Town of Scarborough

Board & Committee Newsletter

The Town of Scarborough has a number of boards and committees working to enhance our community, guided by the expertise of citizen volunteers. This special edition newsletter features some recent board and committee work as we're halfway through the year. Read on for more, then visit our Boards & Committees page for access to meeting agendas and the Town Calendar for a look at recent meetings and links to recordings.

This is a special edition of our regular newsletter. We'll send these periodically for a deeper dive on topics we don't want you to miss.

Planning Board Approves New Retail & Subdivisions

The Planning Board reviews new residential, commercial and industrial development. This spring and early summer, they reviewed and approved the site plans for the new Market Basket that will be located at the Downs, as well as a mixed-use retail and 76-unit building that will be located across from the Intermed site on Scarborough Downs Road.

The Board also approved a 10-lot conservation subdivision off of Highland Avenue (close to Black Point Road), and a 4-lot subdivision off of Ward Street. They recently reviewed several sketch plans for residential development, retail, and office and warehouse space.

Planning Board meetings are held on the third Monday of each month at 6:30pm in Council Chambers and streamed on YouTube.

The approved Market Basket plan is located within The Downs Core Town Center development.

Approved plans for a 10-lot conservation subdivision, "Trestle Way", located at 10 and 30 Highland Avenue.

Long Range Planning Committee

The Long Range Planning Committee is one of the primary committees tasked with implementing the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, a 2021 document outlining a vision for the future of Scarborough.

The committee is currently reviewing the Town and Village Centers (TVC) Zoning Districts for its uses, density, and space and bulk standards. The purpose of this district type, established in Scarborough in 2007, is to encourage the evolution of village and town centers within Scarborough that exhibit village-style development and offer a mix of retail, office, service, civic, and residential uses in an environment conducive to both pedestrians and motorists (read about other Commercial and Industrial Zones). This review is in preparation for a series of future small area plans in targeted areas around Town.

Scarborough has 4 TVC zones. The Long Range Planning Committee reviewed them as part of their June 13th meeting (see all materials).

Scarborough Housing Alliance

The Scarborough Housing Alliance in place to develop and recommend a local housing agenda to the Town Council. Their work is significantly aligned with the Council's Growth, Housing, and Land Use goal for this year: to develop a basis for defining an affordable and workforce housing policy. On June 4th, the Town Council hosted its first workshop on this topic. Members of the Housing Alliance gave a presentation on a snapshot of housing issues in Scarborough (view slides). As part of it they covered some standard definitions (what is "affordable"?), the cost of housing, and attainability. The Alliance continues to discuss strategies to reduce housing costs and track housing trends in Scarborough to better inform future decisionmaking.

View the June 4, 2025 Council Workshop on housing.

Coastal Waters and Harbor Advisory Committee

The Coastal Waters committee is looking at the possibility of conducting some maintenance dredging in the channel. They are also discussing parking in the Pine Point area, especially at the Co-op, and making plans to resurface and reline the entire Co-op lot for Spring 2026. The Town applied for a grant for boat ramp floats for replacement in Spring 2026. The committee is also discussing allocating funding for a match of the Pier float replacement grant that was obtained in August 2024.

Scarborough River dredging, 2023

The Harbor Master/Marine Resource Officer has a Facebook page! Follow for updates, images and information on the marine resources and harbor management for the Town of Scarborough.

Community Services Advisory Board

The current focus of the Community Services Advisory Board is to support growth in programming for Community Services by gathering information and creating a system for volunteers. They seek to organize volunteer efforts to support Community Services operations with special events, programs, and other department-related activities. Additionally, looking ahead the board plans to finalize an inclusive non-traditional "survey" approach to gather data from program participants. The engagement and survey platform is called Thoughtexchange and will be a way for them to share and receive feedback and ideas in a new way.

CSAB supports the Community Services department, which develops programs and events for all ages.

School Building Advisory Committee

About the Committee

The School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC) was formed in February 2024, following the defeat of the Unified School Referendum at the polls in November 2023. This citizen-led group of over 60 community members brought their expertise and interests to the process, alongside elected officials. 

Over 18 months, the SBAC explored a wide range of school options, ultimately working with a professional architectural and engineering firm to refine the designs and narrow down to a recommended proposal. The effort incorporated a rigorous community feedback process including two community surveys and public forums, in addition to several joint School Board/Town Council meetings to ensure robust participation every step of the way. 

In June 2025 the SBAC presented their recommended solution to the Scarborough School Board and Town Council. In July 2025, the Town Council voted to send the SBAC’s recommended solution to voters in a November 2025 Referendum.

Recommended Solution On the November Referendum

The Town Council voted to send the project to referendum as two Referendum questions for voters to consider. View the graphic below to see what is included in each Referendum question. 

Next Steps & How to Stay Informed

Members of the SBAC are currently working on answering the community’s questions about the recommended school building solution to ensure voters feel informed about the project before they head to the polls this fall.

Get Project Updates➡ Visit the project website and sign up for email alerts (scroll down to “Featured News” and click on the orange BELL icon on the right side of the page)  

Get Involved or Ask a Question➡ Visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page and click “Contact Us”

Stay Informed➡ Follow Scarborough Schools on Facebook and Instagram!

Sign up for the Town of Scarborough Newsletter.

Look for our informational tables at special events around town!

