Research snapshot · Development · 31 August 2026

Zoning and site plan across the country: 395 towns on the record, the pace easing

This page is a snapshot, cut 31 August 2026, of a topic that moves. Below is the shape of the movement, read from the towns' own meeting records, and the way to get a view of it that stays current.

Snapshot taken 31 August 2026, based on 833 dated municipal records flagged as zoning and site plan, spanning 395 municipalities across 47 states. The topic moves; a later cut supersedes this page.

What this page is for one topic at state or national scope, told as a story: how it arrived, the shape of its movement, a dated snapshot of a moving record, and the door to a view of it that stays current. If it does not, write to us; that is what changes the next edition.

The story so far

The record starts in Maine, 3 January 1970. Since then 395 municipalities in 47 states have put the topic on a meeting record, at very different speeds: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont hold 57% of the dated events between them.

The last 90 days put 67 meetings on the record, down from 193 in the 90 days before. 2 more are already on posted agendas.

It runs through the rooms where budgets and ordinances are made: Planning Board, City Council and Town Council.

The shape of the movement

Dated meetings on the record at this scope, quarter by quarter, and the same 90-day count as a rolling line, whose right-hand point is that number. Counts of documents, never a reading of what they decided.
QuarterMeetingsTownsStates
Sep 2025 to Nov 2025493014
Dec 2025 to Feb 202619913030
Mar 2026 to May 202620114034
Jun 2026 to Aug 2026 (current)755520

a rolling 90-day total, so the right-hand point is that same 90-day count. The busiest stretch was Mar 2026 to May 2026, with 201 meetings.

Where it is moving47 states

The same topic at different speeds in different states. A state's name opens its own page where one exists.
StateTowns on the recordMeetings, 90 daysLatest
Maine7524 ▼ -36.8%2026-08-25
New Hampshire62102026-08-27
Massachusetts4142026-06-25
Vermont2142026-07-01
Connecticut1612026-06-30
Kentucky164 ▬ +0.0%2026-06-17
Utah135 ▼ -37.5%2026-07-17
Illinois1202026-05-21
California1002026-05-05
New York103 ▼ -25.0%2026-08-12
Pennsylvania902026-05-11
Texas802026-03-10
Missouri822026-08-18
Washington702026-05-20
Arizona602026-03-18

And 32 more states on the record, in an account view.

From the record

The most recent documents behind this page, one per town. Each link opens the town's own file.

27 August 2026 · Alton, New Hampshire

the agenda, on the town's own site Agenda 08-27-2026

25 August 2026 · Falmouth, Maine Board of Zoning Appeals

the document, on the town's own site Public comment for 241A Foreside application_ Dan and Sandy Kerpelman_ Opposition letter and info_ 10 Old Powerhouse Roa

19 August 2026 · Scarborough, Maine Town Council Regular Meeting

the document, on the town's own site Town Council Regular Meeting - Aug 19 2026 — 2026-08-19

18 August 2026 · Canterbury, New Hampshire

the minutes, on the town's own site 2026-08-18 Agricultural Commission Minutes DRAFT

Companies on this record1619 companies, 566 documents

Named in the same documents that carry this topic, read from the record itself: the firms designing, building and advising the work, each with where the record places them:
ComcastAuburn, Bothell, Brunswick and 6 more
NHDESAlton, Bethlehem, Danville and 3 more
CasellaDurham, Hartford, Kensington and 2 more
Maine DEPBrunswick, Falmouth, Hope and 2 more
VerizonMansfield, Medford, Rye and 1 more
AT&TCastroville, Franklin, Homestead and 2 more
AmazonFranklin, Lansdale, Ossipee and 2 more
Community Development DepartmentParadise Valley, San Gabriel, Springville
EversourceCandia, Danville, Rindge
MARCBrunswick, Chester, Windsor
Advanced Drainage SystemsFranklin, Ossipee, Stratham and 1 more
AECOMChelmsford, Franklin, Ossipee and 1 more
Algonquin Power & UtilitiesLansdale, Laporte, Ossipee and 1 more
NHACCBow, Hampton Falls, Ossipee and 1 more
Casella Waste SystemsDurham, Stratham, Yarmouth
Central Maine PowerBelfast, Cumberland, Pownal
SpectrumAlfred, Bar Harbor, San Gabriel
Aroostook Waste SolutionsPresque Isle
AES CorporationFranklin, Ossipee, Stratham
AirgasFranklin, Ossipee, Stratham
American Water WorksFranklin, Ossipee, Stratham
ArcadisFranklin, Ossipee, Stratham
Bangor Savings BankBangor, Lewiston, Wells
CNHRPCBoscawen, Canterbury, Pembroke
NHMAPlaistow, Rindge, Stratham
ReVision EnergyBath, Stratham, Wiscasset
GPCOGNorth Yarmouth, Yarmouth
NH Fish & GameCanterbury, Rindge
Office of Corporation CounselDanbury, Nashua
Attorney Neil R. MarcusDanbury

And 1589 more companies.

The documents naming each, and the threads they sit in, are the account view. If one of these is you, those are your projects on the record. Ask and we will show you every one, and the towns around them, as they move.

A snapshot of a moving record

Everything above is frozen at 31 August 2026; the topic is not. 146 more events on this topic carry no usable date and are counted, never dated. The counts follow where we read most: a town or a state absent here was not read at depth, and absence is not evidence the topic is absent there. A lighter-read state is not a ceiling; where you care about a region, pointing the system there is the first thing an account changes. How coverage is built, and its known limits: municipalalpha.com/methodology.

How we can tell you about it ongoing

We track this topic continuously; this page is one cut of it, taken 31 August 2026. An account turns the snapshot into a working view: every town and every document behind these counts, the thread on each matter as it develops, word of new meetings as they land on the record, your own states and topics side by side, and the data itself when you want it in a table. The towns above are the taste; what each is actually deciding, funding or stalling is the read an account carries.

Each state's name above opens its own page. Counts and dates are computed from the documents on the record; the topic and its definition are ours. This page carries no subscriber content.

Zoning and site plan, across the country

from the towns' own meeting records

Scope

Across the country

Area

Development

every topic in this area

Towns on the record

395

with a dated document on this topic

States on the record

47

counted from the record

Earliest

3 January 1970

the documents' dates

Meetings, last 90 days

67 against 193 before

dated documents

Snapshot cut

31 August 2026

this page's date

A view that stays current

ask for yours