What's Happening
Featured Projects
Featured Projects
Learn more about the projects, opportunities, and trending issues happening in the Town of Scarborough. Use the filter feature to sort by category/department and review the latest advancements, ranging from planning and development, to infrastructure, recreation enhancements, and more. Projects and topics vary in scope and length of time, so check back regularly for updates.
- Engineering & Technical Services
- Public Works
With many ongoing and upcoming transportation projects happening through various departments, developers, and MaineDOT, here is a centralized page to access key information. Use the map and specific project pages to dive deeper.
Celebrate being green in your community! The Town of Scarborough is hosting its first ever Sustainable Scarborough Day on Sunday, October 1, bringing together everyone from the environmentally conscious to the eco-curious for a day of learning and fun.
The Assessor’s office is conducting a town-wide property revaluation in Spring 2024. A Revaluation is the process of updating all property values in town to reflect their current market value (i.e., to maintain reasonable estimates of what each property could sell for on the open market). The last revaluation was performed in 2019.
- Engineering & Technical Services
A Transportation Network Study will be conducted in 2024. The last Townwide Transportation Study was completed in 2006. Over the past two decades, infrastructure, development patterns, and priorities have changed. The updated study will look at broad categories within Scarborough's transportation system.
- Planning
The Planning Department is working on a long-term project that includes simplifying our existing ordinances and finding opportunities to incorporate changes where recommended with these consolidations. The overall goal is to create a more cohesive set of standards, while removing ambiguity and subjectivity in the review process.
- Community Services
- Town Council
The Town of Scarborough is continuing to take steps toward meeting the ongoing community interest for a community center. The interest is in a multi-generational community center that would meet the recreational and cultural needs of all demographics of the Town. It has previously been explored and has most recently been a central theme of community conversations related to the update to the Comprehensive Plan, Community Survey, and Parks & Facilities Master Plan.
- Schools
The K-8 Strategic Project & New Primary School project is a holistic strategic solution for our K-8 schools to solve facilities inadequacies and inefficiencies by reorganizing grade levels, aligning our student populations, and building a new consolidated primary school that addresses educational equity, operational efficiency, population growth, flexibility, safety & security, and 21st century learning and teaching methods.
- Public Works
The Spurwink Road Traffic & Pedestrian Improvement project will cover a two mile stretch from Ocean Avenue to the Spurwink River. The scope of this project includes a road realignment, and the addition and improvement of pedestrian and bicycle amenities. It will also address the dangerous curves and intersections to the greatest extent possible, as well as improve road surface and drainage issues. Learn more about the timeline and ways to share your input.
- Engagement
- Infrastructure
- Engineering & Technical Services
Learn more about the ongoing Gorham Road Reconstruction Project. The multi-year project entails road surface replacement, drainage upgrades, and a consideration of alternative transportation amenities.
- Construction
- Infrastructure
- Engineering & Technical Services
The Downs development is a proposed multi-phase redevelopment that will eventually include all the Scarborough Downs property and generate over 2,000 peak hour traffic trips. Learn more about the significant infrastructure and transportation network improvements that will be occurring in the Town of Scarborough, and beyond, associated with the development at the Downs.
- Downs
- Growth
- Infrastructure
- Community Services
The Town of Scarborough is conducting a comprehensive parks and facilities master plan to allow for meaningful park and recreation facility improvements that yield higher levels of performance and increased enjoyment for all user groups. The plan will be developed with an eye toward the Town’s existing goals, including improving walkability, increasing mixed uses, promoting active and healthy living, and more.
- Engagement
All Town Projects
All Town Projects
Learn more about the projects, opportunities, and trending issues happening in the Town of Scarborough. Use the filter feature to sort by category/department and review the latest advancements, ranging from planning and development, to infrastructure, recreation enhancements, and more. Projects and topics vary in scope and length of time, so check back regularly for updates.
Outdoors is the place to be this summer in Scarborough—its parks, nature preserves, and beaches provide the perfect setting for the season. We received over 250 submissions to our "Summer Outdoors" photo contest in categories ranging from beaches to wildlife, and now it's time to vote!
- Engineering & Technical Services
- Public Works
With many ongoing and upcoming transportation projects happening through various departments, developers, and MaineDOT, here is a centralized page to access key information. Use the map and specific project pages to dive deeper.
- Engineering & Technical Services
A Transportation Network Study will be conducted in 2024. The last Townwide Transportation Study was completed in 2006. Over the past two decades, infrastructure, development patterns, and priorities have changed. The updated study will look at broad categories within Scarborough's transportation system.
- Community Services
- Town Council
The Town of Scarborough is continuing to take steps toward meeting the ongoing community interest for a community center. The interest is in a multi-generational community center that would meet the recreational and cultural needs of all demographics of the Town. It has previously been explored and has most recently been a central theme of community conversations related to the update to the Comprehensive Plan, Community Survey, and Parks & Facilities Master Plan.
- Planning
The Comprehensive Plan is a community-wide initiative outlining a vision for the future of Scarborough. The plan analyzes existing conditions and emerging trends, illustrates a plan for future development and conservation, provides the Town with strategies for sustainability, and steps for implementation. The most recent Comprehensive Plan was completed in June 2021.