Sustainability Committee: Climate Action Plan

The Sustainability Committee continues to pursue opportunities to promote sustainability in Scarborough. Under their recommendation, the Town Council passed revisions to the EV charging ordinance this spring. The Sustainability committee first began developing the current ordinance in 2021 and it was approved by the Council in 2023. The new amendments include combining parking tables, decreasing requirements for specific uses, and adding references to the new Sustainability Reserve Account.

Now the committee is exploring opportunities to install solar arrays on municipal buildings or town-owned parcels. They are also assisting with the coordination of Scarborough's third annual Sustainable Scarborough Day, a free community event being held on Sunday, October 5th. Looking ahead, the committee will begin work on Scarborough's Climate Action Plan, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving resiliency. The Plan will identify Scarborough's climate challenges and opportunities, creating a vision for addressing climate change in the community.

Payne Road flooding, January 2024. Scarborough's new Climate Action Plan will inform steps to become more resilient to climate change.

Conservation Commission: Working Toward Tree City USA

The Conservation Commission is working toward a Town Council goal this year to explore a "Tree City" initiative (view the Council's conservation-related goals). Tree City USA is a recognition of the Arbor Day Foundation to raise awareness of the value of community trees. It sets standards for a community to be recognized as a Tree City USA. The Commission is working with the Planning Department in the process to have Scarborough meet this designation. They suggested Tree City USA goals and provided input into a new Tree Care Ordinance, which will apply to Town properties and rights-of-way. Looking ahead, the Commission will begin a goal-setting process to help identify and prioritize future work.

Transportation Committee: Public Transit & Road Safety

The Transportation Committee is working on a few simultaneous long-term projects. A significant accomplishment was the completion of the Townwide Transportation Assessment, which the committee spent an intensive past year working on with consultants. It was formally accepted by the Town Council in their July meeting. They expect more to come on actionable projects that have the potential to be funded once it’s completed. The Council also passed a Vision Zero resolution, a statewide effort to eliminate traffic-related deaths. See Vision Zero Greater Portland.

The committee is assisting with a Metro Connect pilot program to improve public transit options. Metro Connect is a limited on-demand service model, intended to be used as a shuttle service between transportation stops, where a user books a ride from anywhere in the service area, and a transit van picks them up at a “virtual stop” within a five minute walk away (it's currently implemented in Falmouth—learn more). This effort was initiated by a Council goal and approved in the budget process this spring.

Another current project of the committee is helping with the preliminary planning efforts for the Safe Streets 4 All (SS4A) grant. This is a federal grant program through the USDOT to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. They are also supporting the East Grand Avenue Reconstruction design project, which began with early planning and funding in 2016-2019 and is now being resumed (Community Meeting on July 29th).

In the coming months, the committee aims to support the development of a Complete Streets and Traffic Calming Guidance document, prioritize projects in the Townwide Transportation Assessment, and review a Reimagining Route 1 regional initiative.

The PCLB continues to review applications for land purchases. In the spring they reviewed one by the Scarborough Land Trust (SLT) for a conservation easement at Beaver Brook (49 Grant Rd). Funding was approved by the Town Council in April. Most recently on July 10th, they approved the application for Beech Ridge Preserve at 244 Beech Ridge Road, also brought forward by SLT. The land trust plans to purchase and conserve approximately 60 acres of undeveloped land if approved. The recommendation will be presented to the Town Council for a $470,000 request for Land Bond funding.

The PCLB is currently revising and updating the evaluation tools they use for all authorized Land Bond uses and approvals via the assessment form. The assessment helps score and rank land applications for use of land bond funding. Once updated, this system will be integrated with the Open Space Plan, a recently completed Town document which includes recommendations and strategies to increase the amount of protected open space in Scarborough.

Looking ahead, the PCLB anticipates additional requests from SLT for land bond funding this fall in hopes of inching closer to the 30x30 goal. The PCLB is a major avenue of reaching the Town's conservation goals, specifically efforts to achieve "30x30" (30% of Scarborough conserved by 2030). Facilitating the spending of land bond funds is one way of achieving this.

In June, the Town Council conducted a mid-year status update on their 2025 goals. Their main goals are:

• Address school enrollment and facility needs for K-8 students in partnership with the School
• Develop and implement environmental protection and climate change initiatives that protect our environment and enhance our resiliency. 
• Advance the Town-wide Transportation Study and engage with regional partners to prioritize and advance transportation initiatives in Scarborough
• Develop a basis for defining an affordable and workforce housing policy
• Increase communications with residents to advance Council Goals with the public

They identified that much of the work in each area is ongoing, as many of the updates from the committees above indicate (ie. SBAC work toward a school solution, becoming a Tree City USA community, Vision Zero resolution, etc.). View Council Goals Status Update document.

Watch a Committee Meeting

Committee meetings are a great starting point for you to participate in particular topics of interest—they are less formal than Town Council meetings and allow ample opportunity for discussion. Find agendas on each individual webpage (all listed here), tune in on the Town's YouTube channel, or participate in person or on Zoom (link in the agenda). Committee meeting dates are listed on each committee page or on the Town Calendar.

Apply to Join a Committee

We also invite you to consider joining a committee. Your time and expertise would have tremendous impact on the Town. Our municipal government relies on the volunteer service of residents on boards and committees. If you are interested in serving on a committee, apply online today.

Current Vacancies:

• ADA Advisory Committee 
• Historic Preservation Implementation Committee

Long Range Planning Committee, Planning Board, and Housing Alliance applicants have been chosen and are waiting final Town Council appointment in August. 

Applications are reviewed monthly by our Appointments and Negotiations Committee.