What is a Joint Land Use Study (JLUS)?

A JLUS is a collaborative planning initiative undertaken by state or local government in partnership with the military installation, to protect and preserve military readiness and defense capabilities while supporting continued community growth and economic development. The grant helps regions address compatibility around military installations by reducing potential conflicts, fostering communication and cooperation, and promoting coordinated planning with surrounding communities. 

 

JLUS Implementation Phase IV - Ongoing

Southern Maine Regional Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC) received a grant from the Department of Defense Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) to continue its partnership with the Town of Kittery and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS) on a fourth phase of the JLUS project. Additionally, the Strafford Regional Planning Commission (SRPC) and Rockingham Planning Commission (RPC), both in New Hampshire, are conducting technical housing planning assistance through this grant. Partners are excited for the continued federal support to simultaneously improve the PNS mission and Kittery residents' quality of life through additional planning implementation work. The project kicked off in September, 2024 and will wrap up in December, 2025.

 

Phase IV Tasks

• JLUS Partnership Committee:
• The Partnership Committee is critical to advancing the goals of PNS, Kittery, and all of the communities connected to the Shipyard. Three partnership meetings will occur during the lifetime of this grant. 
• These meetings include a broad range of stakeholders, such as Kittery Town Staff, Shipyard Officials, SMPDC and NH Regional Planning Organizations, non-profits, and other municipal, state and federal partners. 
• Housing Toolkit:
• SMPDC is creating a municipal policy Housing Toolkit for Southern Maine communities to utilize. It will include four municipal policy tools that can help facilitate housing production: Development Transfer Tools, Fractionalized Units for Density, In-Lieu Fee Structures for Affordable Housing Density Bonus, and Mixed-Unit Subdivision Incentives. 
• The Toolkit format for each policy tool is How the Tool Works, Planning Scenarios, Model Ordinance Language, Local Examples, Implementation Guidance, and Pros and Cons to Implementation.
• Housing Workshops:
• SMPDC, RPC, and SRPC are each hosting two educational Housing Workshops to spread awareness of housing challenges and potential solutions within our three regions. 
• Attend SMPDC's upcoming housing workshop on May 15th! Information can be found on the sidebar to the left.
• Housing Technical Assistance:
• RPC and SRPC are conducting targeted outreach to communities in their regions in which Shipyard workers live. They are providing a variety of housing technical assistance activities, including ordinance audits and ordinance updates to facilitate housing production and remove municipal barriers to housing creation.
• Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment:
• Building off of the Kittery Climate Action Plan, this plan will assess groundwater flooding, saltwater intrusion, and storm surge. It will assess the vulnerability of infrastructure, like roads and utilities, to these weather events. The assessment will culminate in specific strategies and conceptual designs for three particularly vulnerable areas of Kittery.
  
• Tabletop Exercise:
• With folks from PNS and Kittery, including public safety, fire, police, security, public affairs, communications, and public works, this Tabletop Exercise will test the Town of Kittery's existing Emergency Operations Plan. Focusing on an extreme weather event, the results from the Exercise will inform potential improvements to the Emergency Operations Plan.
• Strategic Preparedness Plan:
• This long-term, strategic plan will take information learned through the Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment and Tabletop Exercise to identify ways to enhance Kittery's preparedness for emergencies.
• Traffic Demand Management (TDM) Plan:
• The TDM will assess transportation and traffic conditions in and around PNS and Kittery to make suggestions for enhancing the transportation network and relieving traffic. 
• Shipyard Survey: 
• This survey will focus on Shipyard worker's transportation and housing preferences. Its results will inform the housing and TDM tasks in particular, as well as ongoing regional housing and transportation work.
• Parking Structure Feasibility Study:
• The study will examine a potential parking hub site and create a massing diagram and preliminary design for an off-island parking garage.
• Funding Roadmap:
• This report will be key in implementing the recommendations from the rest of this Phase's tasks as well as recommendations from previous JLUS Phases. It will match next steps with potential funding sources and include helpful information about those funding sources. 

 

JLUS Implementation Phase III - Outcomes

SMPDC, the Town of Kittery, and PNS utilized an OLDCC grant to successfully complete a third round of planning implementation activities. Together, the entities implemented recommendations from the 2019 Joint Land Use Study. The reports generated from Phase III, a housing needs assessment and a microtransit pilot service design, bring the region a step closer to implementing transportation and access improvements.

This grant helped fund a wide variety of implementation activities, including: 

• The Partnership Committee, comprised of Kittery Town Staff, Shipyard Officials, SMPDC and NH Regional Planning Organizations, and other municipal, state and federal partners continues to encourage communication and collaboration between the Shipyard and the region’s municipalities to identify opportunities for intergovernmental agreements and bring additional resources to the region.