- Environment
- Growth
- Town Council
Learn more about the relevant issues being discussed at the council level. Their goals for the year outline priority direction, and Council Corner articles serve to inform on the perspective of particular councilors on current topics. With regular communication, Town Councilors hope to encourage community engagement in order to drive informed, conscious decisionmaking.
- Engagement
- Town Council
The Town of Scarborough fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. In the Spring, the Town and School begin the annual budget process to prepare for the upcoming fiscal year. Explore the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget from March through June for budget news, documents, important dates, and more.
- Engineering & Technical Services
Learn more about the ongoing Gorham Road Reconstruction Project. The multi-year project entails road surface replacement, drainage upgrades, and a consideration of alternative transportation amenities.
- Construction
- Infrastructure
- Public Works
LED lights consume a fraction of the electricity consumed by metal halide or high pressure sodium lights to produce an equivalent amount light. LED street lights offer advantages over older lighting technologies and can reduce electricity consumption for street lighting by 75%. LED fixtures will save Scarborough money. Implementing this project offers significant financial benefits to the Town.
- Planning
The Planning Department is working on a long-term project that includes simplifying our existing ordinances and finding opportunities to incorporate changes where recommended with these consolidations. The overall goal is to create a more cohesive set of standards, while removing ambiguity and subjectivity in the review process.
- Community Services
The Town of Scarborough is conducting a comprehensive parks and facilities master plan to allow for meaningful park and recreation facility improvements that yield higher levels of performance and increased enjoyment for all user groups. The plan will be developed with an eye toward the Town’s existing goals, including improving walkability, increasing mixed uses, promoting active and healthy living, and more.
- Engagement
- Engineering & Technical Services
Piping Plovers are endangered shore birds that are protected by both State and Federal laws. Each summer, volunteers visit our beaches to educate beachgoers about the birds and to keep an eye on their nests. If you’re interested in helping the Town with our protection efforts, sign up to volunteer as a Beach Monitor!
- Schools
The K-8 Strategic Project & New Primary School project is a holistic strategic solution for our K-8 schools to solve facilities inadequacies and inefficiencies by reorganizing grade levels, aligning our student populations, and building a new consolidated primary school that addresses educational equity, operational efficiency, population growth, flexibility, safety & security, and 21st century learning and teaching methods.
- Planning
- Town Council
The Growth Management Ordinance (GMO) is a very specific tool to manage the pace of development within our community and regulates how much of the allowable growth in an area can occur in a single year. It was originally adopted in 2001 in reaction to the rapid single-family housing development that was prevalent in the late 1990s and early 2000s and its impact on our school facilities and municipal services. A new Growth Management Ordinance was most recently approved by the Town Council in May 2021.
- Growth
- Engineering & Technical Services
Scarborough received a Community Action Grant for $46,240 for its proposed project, “Climate-Ready Infrastructure: Building a Resilient Route 1 and Pine Point Road”. The funding will be used to develop resiliency strategies for US Route 1 where it crosses Scarborough Marsh and State Route 9 (Pine Point Road) near the Maine Audubon Center. US Route 1 is a major mobility corridor that stretches through the heart of Scarborough.
- Engineering & Technical Services
The Towns of Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough are collaborating on future strategies for Sawyer Road (Cape Elizabeth) and Sawyer Street (Scarborough), which includes a section of road crossing the Scarborough Marsh that floods multiple times a year. The municipalities may decide to study the impact of a planned removal of the portion of Sawyer Road/Street located in the marsh.
- Environment
- Infrastructure
- Engineering & Technical Services
The Downs development is a proposed multi-phase redevelopment that will eventually include all the Scarborough Downs property and generate over 2,000 peak hour traffic trips. Learn more about the significant infrastructure and transportation network improvements that will be occurring in the Town of Scarborough, and beyond, associated with the development at the Downs.
- Downs
- Growth
- Infrastructure
- Planning
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), New England District, plans to perform dredging of the Scarborough River Federal Navigation Project (FNP). The work involves maintenance dredging and removal of up to 130,000 cubic yards of primarily sandy sediment from the entire Scarborough River FNP and will restore the authorized channels and anchorage to the authorized FNP dimensions. The project would be performed continuously over a three- to four-month period, between November 1, 2023 and March 14, 2024.
- Environment
- Public Works
The Spurwink Road Traffic & Pedestrian Improvement project will cover a two mile stretch from Ocean Avenue to the Spurwink River. The scope of this project includes a road realignment, and the addition and improvement of pedestrian and bicycle amenities. It will also address the dangerous curves and intersections to the greatest extent possible, as well as improve road surface and drainage issues. Learn more about the timeline and ways to share your input.
- Engagement
- Infrastructure
Celebrate being green in your community! The Town of Scarborough is hosting its first ever Sustainable Scarborough Day on Sunday, October 1, bringing together everyone from the environmentally conscious to the eco-curious for a day of learning and fun.
- Town Council
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a finance tool used by municipalities to leverage property taxes on new developments in a specified district to allocate to designated project areas. Scarborough uses TIFs as a means of maximizing potential from new growth and development in town, and enhancing the quality of life for residents.
- Downs
- Growth
- Town Council
Scarborough conducted a community survey for residents in Fall 2021. Responses have been formatted into a full findings report, slideshow presentation with key highlights, and visually represented through GIS mapping. The results of the 2021 survey will remain on the website to view at any time and the Town Council and departments will use this data as a reference point when developing goals.
- Engagement