York Town News
Planning Department Monthly Report:
What's on the horizon as of June 1
By Town Planner Steve Burns
Town Planner Steve Burns
Applications on the June agenda:
York Hospital amendments. York Hospital has submitted plans for two very minor site changes - the oxygen storage tank needs to be replaced with a larger tank and a minor expansion of the second floor (no footprint increase) for storage.
Highland Farm Phase 2. A 21-lot conventional subdivision in to begin the preliminary review process. This is the point where overall review of the design concept by the Board is needed before we move into detailed review. There are some substantial issues dealing with lot size, cluster, water supply and access to be worked through.
Actions taken at the May meeting:
Clay Hill Farm Subdivision. A five-lot subdivision. Conditional approval granted.
Brixham Montessori Friends School. Application approved to move into the former Loftware building in Brickyard Court.
Kennebunk Savings Bank. Application approved to increase the amount of parking at their new bank on Route One.
York Village Business Center. Application conditionally approved for the design of the second building on this site, and first building design amended to accommodate a drive up bank window.
Campagna Subdivision amendment. Boundary line adjustment not yet resolved because of a sight distance problem at the driveway.
Applications in the works:
Passaconaway by the Sea/Perkins. Still pending the April 26 remand.
Union Bluff. Preliminary approval granted in January to raze the theater in York Beach and replace it with a multi-use commercial building.
Marketplace. The applicant and I are going around on water-related issues for this site. It is now in the hands of the town's review engineer for a reality check.
Davis Drive Subdivision. Mr. Davis is now working on an application to convert the entire subdivision to cluster. Awaiting my review.
Bell Marsh Road. The Planning Board referred this issue to the Board of Selectmen in April without accepting the application.
Sketch-Review Applications completed earlier:
Lost World Disc Golf. Conceptual discussion in November - no action since.
OYHS/Jefferds Tavern. Proposed new barn and connector. No change.
Tony Valdez (Fiona's Porch property) received conceptual direction in March about a minor expansion on the back of the building. Review held up pending CEO evaluation of possible outdoor display violations.
Bob Cutts/Rumsey Road. There is a long-standing problem regarding road construction on this property, and Bob Cutts is proposing an option to permanently resolve this matter.
York Community Service Association. They're working on plans to expand the building and improve the site layout.
J&B LLC. Proposed new commercial building on Route One across from Wild Willy's. The applicants are actively working to develop and improve their plan.
Applications on the radar screen … applications the Planning Board hasn't seen yet, incomplete submittals, rumored developments and stuff like that…
Cragin/Currier Logging Road Subdivision. I've briefly reviewed a plan that was originally submitted but not pursued in 1999 for a 40-lot subdivision on Logging Road. This is the 152+/- acre lot just south of Dave Linney's nursery lot. It's a very poor layout on a very wet lot.
TAGT Amendment. Minor change to the rear of the existing lobster pound, and addition of new commercial building on the back of the lot. The application was found to be incomplete and the applicant has been asked to provide additional submittals.
Twin Lights Subdivision Amendment. First Step Land Development will propose a minor lot line change. It is on hold while the applicant tries to resolve water problems with a neighbor.
Pharmacy. No new rumors to report.
Peter Weare. Office development of land in the Route 1-5 zone. We have received application materials for this site, but they haven't been reviewed yet for completeness.
Peter Weare. Six--unit residential development of land in the RT 1-6 zone. I haven't received an application yet.
Doug Gray. Four units of residential development in back land between Darcy Road and Edison Drive Will probably need PB approval to amend the Darcy/Eldredge/Boban subdivision. I haven't received the application yet.
York's Wild Kingdom. Nothing new to report.
Cliff House. They are considering minor amendments to their approved expansion plans. Perhaps another pool and some minor changes to the buildings.
Whippoorwill Amendment. Application received to amend the original subdivision plans. Not yet complete.
Maine DOT. No news on this tower yet - an attempt to replace their existing 35' tower at the maintenance lot on Route One with a 120' tower. The only catch is they don't want to go to the Planning Board.
Small commercial site on Route One. 908 U.S. Route One, just south of Whippoorwill. New owner may proposed to move the old blue cape farther back on the lot and open a series of small businesses.
Cape Neddick House. New owner is looking to re-develop this property. I have met with the owner, but have not received an application yet.
Results of May Special General Referendum.
The voters adopted the new Natural Resources Chapter of the Comp Plan, renewed the Growth Ordinance with a limit of 84 units per year, adopted a new inspection/certification program, amended our condo conversion standards and adopted a village overlay district in York Village.
Comp Plan Amendments
We have posted the following 5 major sets of policy amendments for a June 22nd public hearing:
- Growth Policy amendments. This focuses on a new map that explicitly shows the designated growth area.
- Public Water and Public Sewer amendments. This is a consolidation of the policies that are currently spread throughout the plan into a single section. It provides maps that show where public water and public sewer should and shouldn't be provided.
