Town of Mount Desert
Planning Board
Minutes September 25, 2006
Board Members Present Public Present
Schofield (Sandy) Andrews III Carol Williams
James R. Bright, alt Terry Towne
James Clunan, Vice Chairman Stewart Brecher
Heather Jones, Chairman
Gerard M. Miller, alt
Joseph Tracy
Patti Reilly, Secretary
Kim Keene, CEO; Joelle D. Nolan, Recording Secretary
I. The meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m.
II. The draft minutes from the September 11, 2006 meeting were unanimously approved as amended.
III. Public Hearings - Conditional Use Permits
A. NAME: William P. Ahern
LOCATION: 18 Harborside Road, Northeast Harbor
TAX MAP: 26 LOT: 15 ZONE: VR1
PURPOSE: 3.4.7 Fences exceeding CEO authority.
SITE INSPECTION: 5:15 PM
WITHDRAWN BY APPLICANT 9/18/06
CEO Keene reported that she had talked with the applicant's agent, Bill Haynes, and she suggested to Mr. Haynes that it was likely the Planning Board would not approve a 16 foot high fence.
IV. New Business
Terry Towne on behalf of
Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Tax Map 10, Lot 157
Mr. Towne described the location as the former Gene Merchant property located on the east side of Route 102 just north of the Somesville One Stop. The Trust would like to construct a small office building for use by its staff. Because the property is in the Residential 2 district, an office building requires a Conditional Use Permit. Prior to applying for a permit, and spending a great deal of money on design, Mr. Towne would like to determine what information is needed for the application. They would like to submit a proposed building envelope, specific to the use, including driveway, parking, square feet and height of the building, number of employees, on-site traffic, etc. Mr. Stewart Brecher, architect, said they want to know if the use "Professional Office Building" would be tied to all of the
other residential standards in the ordinance. Chairman Jones referred to the Standards of Section 6 and agreed that what Mr. Towne described in the building envelope would be sufficient; specific building plans would not be necessary - they would be under the purview of the CEO. Chairman Jones said the Board would be considering the use. Mr. Andrews suggested anything impacted by the use would have to be taken into account. Mr. Towne said the Trust is also considering building a barn across the street near where a mobile home slab is currently located, adjacent to Village Park Way (off the west side of Route 102). He asked the Board how it would define the use. The land is in the Village 1 district. The barn would be used for storage, a workshop for construction of signs, and boat storage. They would also like to store a boat outside (all boats owned by the Trust). They are currently storing boats on this site. Chairman Jones
suggested the use could be Services 2. Mr. Tracy said he does not see the boat storage as commercial. Mr. Clunan referred to the LUZO definition of Boat Storage; Board agreed this use wouldn't qualify as commercial. CEO Keene read from Section 3.4.4 Regulations: Specific Uses: Boat Storage of the LUZO. Board agreed Mr. Towne could work with CEO Keene on this matter. Mr. Brecher referred back to the office building and asked if the application could have an "either/or" proposal: an envelope using site A or an envelope using site B. Board asked that a final plan be presented for the site.
IV. General group discussions
B. Comprehensive Plan update
Chairman Jones spoke with Sherry Churchill recently and it is Ms. Churchill's opinion that the Comprehensive Plan will not be on the Warrant for the 2007 Annual Town Meeting. She also spoke with Jerry Suminsby and he agreed.
Mr. Tracy said he feels the Comprehensive Plan is missing the issue of encouraging people who subdivide to keep their restrictive covenants from violating the LUZO. It results in patchwork spot zoning, and becomes more restrictive than the ordinance. Mr. Andrews suggested Mr. Tracy draft a few sentences describing what he would like to have included in the Comprehensive Plan - probably in the philosophy section.
Chairman Jones announced her resignation from the Board effective the end of 2006. She would like to help the Board through the proposed ordinance changes for 2007 Town Meeting. She said she hopes this time frame will make for an easier transition with bringing on a new board member and chairman. Her time and attention need to be focused on her family. Members expressed their sadness, and wished her well with her new challenges. It was suggested that some Zoning Board of Appeals members might be good candidates since they are familiar with the ordinances. Jane Vris was suggested as a potential Board member. Mr. Tracy will contact her.
