Lawmaker Moves to Abolish LURC

For the second time in as many years, a bill is before committee to abolish Maine's Land Use Regulation Committee (LURC), which oversees development in the state's Unorganized Territories.  Last year, the bill to abolish LURC didn't make it out of committee; this year, Representative Paul Davis (R- Sangerville) proposes a 5-year plan to transfer responsibility from the 40-year old commission to the Counties.

Davis' main objection to LURC seems to be the recent Plum Creek rezoning, which took approximately 5 years and cost Plum Creek $25 million.  Notwithstanding the fact that those statistics are actually pretty good for a national real estate developer and a big rezoning, I fail to see how transferring LURC's oversight responsibilities to the affected counties will remedy the situation.  (I highly doubt that Piscataquis County has the staff or the resources to review Plum Creek's proposal for 975 house lots, two resorts, a golf course, a marina, three RV parks, over 100 rental cabins, and associated conveniences.  Piscataquis county has not yet taken a stance on the legislation.)

Aroostook County, which has approximately 2.5 million acres in Unorganized Territory, has also not taken a stance on the legislation. Aroostook's 2010-2011 budget for those 2.5 million acres is $1.3 million: not a large resource for the kind of work LURC does.

A little more light reading on the subject if you're interested:
From the Bangor Daily News.
From the Lewiston Sun Journal.