- General Policy amendments. These are updates that we need to make, but are not focused in any particular manner.
- Update Accomplishments. There are some policies that are amended to reflect past successes in plan implementation.
- De-Tuning. This amendment removes the over-specific zoning recommendations of the plan. This should bring our current zoning ordinance and the comp plan into consistency, allowing them to co-exist as is for the time being without serious risk of legal challenge based on the gross inconsistencies that exist today. This section is probably the most important set of amendments we can make at this time.
The Planning Board completed its first public hearing on draft ordinance amendments on May 25, and we now have 18 draft amendments in the works, posted for a June 22 public hearing. The subjects include:
- Historic Landmark Designation of Trinity Church
- Landmark Designation for Historic Building Conversions
- Shoreland Setback Variances
- Board of Design Review
- Contiguous Non-conforming Lots
- Enlargement of Non-conforming Structures
- Non-conforming Design
- Non-conforming Residential Density
- Expansion of Non-conforming Use
- Bed & Breakfast Standards
- Campground Regulations
- Front, Side and Rear Lot Lines
- Stream Protection Zone Boundaries
- Ordinance Clean-Up
- Site Plan Review and Route One Use Permits
- Large-Scale Retail in York Harbor
- Propane and Oil Tank Anchoring
- Workforce Housing
Response to LD 1535
Today I filed a request for action by the Board of Selectmen to initiate the town's response to this new state law. I recommend that we prepare draft amendments to the Residential Growth Ordinance which would be presented to the voters this coming November. I also recommended we defer the effective date to July 1, 2007 (when the new state law goes into effect) and that we build in some sort of provision that will nullify the amendments if the state law is changed. I am hoping to have a response by early July so we can make the public hearing schedule for this summer.
Water Resources Management.
Now that the voters have adopted the new Natural Resources Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan Inventory and Analysis, much of which focused on enhanced understanding of York's watersheds, it is time to begin re-directing the town's policies to better protect water resources. I am still working to develop a systematic approach to this issue, but it will probably entail work on: establishing town-wide lot coverage standards; improving riparian buffers; improving site design standards; establishing low-impact design standards; expanding use of TDR; shifting to lot-size-by-soil-type density controls in rural areas; improving stormwater quantity and quality standards, and becoming more systematic in open space protection. The general timeframe for much of this work (plan and ordinance amendments) will be no sooner than November 2007. However, there is additional analysis which will be required and that should begin sooner.
Regional Build-Out Analysis
The staff at Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission has prepared a very helpful buildout analysis for the Mount A to the Sea Conservation Initiative's region. Their region includes parts of Wells, Ogunquit, South Berwick, Eliot, Kittery and York. The buildout analysis used GIS data for existing development, conservation lands, natural constraints and zoning to generate a picture of new homes that could be built in this region. Unlike our old buildout analysis, which generated a number of homes in each zone or watershed, this one actually distributes the new houses on a map. The graphic output is much more easily comprehended and is more useful than the numbers. Paul Schumacher, the executive director of SMRPC, and I have started to discuss ways of using this information. It strikes me that we have in our hands a wonderful opportunity to work collaboratively with our neighboring communities to direct patterns of growth to best conserve some very important resources. Paul will probably be working to arrange a meeting of the planning boards in these six communities to open lines of communication and to gauge receptiveness to working jointly on this issue.
York River Watershed Council
A new group is being formed to follow up on the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve's York River Watershed Management Plan. Their first meeting, originally scheduled for May 23, has been re-scheduled to June 14. My initial impression is this is a group targeting implementation projects identified in the Reserve's report. (It never ceases to amaze me at the number of groups that we have working here in York, and the amount of overlap in membership among the groups.)
Flood Response
The Planning Department has tried to help the emergency services departments in their response to the flooding that occurred in mid-May, mostly by utilizing our GIS capabilities. We compiled road damage and closure information, damage photographs and related information and prepared initial damage assessment mapping. If we get interest from the emergency services departments, we will be prepared to use the GIS to analyze flood-related issues, but we're not sure at this time what direction this task will take. Brett has also taken the time to apply our HAZUS software to this flood event to see how this FEMA software calculates flood impacts compared to what we experienced. Brett's initial finding is the model inputs from FEMA were weak, and he needs to learn how to insert local data. Finally, I have worked with Dave Bridges to draft an ordinance amendment to require anchoring of propane and heating oil tanks in flood-prone areas.
Cemetery Mapping
Andy LeConte, an intern we've picked up for a few weeks this summer, has been GPSing the location of cemeteries in York. In the past, we have located a few of the cemeteries on the ground. Our goal now is to get GPS point locations for each of the 200+ cemeteries and family burial grounds in York. In the course of this work we're hearing about other burial grounds that were previously un-mapped. Our hope is that Andy will be able to obtain GPS points for each cemetery before he leaves in mid-June.
