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Planning Board Meeting Minutes - 12/16/10 Workshop
Public Present
None

Board Members Present                   
Sandy Andrews; Ellen Brawley, Chair, James Clunan, Vice Chairman; Robert Ho; Gerard M. Miller

Kim Keene, CEO; Claire Woolfolk, Recording Secretary

I.      The meeting was called to order at 4:09 p.m.
This meeting is a continuation of the public meeting from 12/15/2010.

II.     Workshop: For proposed Land Use & Shoreland Zoning Ordinances & Zoning Map amendments for May 2011 Town Meeting.
        
A.      Review of proposed changes to the LUZO
The Planning Board continued their review of the changes made during the previous workshops on 11/29/2010, 12/8/2010 and 12/15/2010.  

The following adjustments were made:

1.      Section 6A.7.1 Purpose.  Add to the end of the paragraph: “Special care needs to be taken on lots that are within 75 feet of a water body and where drainage is towards the waterbody or on slopes of 25% or greater, or drain to a Town, State or Local roadway drainage system.”

2.      Section 6A.7.2 Applicability.
Shall now read:
All new construction, development, or other alteration of a lot in any district must be designed to minimize stormwater runoff from the site in excess of the natural predevelopment conditions.

3.      Section 6A.7.3 Stormwater plan required.
Shall now read:
For development on all lots, the applicant shall submit a Stormwater Management Plan which demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Code Enforcement Officer that stormwater runoff has been minimized, will not excessively exceed natural predevelopment conditions, and that the project will comply with this stormwater standard.  In the event that the proposed project includes on site stormwater conveyance structures, evidence will be provided that insures that these structures have been sized properly and can handle anticipated flows.  In the event that a development discharges storm flows into any off site conveyance and/or control system, evidence will be provided that the off-site systems can handle the anticipated flows without resulting in any adverse conditions.  (see Code Enforcement Officer for example of stormwater plan)

4.      Section 6B.7 Excavation (other than gravel pits) or filling.
•       Insert “that” between “extent” and “such” on the first line.
•       Change 6B.13 to 6A.2 on line 8 of the paragraph.

5.      Section 6B.17 fix formatting by eliminating return on  and indenting (1), (2), etc.  and indenting (a), (b), etc. under numbers 1-13 (pgs 6-17 through 6-25).

6.      Section 6C.8.1 and 6C.8.7.7fix formatting on bullet/numbered items; change to (a), (b), etc. to be consistent with other formatting within the document.

7.      Section 6C.9.4 change reference of Section 6C.5 to 6A.2.

8.      Section 6C.11.2 change reference of Section 6C.13.2.1 to 6C.11.2.1.

III.    Other Business

1.      Northeast Harbor Main Street Setback Requirements:

Should the board decide to address the change in the lot setbacks requested by Noah Hodgetts, it would have to be done via footnote.  Ms. Keene has not yet heard from the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) as to whether this would be considered the spot zoning.  The board will wait to hear from the MMA before further discussion on how to proceed.

At issue is the loss of 0 setback when owners rebuild on the lots that burned in 2009.  When the fires occurred, the 0 setbacks were grandfathered in.  The grandfathering has been lost because the owners have not yet rebuilt.  However, the owners could build with 0 setbacks if they got permission from their abutters.  Mr. Hodgetts is looking to secure a guarantee of the 0 setback for the owners when they rebuild that they had grandfathered prior to the structures burning in 2009.  He maintains that this is important because if the current owners want to sell the properties without rebuilding, this could be a major concern for the sale.

2.      Discussion of the memo sent to the board by Selectman J. Rick Mooers regarding amendments to section 3.5, Dimensional Requirements for Districts, of the Town of Mount Desert’s LUZO:

The board discussed concerns over the effects of using “Road Frontage” as a border descriptor for dimensional requirements for districts, or in other words using road frontage as a requirement for determining the minimum width of a lot.  The main concern is the prior inadvertent creation of non-conforming lots in subdivisions during the 1980’s and 1990’s.  Owners of these lots have no recourse except to file a lawsuit against the town in the Superior Court if they wish to build on their properties.

Previously the board had drafted wording to address the issue creating non-conforming lots based on the requirement of “road frontage” under Section 3.5 Dimensional Requirements for Districts as follows:

(o)     Lots that pre-exist May 2011 that are divided by an existing public or private road are are exempt from the requirement for minimum width of lots on road.

Add “o” next to m as thus: **see Note (m,o) on MINIMUM WIDTH OF LOTS: on pg. 3-13 of the LUZO.

The board amended the wording as follows:
(o)     Lots created prior to May 4, 2011 divided by an existing public or private road may be exempted (or waived) from the requirement for minimum lot width on road by the Planning Board if it determines that an undue hardship would otherwise result.

3.      Issues with a prior subdivision in Hall Quarry were brought to the board by Dave Ashmore.  Mr. Ashmore plans to come before the board in the near future to see if these issues can be resolved.

The current board will attempt to contact the remaining board members that were active at the time the sub division was approved to discuss their intent, beginning with Joe Tracy.


IV.     Meeting adjourned at 6:07 p.m.  The next scheduled meeting/public hearing(s) is at 6:00 p.m., Monday, January 10, 2011 in the Meeting Room, Town Hall, Northeast Harbor.


Respectfully submitted,




Claire Woolfolk, Recording Secretary