PORTLAND – A nonprofit group dedicated to battling sprawl is focusing its attention and resources on the fast-growing town of Standish in southern Maine.

GrowSmart Maine selected Standish from a field of about 75 applicants as the first community in its model town program.

GrowSmart will help Standish implement its comprehensive plan, a document required by the state that’s supposed to guide land use and growth but often gathers dust on town shelves. In so doing, the group hopes to demonstrate that Maine communities can control their destinies in the face of intense development pressure.

GrowSmart plans to provide the town with expertise, technology and other resources estimated to be worth $80,000 to $100,000.

“We’re going to bring about as much talent and resources as you could reasonably expect,” said Alan Caron, the group’s president and chief executive officer.

If the project demonstrates that towns can get the work done if they have the proper resources, his group will fight to get the resources to them.

“It could be a real good thing for us,” said Wayne Newbegin, a town councilor and a member of the comprehensive plan committee. “They’re going to offer us expertise and help us out.”

Communities around Greater Portland, York County and the midcoast have struggled with sprawl, which has emerged as a major concern in Maine. “Smart growth” advocates say unfettered development can bring pollution from increased car use, wear and tear on roads, and costs for additional schools and infrastructure.

Communities have met with mixed success in implementing their comprehensive plans, said Stacy Benjamin, director of the land use team at the State Planning Office.

“It’s all over the place, and it depends on such a wide variety of factors,” she said. “Some towns do a great job in implementing their comprehensive plans, and others finish them and they sit on the shelf.”

The population of Standish has grown more than 21 percent, from 7,678 to 9,285, from 1990 to 2000, and is expected to reach 11,215 by 2015 as it becomes more of a bedroom community for commuters to the Portland area.