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Lamoine Planning Board

Minutes of November 1, 2011

Planning Board Members Present: Holt, Bamman, Gallagher, Donaldson, Tadema-Wielandt, Jordan (alt)

Code Enforcement Officer Present: D. Ford

Members of the Public S. Salsbury; R. McMullen

  1. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Holt at 7:01 p.m.
  2. Consideration of Minutes - The minutes of the October Planning Board meeting were accepted with three small corrections. Vote: 5-0
  3. Code Enforcement Officer's Report
    1. Permits Issued
    2. Enforcement Actions

      CEO Ford reported that Strum/Cecere had agreed to remove the building in question (Map 10 Lot 7-1A), probably by mid-November.

  4. Conservation Commission – No report
  5. Old Business
    1. R.F. Jordan gravel permit renewal for pit at Map 4 Lot 8.

      The Board considered all criteria in its Findings of Fact procedure. The Planning Board found that the Jordan application met all review criteria except criterion 8D.

      Regarding criterion 8D, Restoration, the application was determined not to be in compliance with the ordinance. Although the application describes general restoration procedures, no plan is proposed for restoration during the life of the proposed permit (see map and text).

      Board members opined that it was appropriate to require the applicant to establish an escrow account to fund future restoration, as provided in the Lamoine Gravel Ordinance Section 8 D and, if the applicant agreed to do so, criterion 8D would be met.

      Holt moved (Tadema-Wielandt) to require a condition for this permit that the applicant pay annually to the Town of Lamoine, on the anniversary date of this permit, 5 cents per cubic yard for all yardage removed in the past year. Board members noted the need to establish procedures for this purpose, including but not limited to the following:

      1. the purpose of the funds in the escrow account are for “performing gravel pit reclamation on a schedule determined by the Planning Board and the gravel pit owner” (see Section 8 D of the LGO);
      2. the escrow account will be interest-bearing, with the interest accruing to the account;
      3. the Town will manage the account.

      The Planning Board approved this motion by a vote of 5-0.

      Holt (Gallagher) moved to approve the renewal of the permit with the condition voted by the Board (above). Approved by vote of 5-0.

      Holt will discuss procedural matters with the Town Administrator.

    2. Survey Results

      Holt and Donaldson have circulated tallies and comments from the more than 230 surveys received so far. The Board agreed to study these results and come to a workshop on November 15 prepared to discuss them.

    3. Raccoon Hollow Subdivision

      Certificate of Abandonment: The Board discussed a letter from Becky Seal at MMA recommending that the Board record a certificate of the abandonment of this subdivision in the Registry of Deeds. Holt will follow through with this.

      Obligation for improving Pasture Way: The Board agreed that, now that Raccoon Hollow has been abandoned, the condition placed on that permit (that Mr. Joy bring Pasture Way up to the construction standards of the Building and Land Use Ordinance) no longer pertained since that road will not be carrying the anticipated additional traffic.

  6. New Business
    1. Commercial building/use applications submitted by Richard McMullen, Map 4 Lot 21A for: a) salt/sand shed and b) wood shed

      Chairman Holt recommended that the Board review each application separately. After examination of the two applications and in light of the fact that information required in a Pre-Application was missing, the Board chose to consider these two as Pre-Applications. The Board instructed Richard to review the requirements for the Pre-Application listed in the Building and Land Use Ordinance Section 15 D 2 (a).

      Upon further review, the Board determined that, since the wood shed was to be used for personal and not commercial purposes, it should be handled through the Code Enforcement Officer rather than the Planning Board.

      Regarding the Salt Sand Shed, R. McMullen explained that he plans to store salt on his property and that he has obtained permission by email from the DEP for this purpose. The Board requested that he submit a copy of his correspondence with the DEP with his full application. After review of the information submitted, the Planning Board requested that Richard submit a complete Pre- Application containing the following (in addition to the information already submitted):

      1. Correctly describe the owners of the property; include a letter from the owners granting permission for the structure/use.
      2. Add to the Plot Plan:
        1. a map of the entire 18 acre parcel, with all abutters identified;
        2. accurate figures for setbacks from the proposed shed to all boundaries, wells, septic fields, and other points required;
        3. full measurements of all dimensions of the structure, including heights;
        4. notification that the footprint of the building has been laid out on the ground.
    2. Site Plan Review: Pre-Application and Application for auto repair shop, Map 7 Lot 4-1. The applicant, Mr. Wayne Alley, requested a delay of this matter until a future meeting.
  7. Other Public Matters
    1. Planning Board budget for 2012-13. The board agreed by general consensus to request a budget of $1,000.00 to accommodate our need for expert advice in future ordinance revision and other matters.
    2. Letter of Complaint from Sanchez. The Board briefly discussed a letter from CEO Ford to the Sanchez' regarding their complaint that screening between their house and the S.W. Boatworks building was insufficient. Ford and Jordan both reported that there seemed to be adequate screening from trees when standing at the boat manufacturing site; both noted as well that the screening is intended to function when the facility is complete and operating, not during the construction phase. Holt and Donaldson indicated their willingness for the Board to be open to requiring adjustments to permit requirements if the approved plans turned out to be inadequate in some demonstrable way. and requests for such modifications should come through the Code Enforcement Officer and Select Board.
  8. Ordinance Matters

    9. Holt shared notes comparing the Lamoine Gravel Ordinance provisions for setbacks with those in several other Maine towns' ordinances. Donaldson has drafted a possible procedure for combining the Gravel Permit requirements and the Site Plan Review requirements into a single application and review procedure. The Board will discuss these and other matters at a Planning Board Workshop on November 15, 2011 at 7 p.m.

  9. Next Meetings:
  10. Adjourned at 9:04 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gordon Donaldson, Secretary