York Town News
Planning Department Monthly Report:
What's on the horizon as of July 1
By Town Planner Steve Burns
Town Planner Steve Burns
Elks. To discuss revised landscaping plans to re-establish the front buffer that was mistakenly destroyed.
TAGT. Application to expand the existing lobster pound building on Route 1 and to add a second commercial building.
Highland Farm Phase 2. The board and applicant chose to keep this application at the conceptual level to work through some basic design issues.
Actions taken at the June meeting:
York Hospital Amendments. Plans approved to replace the exterior oxygen tank and make a minor expansion on the second floor.
Highland Farm Phase 2. The Board and applicant chose to keep this application at the conceptual level to work through some basic design issues.
Applications in the works:
Campagna Subdivision Amendment. Boundary line adjustment not yet resolved because of a sight distance problem at the driveway.
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. The town engineer is waiting for the results of a meeting between the design engineer and Maine DEP.
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. I expect this back before the Board within a couple months.
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.
Peter Weare. Office development of land in the Route 1-5 zone. We have received application materials for this site, but it wasn't yet complete.
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. Barrie Hobbins, Esq., met with me on June 12 about a new tower on the MDOT maintenance garage on Route One across from Wild Willy's. The initial discussions I had with MDOT staff were only dealing with state communications antennas. Now we're dealing with a commercial co-location, too. I anticipate seeing this at the Planning Board in August.
Small Commercial Site on Route One. 908 U.S. Route One, just south of Whippoorwill. New owner has moved the old blue cape farther back on the lot and plans to eventually open a series of small businesses.
Cape Neddick House. New owner is looking to redevelop this property. I have met with the owner, but have not received an application yet.
Comprehensive Plan Amendments
We held the first public hearing on June 22 regarding five major sets of policy amendments. The Board of Selectmen joined the Planning Board for this hearing. The five posted amendments included Growth Policy Amendments, Public Water and Public Sewer Amendments, General Policy Amendments, Update Accomplishments and De-Tuning.
Follow-up discussion on June 29. Following extensive discussion by both boards, the amendments were revised and will be posted for a follow-up public hearing. The next public hearing will be held by the Planning Board on August 24. The most obvious change is the General Policy Amendments will be split out into 11 component parts so that each can be voted separately.
Ordinance Amendments
The Planning Board completed its second public hearing on 18 draft ordinance amendments on June 22. The posted amendments included the following subjects: 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 (dropped), Expansion of Non-conforming Use, Bed & Breakfast Standards, Campground Regulations, Front, Side and Rear Lot Lines, Stream Protection Zone Boundaries (deferred to Nov. '07), Ordinance Clean-Up, Site Plan Review and Route One Use Permits, Large-Scale Retail in York Harbor, Propane and Oil Tank Anchoring, Workforce Housing, Amend Shoreland policy in Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance (new).
Follow-up discussion after the hearing closed and continued on June 29. The result is 17 proposed amendments, which will be revised and posted for a third public hearing, this one conducted by the Board of Selectmen on Aug. 21.
Growth Ordinance
The Board of Selectmen is scheduled to review a proposal to revise the Residential Growth Ordinance to bring it into compliance with the new State law (L.D. 1535). I anticipate this meeting on July 10. This is being considered separate from the other ordinance amendments at this time because it is not a Planning Board issue. It will be added to the mix of draft ordinance amendments to be considered by the Selectmen starting with their August public hearing.
York River Watershed Council.
This new group, operating under the guidance of the Wells Reserve, held its first meeting on June 14. The participants included town officials from York, Kittery and South Berwick (folks from Eliot didn't show), water district officials (Kittery and York water districts), and a few other people. I haven't yet seen the direct follow-up on this first meeting, but I am impressed so far with the quality of the effort. The meeting was extremely well designed and facilitated. I feel we are already reaping the benefits of this effort:
On June 20 I attended a Wells Reserve-funded workshop at the UNH Stormwater Center - a research site where stormwater quality treatment technologies are tested for effectiveness. I had the opportunity to see first-hand a series of 14 types of systems, including porous pavement. It was an excellent opportunity to get a feel for the emerging directions of stormwater management.
