Cumberland County, ME Environmental Rules: Coastal Development (2026)

Title 38 MRS § 435 establishes a statewide mandate that every Maine municipality 'adopt, administer, and enforce' shoreland zoning within 250 feet of the normal high-water line of great ponds, rivers, and saltwater bodies (including all of Casco Bay), 250 feet from the upland edge of coastal and freshwater wetlands, and 75 feet from streams. Under 38 MRS § 438-A, if a municipality fails to adopt compliant rules, the Board of Environmental Protection adopts shoreland ordinances on its behalf that the municipality must then enforce. The state Chapter 1000 Guidelines establish standard zoning districts (Resource Protection, Limited Residential, Limited Commercial, General Development), a 75-foot principal-structure setback from the water (100 feet in Resource Protection districts), a 25%/30% lot-coverage cap, vegetation-clearing rules (no more than 40% of any 25-by-25-foot square may be cleared in the first 75 feet), and lighting and impervious-surface limits. Within Cumberland County, every coastal municipality — Portland, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Falmouth, Cumberland (town), Yarmouth, Freeport, Brunswick, Harpswell, Long Island, Chebeague Island — administers a Chapter 1000-compliant shoreland ordinance covering the Casco Bay coastline and the Casco Bay islands. Inland municipalities (Windham, Standish, Bridgton, Sebago, Naples, Raymond, Casco, Gray) administer shoreland zoning around Sebago Lake, Highland Lake, Long Lake, and the Presumpscot River. The county itself has no role; permits are issued by the municipal Code Enforcement Officer with Maine DEP oversight.