Mr. Clunan left at 6:36
A. Review non-substantive changes
Land Use Zoning Ordinance
Page 34: 15 Definitions, re-submit change that was omitted last year: in the definition of Height of a Structure replace the word "finished" with "original"
Page 12: 3.5 Chart of Uses, under Home Occupation change all "C's" to "CEO"
Page 23: 5.6 there is no 2.2.1, probably referring to 2.1 of the Subdivision; amend to read "in accordance with Section 2.1 of the Subdivision Ordinance".
Page 25: 6.8 Highway Safety, After a very lengthy and detailed discussion regarding off-site parking, on-site parking, adjacent parking, uses and enforcement, Board agreed to change the last sentence of this section to "Sufficient on-site parking shall be available."
Page 18: 3.6 Dimensional Requirements, remove Note (d). The rationale is that property owners have the option to apply to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance. (Re-letter or just replace (d) with (l), fix the chart, etc)
Also under the same section, Note (h²) CEO Keene proposes the following change in the first sentence "Structures in any shoreland district shall not exceed thirty-five (35) feet for newly proposed buildings". She has had problems with property owners that have a dwelling that exceeds 35 feet with an attached garage (structure), and they want to square-off the building. But they can't, because of this restriction to development in the shoreland district; and we've created non-conforming buildings within the shoreland district. The 30% rule of a non-conforming building only applies to buildings that fall within the set back. As she sees it, anyone that wants to add on to square up his building would have apply to the Planning Board for a CUP to exceed the height restriction. Board and CEO discussed
the issue of visual impact and what constitutes a new structure, and the common occurrence versus worst-case-scenario. This will be re-visited. Board did agree to strike the sentence "In exceptional cases, which meet the standards of this ordinance and will not adversely affect the skyline of the Town, a Conditional Use Permit may be issued, notwithstanding the above height limitations."
Page 33: 15 Definitions, Cooking Facilities: delete "(2) [a] a sink and or [b] a refrigerator"
Page 3: 2.7 Road Construction, add "2.7.6 All driveways shall meet the following construction standards: 1. Minimum travel surface: 12 feet; 2. Minimum unobstructed width: 14.5 feet; 3. Minimum vertical clearance 14.5 feet. The minimum construction standards must be maintained at all times to provide adequate ingress and egress for emergency vehicles. Culverts with a minimum 15 inch diameter shall be installed at the end of driveways to provide for adequate drainage at the intersections with public or private ways with existing drainage ditches."
Board discussed the proposed wording which resulted in suggestions regarding driveways, such as set backs from property lines, and driveway entrances inspected by the Highway Superintendent. This will need to be reviewed again.
Chairman Jones asked Mr. Tracy to elaborate on his concerns regarding slopes. She referred to sections 3.4.6 and 6.4.3. Mr. Tracy said, rather, his concerns were with the proposed (by the Comprehensive Plan Committee) addition of development on slopes greater than 10%. Again, a lively discussion ensued about development on ridgelines and very steep slopes. Board agreed to ask the CPC to look at this again.
C. Get organized for Land Use changes for 2007 Town Meeting
Chairman Jones referred to the working list developed at the June 26, 2006 workshop. Since the next meeting (October 10, 2006) has a very full agenda, she suggested addressing some of those items at the October 23rd meeting.
Mr. Tracy expressed his concerns that the Comprehensive Plan will restrict property owners to what they can do with their property; and when it can be demonstrated if they can mitigate environmental concerns by special measures, to not prohibit what they can do, but restrict and regulate what they can do. Mrs. Reilly suggested a monitoring program. This led to further discussion of steep slopes, high elevations, ridge tops, and view sheds, and the impact.
Board agreed to add discussion of steep slopes and view sheds to the October 23rd agenda, to prepare a proposed change for the 2007 Warrant.
V. Meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m. The next scheduled meeting/public hearing(s) is at 6:00 p.m., TUESDAY, October 10, 2006 in the Meeting Room, Town Hall, Northeast Harbor.
Respectfully submitted,
Patti Reilly, Secretary
| 
