OLD ORCHARD BEACH  — The Old Orchard Beach planning department has resumed efforts to complete a comprehensive plan, with the goal of having a final draft completed by October 2017.

The comprehensive plan is an official document that presents a vision for the future economic, social and physical characteristics of the town and outlines policies and guidelines to implement that vision, according to town documents.

The town’s current comprehensive plan was adopted in 1993, and town officials say its out of date. In 2010, under former Town Planner Gary Lamb, the town began an effort to create a new comprehensive plan, and appointed a seven-member committee.

Under current Town Planner Jeffrey Hinderliter, a survey was conducted in 2011 to allow the public to weigh in their vision for the town’s future. The goal at the time was to have a draft of the comprehensive plan completed a few years after the survey results were in.

At a town meeting Tuesday night, Hinderliter said finding the amount of time needed to research and write the comprehensive plan had been difficult. However, he said, its completion was long overdue, and it was a priority to complete the plan in 2017. 

He said the first draft of the plan was 70-75 percent complete. 

Hinderliter presented a proposed schedule to the Town Council, which included a first draft of the comprehensive plan completed in May and final draft completed in October.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.

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