York Town News
Warrant articles, zoning ordinance changes ready for the ballot
By Larry Favinger
YORK - A change in the ordinance combining nonconforming lots of record owned by the same person into one is among the lengthy list of ordinances that have been proposed and will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.The combined lots ordinance has come under increasing criticism in recent months, as people who have owned such lots for up to 60 years did not realize they couldn't use them.
The proposed ordinance change would provide a less restrictive standard for land outside the town's shoreland zones.
The statement of fact on the ballot notes. "The amendment would also provide a mechanism for certain formerly-consolidated lots to be re-divided, and would establish a transfer of development rights options where re-division is not feasible. The intent is to enact a standard that does not result in taking away lots from people as often as the current standard does. The amendment is not expected to have a significant fiscal impact on the town."
The Appeals Board has been wrestling with the consolidation issue for over a year, voting to uphold the current ordinance while admitting freely it is generally unfair to the property owner's impact by it.
During the public hearing on the proposed ordinance changes Charles Stacy told the selectmen he had watched a recent Appeals Board meeting on such a denial and said it is a "disgrace" to the town.
"You can't sell something and take it away for no good reason," he said.
The state has mandated consolidation of lots under 20,000 square feet and there's nothing the town can do about that, but the sale of development rights could help regain some of the financial loss to the owners of small lots.
"Many people in this town have lost their lots," Selectman Michael Estes said, "but we can't go under the state standard."
Selectmen Chairman David Marshall said this problem is not new and added, "It happens all over Maine."
He said there is nothing the town can do about the state-mandated standards, but the current change helps people with larger lots.
Marshall said it is "a step in the right direction. It just doesn't go far enough."
There was little comment on 15 other proposed zoning ordinance changes, including changes to keep "big box" retail out of York Harbor as well as historic designations, all of which were sent to the ballot.
The selectmen also reviewed and approved for the ballot 14 changes in the town's Comprehensive Plan, eliminating only one of them having to do with the timeframe for amendments to the plan.
The majority of the changes were approved for the ballot by 4-0 votes and the preference vote on most of them was also 4-0 as Selectman Torbert Macdonald, Jr., was not in attendance at the meeting.
Those proposals receiving less than unanimous preference support include Article 8, to redefine the boundaries for the growth zone, which received a 2-2 vote; Article 9, revising the policy regarding utilities, which also received a 2-2 vote, and Article 21, removing some specific language in the plan that is also found in regulations and ordinances.
The selectmen had previously voted not to send the workforce housing question to the voters at this time.
For more on the nonconforming lots ordinance issue, see the Appeals Board report.
