
Phase IV Finalization & Certification
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The South Portland 2040 Comprehensive Plan will include broad, citywide strategies to guide the City’s policies with respect to future growth and development/redevelopment. Additionally, the new Comp Plan will identify Key Land Use Policy Areas (KLUPAs), specific geographic areas within South Portland where specific place-based policies are needed to achieve the new Comp Plan’s broader vision, goals, and objectives.
From January – August 2025, the CPC will finalize drafts of each element of the Comprehensive Plan, including:
Inventory and Analysis of Existing Conditions - a summary and analysis of recent data about the community
Vision Statement and Community Goals - a description of what the community wants to be and achieve by 2040
Future Land Use Plan - guidance for city-wide policies regarding development, including a map designating areas of future growth within the City
Key Land Use Policy Areas (KLUPAs) - guidance for geographic-specific policies within key neighborhoods
Implementation Plan - strategies and a timetable for implementing changes to meet the identified goals
Regional Coordination Program - strategies for the community to work with other municipalities to manage shared resources
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Watch recordings of CPC meetings once they've happened via SPC-TV!
Explore draft Vision and Goals for South Portland in 2040.
In March 2024, the Comprehensive Plan Committee adopted a Vision and Goals statement that will drive all policy and strategy recommendations that will be developed with the community through Phases III-IV in 2024 and 2025.
Note: The Vision and Goals remain in “draft” form until they are adopted by the City Council when the draft Comprehensive Plan is presented. This allows the Vision and Goals to be responsive to continuing community discussion on the plan and specific actions recommended for inclusion.
