Portland Progress
CLIMATE RESILIENCE
10 IN PROGRESS
7 NOT STARTED
(updated December 2022)
Integrate resilience standards and targets into Portland and South Portland’s land use code to minimize flood risk and promote resilient buildings and neighborhoods citywide.
Status: In progress
Update: Completed dynamic coastal flood inundation modeling for Portland in collaboration with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA, NOAA, USDA, USGS, and Maine ACFD. Consultant hired to complete Portland’s climate resilience overlay zoning project (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Regenerative, resilient
Key Milestones: No new incompatible, vulnerable, or hazardous uses built in areas of highest flood risk by 2026 (with adoption of resilience overlays)
Build knowledge, tools, and resources on climate risks and adaptation options for buildings and property.
Status: Not started
Update: Upcoming, working on historic preservation design standard amendments (updated December 2021)
Transformative potential: Resilient
Key Milestones: All city residents have access to tools to assess future flood risk to property by 2026; Maine real estate flood risk disclosure required by 2026
Establish open space climate resilience goals and protocols for monitoring progress towards those goals in Portland and South Portland’s open space planning.
Status: Not Started
Update: None (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Regenerative, resilient
Key Milestones: Benchmark ecosystem and resilience metrics for open spaces and establish performance goals by 2028
Continue to expand access to resilient and energy efficient affordable housing, contributing to diverse and inclusive communities.
Status: In Progress
Update: State adopted LD1656 “An Act to Promote Energy Efficient Affordable Housing” requiring construction projects funded by the Maine Housing Authority to meet certain energy performance standards, including full electrification of the systems used for heating, cooling, domestic hot water, and cooking. Continuing efforts to make energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy options more affordable for all residents (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Increase housing units affordable to lower and middle income households by 10% by 2025 (from 2019 baseline)*
*Portland-specific milestone
Expand the “cooling capacity” of Portland and South Portland.
Status: In progress
Update: Allocated $250k to expand tree canopy in Bayside neighborhood (2021). Planning for tree planting in progress (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: All residents live within a half mile of a cooling center by 2035; all residents live within a half mile of a park or open space by 2035
Cultivate healthy, regenerative, and just food systems.
Status: Not Started
Update: None (updated December 2021)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Establish small grants for food system innovators by 2025; secure funding to commission foodshed assessment by 2028; expand access to community agriculture to all neighborhoods to meet demand
Continue to prioritize decision-making processes and transit investments that advance equity in our cities.
Status: Not Started
Update: None (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Address first round of proposals made by Community Transportation Leaders by 2026
Support and strengthen our existing community resources.
Status: In Progress
Update: Applied for and was awarded Community Resilience Partnership’s Community Action Grant funding for a neighborhood resilience program to launch in 2023 (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Award the first round of community organizations or neighborhood groups with resilience grants by 2025
Create an ongoing platform for collaborative planning to ensure that Portland and South Portland’s port and waterfronts can respond, adapt, and thrive with new climate stresses.
Status: In Progress
Update: Ongoing conversation with waterfront stakeholders to promote and develop marine uses. Upcoming, Waterfront Master Plan through Comp Plan Update (updated December 2021)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Grant funding and partnerships secured for resilient working waterfronts project by 2026
Attract, mentor, and build the skills of our cities’ workers to partake in quality jobs that help build a diverse, resilient, and regenerative economy.
Status: Not started
Update: Upcoming, identify opportunities from infrastructure funding to promote clean energy jobs (Updated December 2021)
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Targets set through the collaboration for net increases in individuals trained in specific sustainability and resilience fields
Build the capacity of the businesses and industries in our cities to bounce back, adapt, and innovate.
Status: In progress
Update: Economic Development supported small businesses through a COVID hardship grant and is promoting a harbor restoration project through public-private partnerships (updated December 2021)
Transformative potential: Regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Revise land use policies to reduce barriers to traditional and merging marine related industries by 2026
Use modeling and flood data to upgrade the Cities’ stormwater and sewer systems to handle future climate scenarios.
Status: In progress
Update: Improvement of mapping/data for sewer and storm system; improvements to current hydrodynamic modeling; improvements to SLR and Storm Surge Inundation mapping to understand parcel level and City-wide infrastructure impacts (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Resilient
Key Milestone: Full geospatial data set completed for sewer and stormwater system by 2024; hydrologic/hydraulic drainage model completed by 2028
Expand the use of green infrastructure systems to capture and infiltrate the first inch of stormwater in any storm.
Status: Not Started
Update: Long-term strategy
Transformative potential: Regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: 5% of the cities’ impervious surfaces converted to green infrastructure by 2035; 10% by 2040; and 15% by 2050
Build Portland and South Portland’s energy resilience.
Status: Not started
Update: Mid-term strategy
Transformative potential: Equitable, regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Development of Resilient Power Plan by 2026; all new development over 500,000 square feet to evaluate district energy/microgrids starting within one year of microgrid enabling legislation
Adopt a risk-based transportation asset management approach.
Status: Not started
Update: Mid-term strategy
Transformative potential: Resilient
Key Milestone: Climate hazards and resilience indicators applied to all asset management decision-making by 2028
Strengthen ecosystem resilience through enhancing connectivity, biodiversity, and healthy habitat.
Status: In progress
Update: Monitoring invasive pests; Adopted amendments to the Pesticide Ordinance to include restrictions on synthetic fertilizers to take into effect spring 2023 under the Landcare Ordinance (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Resilient
Key Milestone: Fertilizer ordinance adopted by 2022; No net coastal wetland loss by 2035; establish biodiversity and connectivity targets by 2028
Build back the health of our soils for ecological vitality, water infiltration, and carbon sequestration.
Status: In progress
Update: Adopted soil standards for new development (2021). Portland Parks, Recreation, and Facilities Department converted all fall leaf operations to entirely mulching in place (updated December 2022)
Transformative potential: Regenerative, resilient
Key Milestone: Post-construction soil health standards adopted for new construction or major renovations by 2025; “100 Resilient Yards” achieved in each city by 2028
