NSP’s fixed-fee services support community planning needs with discrete projects to fit into your budget. Explore our offers for planning board support, public participation, comprehensive plan services, ordinance & housing work, and maps & imagery.

We’re experts in planning board processes, with experience providing development review support for diverse municipalities in Maine, ranging from small communities to the City of Portland. Our Planning Board training helps create more consistent, productive meetings with more confident Board members.

Best Practices Workshop for Planning Board Members 

$600 - online 1-hour workshop (in-person with additional travel time & mileage)
Our interactive workshop walks through realistic case studies with Board members, covering common issues like conflict of interest, Board communications, and deliberation. Includes a 30-minute prep session with town staff and/or the Board Chair to customize our presentation to meet your needs. 

Planning Board Chair Coaching

$250 - online 1-hour 1:1 coaching session
We’ll work with the Planning Board chair to establish best practices and procedures for meeting processes, agenda setting, public input, Board deliberation, and motions to lead to more productive and consistent meetings. Includes a 30-minute prep session with town staff to customize this session based on needs.

Interested in Planning Board support? Contact us!

Community planning is based on the concepts of hearing from those impacted by your plans and involving the communities you are planning for in the planning process. Whether it is through survey design and administration, public meeting facilitation, or focused stakeholder engagement, Nort Star Planning can assist you in reaching from the individuals, businesses, and community members who live, work, or travel to and from your community every day.

Public Workshop

$5,000 - 1.5 hour in-person workshop
We’ll facilitate a public workshop to support a local planning process, developing a presentation and workshop activities, then providing a memo summarizing public input after the event. 

Community Survey

$3,500 - up to 10 survey questions/prompts
$4,500 - 10-20 survey questions/prompts
$5,500 - 20-30 survey questions/prompts
NSP will design and administer a community survey to support a local planning process. We’ll host the survey online as well as provide a printed version for distribution by the town. When the survey closes, we’ll provide a memo summarizing public input.

NSP is at the forefront of comprehensive planning in Maine, having led 8 state-certified plans and supported several more since 2018. We can help you complete your comprehensive plan update by assisting with the baseline inventory and analysis work, so your volunteers and staff can focus on the future of your community.

Inventory Chapter Drafting

$20,000 - municipalities with a population under 2,000
$25,000 - municipalities with a population between 2,000 and 5,000
$30,000 - municipalities with a population of more than 5,000
NSP will draft the required inventory chapters to meet state requirements, assess existing conditions, and inform the planning process. Chapters will be delivered as formatted Word documents. The fee includes one round of edits. 

View the state-consistent inventory chapters in our Yarmouth and Raymond comprehensive plans.

Inventory Chapter Audit

$1,500
Already drafted your inventory chapters, or have a group ready to take that on? NSP can take a look and make sure everything lines up with state requirements. We'll point out any missing pieces and let you know how to fix them. You'll get a clear memo and an easy-to-follow Excel checklist to guide you through the next steps.

Inventory Chapter Maps

$6,000 - complete set of comprehensive plan maps
NSP will create a full set of attractive, state-compliant maps to use in the inventory chapters, based on state and municipal GIS data. Maps will be delivered as PDFs; GIS data can be packaged and provided upon request. Fee includes one round of edits.

View our map set for Caribou’s comprehensive plan.

Interested in Comprehensive Plan support? Contact us!

We’re experts in zoning and land use ordinances, with experience in communities of all sizes throughout Maine. Our team can help make your land use ordinance up to date, more user-friendly, and compliant with recent state legislation. We can also do targeted work to help you promote your community’s housing and development goals.

Land Use Ordinance Audit

$10,000 
A cover-to-cover review of your zoning and land use ordinances to identify organizational and technical issues that can be addressed to make the ordinance more clear and consistent. Recommendations can include overall structure, definitions, zoning standards and permitted uses, performance standards, and administration. NSP will provide a memo summarizing the audit findings, with recommendations for priority updates.

Ordinance Audit - Barriers to Housing

$5,000
A focused ordinance audit can identify barriers to housing production in your community. NSP will review zoning and ordinances to assess technical and organizational issues, best practices around land use, lot size, and housing types, and state compliance. NSP will provide a memo summarizing the audit findings, with recommendations for priority updates.

Population & Housing Needs Projection

$1,000 
Using data from the census and local building permits, NSP provides 2 population projections in addition to the state population projection, and extrapolates a range of future housing needs based on these three population projections.

Buildout Analysis

$5,000
Want to understand different growth and development scenarios for your town’s future? A buildout analysis can consider the impacts of projected population growth or zoning changes to understand future community needs. For this fee, we can provide a basic buildout analysis based on parcel data, zoning, and population projections. We’ll deliver a memo and set of maps summarizing findings. If you are interested in a more detailed analysis, or if your community doesn’t have up-to-date parcel data, contact us for a custom scope.

Interested in ordinance support or housing policy? Contact us!

Our team can provide GIS and spatial analysis services to improve out-of-date zoning maps, or conduct a buildout analysis to help envision your community’s future. We can also provide aerial imagery and video to support your municipal projects.

Zoning Map Creation or Digitization

$7,500
If your community needs a refreshed zoning map or you need to move from a paper map to a digital version, NSP will digitize your existing zoning districts and provide both a PDF map and packaged GIS files. Fee includes 2 rounds of edits.

Final Plan Document Design & Layout

$5,000 
A comprehensive plan that’s visually appealing and easy to navigate will be more useful for staff, volunteers, and the community. NSP will lay out the plan in 2 sections - the forward-looking vision, future land use, and goals section; and the inventory chapters. Plan will be delivered in PDF format; packaged InDesign files available upon request. Fee includes a kick-off design meeting and one round of edits.

See our document design for Yarmouth, Raymond, and Freeport.

Aerial Imagery

$300 base fee, $85/hour + mileage
Drone photography and video can highlight important local assets and resources for planning, development, and other town uses. Our team includes a licensed and insured drone pilot. NSP will deliver high-definition raw images and video as a digital download.

Interested in increasing the usability of your work through good design and production? Contact us!