Biz Bites: LUPC marks 50 years of taming 'wildlands'; Auburn welcomes the in-laws

a black and white image with, close up, part of a tree farm sing and in the back two trees with dozens of homemade signs with last names, and names of lodgins and camps on them

Courtesy / LUPC An image from the 1968 Maine State Legislature Report on the Wildlands, which prompted the creating of the Land Use Planning Commission. Show is Lakeville Plantation, in Penobscot County.

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By Maureen Milliken

The Land Use Planning Commission, the division of the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry that oversees 10.4 million acres of unorganized territory in the state, is turning 50 and doing what a lot of us do when we hit that mark — changing things up a little.

The LUPC was founded in 1971 after the 1968 legislative "Report on the Wildlands" determined that more oversight was needed to protect unorganized areas. The role of the commission is unique in the United States east of the Mississippi River, according to the bureau.

When the report was written, most of that 10 million-plus acreage was owned by 16 corporations and four individuals and in danger of being spoiled.

"These lands are not subject to any local governmental control," the report says. "Greatly improved transportation facilities, expanded and improved highway systems, and increased leisure time for hundreds of thousands of people in the more urban areas to the south of the state of Maine are conspiring to subject these lands and waters to ever increasing development pressures."

"While organized portions of the state are able, as cities and towns, to impose land and water use regulation on themselves, the wildlands have no such government and are without effective protection. While these lands represent the basic raw material resource of the economically indispensable forest products industry of this state, the Legislative Research Committee feels that the use to which these lands is put should not be left to the vagaries of corporate policy.

"Recent developments have made even more clear the fact that taxation pressures are affecting a kind of de facto zoning. This occurs when tax assessment authorities value forest products properties bordering water on a residential front-foot basis when in fact the lands are being held as a raw material resource."

And so, the LUPC, or at the time the Land Use Regulation Committee — yes, LURC — was born.

"Fifty years is a long time, and the requirement of extending sound planning, zoning and permitting to Maine's 'wild lands' remains true today," the commission says on its 50th anniversary webpage.

The LUPC is pretty busy. There are projects that go back to the 1970s, like the Saddleback ski area, under new ownership and with big plans to develop in the four townships it spans. And there are new projects, like proposals for grid-scale solar energy and a metallic mineral mine. In light of the work before it, the LUPC is updating application forms for clarity and online submission, updating communications planning and message dissemination and making rules revisions to help both applicants and staff operate more efficiently.

What, you expected a party? There's one of those, too. Though in virtual COVID-19 era style.

The webpage will be updated with videos, content from the 2021 field season and its 50th anniversary celebration. It's also looking for "then and now" images, comparing areas in its territory from 50 years ago to how they look today. Email them to LUPC@maine.gov, and be sure to use include the location, dates and your name.

AUBURN WELCOMES IN-LAWS, AND ANYONE ELSE: The city of Auburn has approved zoning that allows single-family home owners whose property is in areas of the city that allow two-family dwellings to build an accessory dwelling unit. Often called "in-law apartments," previous zoning required they be attached to the house that's already there. The new zoning allows a second dwelling unit — no more restricted in size or location than the first one — to be built.

And it doesn't even have to be for an in-law. "Granny flat, in-law unit, walk-up, cottage unit, secondary suite, or if you are from Germany, einliegerwohnung, call it what you will," said the news release announcing the move. Property owners can create the space to generate extra income as a rental as well as to house family.

The flexible nature of the new ordinance "creates exciting opportunities" for property owners, the release said. It also helps out other homeowners in the city, freeing up housing, officials said.

LEGACY GOES DOWN EAST: Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty is opening its sixth Maine office, in Northeast Harbor, on Mount Desert Island. The firm, which specializes in luxury property, also has offices in Portland, Kennebunk, Brunswick, Damariscotta and Camden.

"Our team of very experienced and successful agents has enabled us to build a strong presence serving the local Mount Desert Island market for a number of years and we are excited to better serve our clients with a new office in the heart of Northeast Harbor," the company said in a news release. "There are so many special properties on Mount Desert Island, the Blue Island peninsula, and in surrounding communities whose owners can greatly benefit from the world-class marketing and property distribution platform that we provide and we are excited for the opportunity to communicate this message to our friends and neighbors."