SMPDC's Annual Report is now available. Read through for all of the big project highlights from this year, as well as our upcoming work plan and budget. We will be sending out hard copies to our members soon. Look out for your copy in the mail! 

SMPDC’s 61st Annual Meeting on June 11th was a great success!

Thank you to everyone who attended, voted in representation of your community, and celebrated another year with us. Our Energy Resilience Plan project team gave an interactive presentation on electricity reliability trends in our region, and a discussion of strategies to increase our region’s energy resilience. Looking forward to next year!

Does your community have voting representation? All of our member communities may appoint two General Assembly representatives to vote at our annual meeting. Don't know who your representative is? Reach out to Raegan at ryoung@smpdc.org.

Thank you for joining our virtual panel discussion on May 15th, Making Housing Attainable in Southern Maine: Exploring Successes and Barriers in Housing Development!

Our panelists from Avesta Housing, South Portland Housing Authority, Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast, and Great Falls Construction delved into innovative development projects, successfully used regulatory tools, barriers to production, and municipal-developer partnerships. If you missed it but still want to gain insight on tangible ways to provide workforce, market-rate, and subsidized affordable housing, the webinar can be accessed below. 

Before (above) and After (below) of window replacements at The Foundry, 30 Upper Falls, Biddeford.

We are very excited to announce the recapitalization of our EPA Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund with a Supplemental Award of $650,000. The new funds come at a great time, as several different projects in Kittery, Biddeford, Sanford and South Berwick continue to work through the assessment and redevelopment pipeline.

Most recently, we committed $750,000 to the abatement and renovation of 1 York Street in Biddeford, one of the original administrative buildings from the Pepperell Mill Campus. The loan will fund the abatement of hazardous building materials in the historic structure, supporting the buildout of 11 housing units. We look forward to seeing the downtown structure return to active use, while maintaining its historic aesthetic. Reveler Development is undertaking this renovation, which follows the clean up, abatement, and renovation of The Foundry at 30 Upper Falls, Biddeford. This project repurposed a former machine shop to 20,000 square feet of commercial space, pictured above.

If you think you or your community may have a potential Brownfields site that could have redevelopment potential, reach out to Raegan Young at ryoung@smpdc.org.

The Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future (GOPIF) has announced the awardees for their fifth round of Community Action Grants. This round is the largest yet, totaling $8 million to 166 communities, and including awards to 12 communities in the SMPDC region totaling nearly $940,000. SMPDC’s Sustainability Division Director, Karina Graeter, had the opportunity to speak at a roundtable discussion with Governor Mills and York County leaders as part of the announcement. We are excited to see these awards make real impacts in increasing SMPDC’s member communities’ resilience to climate change. 

Projects in SMPDC's region include:

• Parsonsfield: Municipal Energy Plan
• Fryeburg: Walkability Improvements in Village Center
• Hollis: Open Space Plan
• South Berwick: Energy Efficient Window Upgrades for Town Hall

SMPDC’s Broadband and Digital Inclusion Program has awarded $25,000 in subgrants to fund 8 digital device projects across our region. Made possible with funding from the Maine Connectivity Authority, these grants will provide community members with access to digital devices needed for education, work, healthcare, social connection, and other necessities.

14 organizations have received awards for digital device projects, including:

• Grahamtastic Connection partners with the Maine Children’s Cancer Center to provide chronically ill children from struggling households with a laptop or tablet, and one year of internet subscription. This will allow them to stay engaged in school and connected with friends and family during long periods of hospitalization and recovery.
• York County Service Association, in partnership with Age Friendly York and York Public Library, will be creating a publicly accessible Digital Learning Lab, as well as providing internet hotspot subscriptions to low-income households and household accessibility devices for older adults.

The Southern Maine Energy Navigator Program has officially launched! The Southern Maine Energy Navigator Program is designed to help homeowners in Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Ogunquit, and Wells make informed decisions about home energy upgrades. Through this program, residents can access free technical support and financial guidance to complete home energy improvements, such as heat pump installation or air sealing. The program’s first few weeks have been busy with community outreach and support to several homeowners.

Questions about the Energy Navigator pilot program? Reach out to Kaya Williams at kwilliams@smpdc.org.

Our Land Use Planning team is hard at work on several projects around the region:

• SMPDC staff has been busy assisting the Waterboro Planning Board with development applications and proposed zoning changes.
• The land use and GIS teams are finishing a developable lands, buildout, and housing suitability analysis for seven communities in the region. Stay tuned for the final products!
• The Town of Eliot's Comprehensive Plan recently received completeness and consistency approval from the State of Maine. SMPDC staff assisted the town with mapping, chapter development, and data analysis. Congratulations to the Town of Eliot!
• SMPDC staff has been working with the Town of Old Orchard Beach since fall 2024 on completing the inventory chapters and maps for the Town's Comprehensive Plan update. We will be wrapping up the work this summer.
• SMPDC assisted the Town of South Berwick on their Open Space Plan update over the past two years. The plan is slated to be reviewed by the Town's Planning Board and adopted by the Town Council over the summer months. This project was funded by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership.

This month, SMPDC welcomes Laura Berry, Sustainability and Resilience Senior Planner. Laura joins SMPDC after several years working with Maine municipalities, including the City of South Portland and the Town of Bar Harbor, to advance community-wide sustainability and climate planning efforts. With a background in environmental advocacy, she brings skills in ordinance development, land use planning, and community engagement to her work. Laura holds a BA in Human Ecology with a focus in Community Planning from College of the Atlantic and an MSc in Global Environment, Policy and Society from the University of Edinburgh. Outside of work, Laura enjoys hiking, gardening, and spending time with her partner and their two cats at home in Portland.

Cole Bazakas joins SMPDC this summer as an Economic Development Intern through the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center. He will support a range of projects across departments, including initiatives related to southern Maine’s comprehensive development strategies, outdoor recreation, and regional housing needs. Cole is currently a junior at Tufts University, studying Economics and Environmental Policy. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, skiing, and watching baseball.