Zoning › State preemptions › Maine

Maine Growth Management Act — Comprehensive Plan Consistency Requirement (ME)

Tracked preemption from the Maine overlay bundle.

Overview

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Effective
1988-10-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:ME
Other Maine preemptions
Maine Short-Term Rental Framework — 30-A M.R.S. §4364 (2024 Amendments)Maine LD 2003 / 30-A M.R.S. §4364 — Statewide ADU MandateMaine LD 2003 / 30-A M.R.S. §4364-A — 2-4 Unit Middle Housing FloorMaine LD 2003 / 30-A M.R.S. §4358 — Affordable Housing 2.5x Density BonusMaine 30-A M.R.S. §4358(2) — Manufactured Housing ProtectionMaine 30-A M.R.S. §4326 — Growth / Rural / Transition Area Tripartite DesignationMaine Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act — 38 M.R.S. §§435-449Maine Land Use Planning Commission — Unorganized Territory Zoning Authority

Trigger predicate

When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.

AND
  • city.has_zoning_ordinance == True
  • city.in_unorganized_territory == False

Preempted fields

2 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.

FieldOpValueNote
comp_plan_requiredoverrideTrueMunicipality must adopt a comprehensive plan within 24 months of adopting a zoning ordinance
zoning_ordinance_consistency_with_planoverrideTrueZoning ordinances inconsistent with adopted comp plan are invalid to the extent of the inconsistency

Citation

Authority source
30-A M.R.S. §§4314, 4324, 4326, 4347-A, 4352 (Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act)
§ §4314 (Effect of comprehensive plan)
https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/30-A/title30-Asec4314.html

Research notes

Enabling-and-conditioning statute rather than direct preemption. Pelletier v. Town of Fort Kent (2013 ME 61) invalidated a local ordinance for inconsistency. State-approved plan status (via MOCA Municipal Planning Assistance Program, post-2024) is a predicate for LD 2003's §4364-A 4-unit floor and §4358 affordable bonus. No private right of action to compel planning.