Maine Office of Community Affairs Update, Winter 2026

At the Maine Office of Community Affairs (MOCA), we are nearly through the substantial transition logistics – down to the last few IT, HR and accounting issues. We’re looking forward to focusing on the many cool projects that are in the hopper and to spending more time with communities. Our new phone line is active - 207-287-MOCA – and our email is info.moca@maine.gov.

As a reminder, the programs that are now in MOCA are:

• Housing Opportunity Program
• Coastal Program
• State Resilience Office
  • Floodplain Management
  • Community Resilience Partnership
  • Resilience planning
  • LD 1-related activity
• Volunteer Maine
• Code Enforcement/ MUBEC
• Municipal Planning Assistance Program

Today I’d like to share with you a few new developments, although this is just scratching the surface. There is so much more to report on, and I’ll be back in future FrontPage issues with more. We’re also working on an integrated mailing list, and we hope to start bringing you a consolidated MOCA newsletter starting in early spring. We aim to be the must-read item in your inbox.

New Tool: Maine Community Funding Finder

Search government grant opportunities in one place! The Funding Finder is a new tool intended for use by Maine communities. This includes local governments, tribal governments, county governments, regional councils, quasi-municipal entities (water districts, sewer districts, etc.), school districts, and service provider organizations working in partnership with these entities. It includes funding opportunities from state agencies, federal agencies, and the Efficiency Maine Trust. This is a new tool, and we welcome your feedback!

New Standing Advisory Groups:

Development Ready Advisory Committee

The purpose of the Development Ready Advisory Committee is to develop and maintain best practices for municipalities in infrastructure, land use, housing, economic development, conservation and historic preservation policy. The committee will provide coordination and subject matter expertise to municipalities to advance the likelihood of success across the community development life cycle. Appointments are in progress, with a first meeting expected in March. There will be representatives of municipalities and regional organizations, among other stakeholders and state agencies.

Working Waterfront Advisory Council (LD 1245)

The Working Waterfront Advisory Council was established to provide a more formal way for working waterfront interests to advise the administration and the legislature. With input from the Working Waterfront Coalition, we have selected three topics as a starting point – insurance and the challenges of financing; permitting; and land use planning. Appointments have been finalized and the group will first meet on February 24.

Department Legislation

LD 1995 – Creates a Technical Assistance Materials hub. This is one of the most requested services from communities, and will include items like model ordinances, guides, and data resources. This was voted 8-1 OTP in committee. The one opposing vote was because the fiscal estimate was not available at that time. MOCA has already started on the work of developing the hub. Thanks to SMPDC and Lynne Seeley for early work on this project, and thanks to the Maine Community Foundation for a grant to support Lynne’s time.

LR 2143 – Storm Damage - Adds a permanent exemption to the state’s “undue hardship” variance criteria, specific to floodplain management ordinances, so that functionally dependent uses located seaward of mean high tide can be repaired with additional resilience to future flood damage. The bill modifies a definition of “functionally dependent use” to be consistent with federal law and keep communities in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program.

LD 2097 Code Enforcement Officer Decertification – The current statute is an “all or nothing” approach to corrective action when there are complaints about CEOs. It requires going to court to remove a certification and there is no progressive discipline structure. The proposed approach is modeled on the Maine Criminal Justice Academy process and is flexible and cost-effective. However, we are getting a significant amount of concern from MMA and the Maine Building Officials and Inspectors Association about aspects of the bill. We have committed to working through the issues and presenting an amendment to the committee at the work session.