Town of Otisfield
Planning Board Meeting Minutes
May 19, 2015
1. Call to Order: The regular meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM by Chair - Karen Turino.
2. Attendance: Members present were Chair – Karen Turino, Vice Chair - Beth Damon, Herb Olsen, Rick Jackson, David Hyer – Alternate & Stan Brett – Alternate (Absent - David McVety) *SB moved up as a voting member.
Code Enforcement Officer: Richard St. John
Planning Board Secretary: Tanya Taft
3. Announcement of Quorum: Board had a quorum.
4. Approve Secretary’s Report:
A. Regular Meeting Minutes April 21, 2015 *Motion to accept minutes. HO/SB – Unanimous. Discussion: For clarification; Page 2 of minutes 12; D: Maps requested: When an application comes in HO would like to have a copy of the map provided for PB members. TT will provide this information in the future.
5. Discussion & Comments from public:
A. None.
6. Residence - Based Business Applications:
A. None.
7. Shoreland Zoning Applications:
A. None.
8. Site Plan Applications:
A. None.
9. Upcoming Dates:
A. Planning Board Meeting, June 16, 2015 at 7:00 PM.
10. Discussion & comments from Code Enforcement Officer:
A. General Discussion on new 2015 SLZ proposed guidelines: CEO: Decision points were provided (Submitted into public record) and PB homework is to think about it and be ready to discuss at an upcoming meeting. All agree they will read and be prepared to discuss the Guidelines and questions through “identify additional districts” for the July meeting. When PB answers some of the questions, CEO and TT will start to work on the Ordinance together. CEO: PB can either reaffirm this information or decide to do things differently. There are regulations that Otisfield will not have to deal with such as coastal issues, as they do not apply.
B. Island on Thompson Lake: CEO: 16 feet wide 85 feet long Island. Currently there is a small non-conforming cabin on it. Repair and maintenance was discussed. The owner is doing construction in pieces and getting building permits for each phase of the project in order to avoid the restrictions that would require applying to the PB. The issue of cumulative repairs is an ongoing discussion with DEP.
11. Discussion & comments from Board:
A. KT: If any PB member feels more information is needed at a meeting or does not feel comfortable moving forward voting on an application without having certain information, an application can be tabled until information has been requested from MMA or Maine DEP.
B. Set Backs – All agree that the objective is to get buildings further away from body of water. SB: The PB has the right to say “no” to side expansions and only expand to the rear. We could change the Ordinance to say that, without needing to revise the existing Comprehensive Plan. In non-conforming structures, all set-backs should go back or up. CEO: If there are sections in the Comprehensive Plan, that may be language enough that the PB has the right to be more restrictive then the State Guidelines. KT: since we are going to need to rewrite the SZ Ordinance this next year, we could get advice on how best to include this restriction. All agree this would be good to have for 2016 Town Meeting.
C. HO & KT went to MMA workshop: KT wanted to inform the PB of the following:
1) Emails are discouraged, unless they are for informational purposes only. No discussion should be held via email. The freedom of Information Act can allow anyone to retrieve emails sent. This board only receives Agendas and one way FYI’s from the CEO distributed from TT. So no discussion has taken place. KT noted that the concern is there not be “email meetings” outside of regularly scheduled meetings.
2) MMA recommended alternates should not participate in discussion. KT: Not suggesting we change it, just letting you know what was said. Our board allows discussion, input and voting from our alternates and all agree this is acceptable.
3) Recusing oneself from a meeting: If you disqualify yourself because of a conflict of interest, MMA recommends you not participate in the discussion as a member. Recuse yourself before the start of the discussion and explain why. Ie: There are three acceptable reasons to not participate: Financial, Bias and Family relationship. It is best that you leave the table and sit in the audience if you have recused yourself.
12. Adjournment: With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:56 PM. HO/SB – Unanimous.
Respectfully submitted,
Tanya Taft, Secretary
Approved by: Karen Turino, Chair
Otisfield Planning Board
Approved on: June 16, 2015
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