AUGUSTA – Lawmakers heard from an array of stakeholders and lobbyists regarding Maine’s Informed Growth Act during a series of public hearings on Wednesday.

Members of the State and Local Government Committee heard testimony on four bills aimed at tweaking or, as proposed by Sen. David R. Hastings III, R-Fryeburg, repealing the legislation.

The 2007 law, which requires municipalities to conduct impact studies on new developments larger than 75,000 square feet before approving them, has yet to be implemented due to lack of development. Funds for the studies are provided by prospective developers.

Hastings said he wants to repeal the law because it deters large-scale retail development statewide.

“Is it the public policy of Maine that investment in retail development is less welcome if the developer is from out of state because less of the sales revenues will be retained in Maine?” he asked.

Other proposals sought to clarify the law’s vague language regarding a local exemption option.

“There was an attempt to address the rigidity of the (Informed Growth Act) through the inclusion of an awkwardly worded exemption,” said Kate Dufour of the Maine Municipal Association. “Unfortunately, as written, the exemption seems to be available only if the municipality adopts the state law word for word, which is not an exemption at all.”

Lewiston took advantage of this option, by adopting its own language soon after the law’s enactment, based largely on concerns of slowing down a project already in the works, said City Administrator Jim Bennett.

“At the time we had Wal-Mart all licensed, permitted and ready to go near Exit 80,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we could keep the project on line. But for the economy, it would have been built by now.”

It’s unclear whether Lewiston’s ordinances meet the criteria required by the law, because it has yet to be tested in court.

Rep. Steven Beaudette, D-Biddeford, the committee’s House chairman, offered a proposal to clarify the law’s exemption clause.

“This proposed language provides the most flexibility to municipalities to determine the impact criteria that would be most appropriate for their locations and residents,” he said.

His proposal, which was amended from its original form, allows exemptions from the act as long as municipalities adopt ordinances that contain requirements for determining an impact study and includes an independent study of community economic impacts of large-scale retail development, all of which must be presented at a local public hearing.

Proponents of the original law were also on hand to defend what they considered its essential parts.

Daphne Loring, coordinator of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, a coalition of community, labor, environmental and faith groups based in Lewiston, said the goal of the original law was to lead to economic development that raises the standard of living for all Mainers.

“Over the last year, it has become clear that the exemption provision is vague and needs clarification,” Loring said.

Municipalities seeking exemptions from the state law should maintain the law’s provision for independent economic and fiscal impact studies, including consideration of adjacent communities and should provide themselves with the legal jurisdiction to consider these factors in their decision-making process, she said.

The committee is scheduled to take up the various proposals in the coming weeks.