I have scheduled a joint Planning Board workshop to learn about low-impact development standards from LaMarr Cannon of the Maine NEMO Program. This will be held on August 8 at 7 p.m. at the York Public Library. I hope to have Planning Board members from Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, Wells, Ogunquit and York meet jointly for this training. It will also be a chance for board members to meet the folks in neighboring towns who do the same things and probably have similar issues and interests.
Cemetery Mapping
Andy LeConte was able to positively locate about 160 of the cemeteries and burial grounds in York. Brett Horr is in the process of completing this work for the remaining 50 or so. The locations are primarily being collected with GPS, but some of the more difficult-to-reach sites are just being located using the aerial photography at this time. Brett will be completing this work and associated mapping as part of a new Municipal Capacity Chapter of the Comp Plan. I have watched Brett put a great deal of time into this effort. The directions for locating some of these ancient cemeteries are obscure at best, but his detective work and perseverance are paying off. I think he has identified a couple that weren't on any of the lists to date. There may be a cemetery or two he hasn't located precisely, but the vast majority will be positively located and the locations will be permanently archived so it will be hard to lose track of them in the future.
Map Gallery Submission
Brett and I prepared a map for display at the annual GIS Users Conference in San Diego. It is a cleaned-up version of a map Brett made and I presented to the Planning Board at their workshop on May 25. While I was setting up for the Planning Board meeting, this map caught Bob Bohlmann's eye as he was cleaning up from his earlier meeting about the flood response. He asked for a copy to use when he teaches emergency preparedness and response classes. Our map is on public display on the wall outside Gretchen Seaver's office at Town Hall. Julie, Luke and Traci in the Assessing and Code Enforcement offices, all of whom have attended this GIS conference in past years, have been asked to prepare a similar map. It will be interesting to see if either of our maps scores well in the judging. (Next year we're thinking about submitting a map drawn by one of the third grade classes during their annual Town Hall visits.)
Parliamentary Procedure Training
This month I completed a 10-section on-line training course on Roberts Rules of Order through the American Institute of Parliamentarians. This course was far short of that required to become a Certified Parliamentarian, but it was a good eye opener for me despite the extremely dry nature of the material. I figured I should be better versed in Roberts Rules since I participate in so many meetings. For anyone interested, it's $175 and a lot of reading…
Water Resources Management
I have prepared a working paper, which outlines five tasks to enhance water resources protection. The five tasks include: improving design standards; ensuring riparian corridor protection; ensuring appropriate control of impervious surfaces; overhauling the Shoreland Overlay District Map, and implementing the Beach Drainage Study. This working paper is a follow-up on the Natural Resources Chapter just passed last month by the voters. It establishes a series of parallel efforts to help ensure we build on the natural resource information we spent two years compiling. I am now scoping out the work required to complete each of these tasks, and am trying to establish a logical sequence of work, which will mesh with the Planning Board's workshop schedule. (The low-impact development standards training referenced on page four is actually one of the steps in the "improving design standards" task.)
Are You Ready for November 2007?
I've started roughing out a list of tasks and a schedule of work to complete next year's Comp Plan and ordinance amendments. After conferring with my Magic 8 Ball and a fortune cookie at Greenleaves Restaurant, I expect the following tasks will be the major focus of my work in the coming year: Improving development design standards; Enhancing riparian corridor protection; Ensuring appropriate control of impervious surfaces; Updating the Shoreland Overlay District and map; Helping to implement the Beach Drainage Study, specifically by addressing drainage control policies; Writing a Municipal Capacity Chapter of the Comp Plan Inventory & Analysis, and Writing the Historic & Archeological Resources Chapter of the Comp Plan Inventory & Analysis.
These tasks are based on goals I have established with the Town Manager for the Planning Department (completing the Inventory and Analysis section of the Comp Plan) and my annual review (transitioning our land use policies and controls to a more watershed-based approach). Other tasks, as time permits and needs arise, will be added.
