OGUNQUIT — The Planning board is exploring how to update to the town’s comprehensive plan, which has sat unchanged for the past 13 years.

Lee Jay Feldman, director of Land Use and Planning at the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, appeared before the board in a session titled “What do we plan?” and sought to convince the board to take on projects beyond “reviewing development projects.”

According to Feldman, towns typically revise or rewrite their comprehensive plan every 10 years, and described Ogunquit as a “very active community” that could use an overhaul.

Comprehensive planning, according to a 2005 manual produced by the Maine State Planning Office, aims “to find ways to continue to build neighborhoods and commercial centers where they make the most sense in order to accommodate and stimulate economic growth, and, at the same time, conserve large rural territories as working landscapes and natural gems” by management of property rights and environmental concerns.

Feldman said this has become easier in recent years because the state has made the process easier and towns do not need to convene committees on every specific issue, which also means the document is supposed to be regularly updated in order to adapt as the layout and needs of the town do. In Ogunquit specifically, Feldman pointed to a variety of issues the town could plan for, including beach management as well as sea level rise and climate change; these issues have been considered in York as well as Biddeford and Saco.

The issues that have been at the forefront of town discussions since last year – transportation and construction – would also be planned for.

“Even looking at what DOT is doing to Route 1, transportation is an issue and so is parking and bike and pedestrian access,” he said. Feldman held up Wells as a model for their swift comprehensive plan, which Feldman assisted in completing in a year.

“What we’ve done with Wells … is look at the holistic point of view. How does the population impact the housing, how does housing impact recreation?” Feldman said. “It helps you see the big picture.”

The members of the Planning Board were receptive to the idea, but agreed that more research and communication with the Select Board was needed before proceeding.

“I think that we need to get the right hand and the left hand going the same way,” Planning Board Vice Chair Muriel Freedman said. She noted that when the town convened a Comprehensive Planning Committee in 2002, representatives from nearly every other committee were enlisted and it became a huge ordeal for town representatives.

Planning Board member Don Simpson pointed to long-range planning as the most promising project for the board.

Planning Board Chair Steve Wilkos, with the support of the board, directed Feldman to look into Ogunquit’s most recent comprehensive plan and identify the biggest potential areas for concern and return with his findings at the next meeting.