York Town News
Planning Department Monthly Report:
The Planning Department's monthly report of what's on the horizon...
By Town Planner Steve Burns
Town Planner Steve Burns
Jon Discher has completed a draft of his report on stream corridors throughout York. Copies of the report are available to the public on our web page.
I think it is important for people to understand the significance of this report. Protection of water quality is a goal for the town. The two most important controls the town can impose to protect water quality are the protection of riparian corridors and control of impervious surfaces. This report helps us better understand the extent of our control of riparian corridors.
When Jon concludes his work on this report, his next assignment will be an analysis of impervious surfaces. Together, these two projects will enable us to make informed decisions about our land use controls and their impact on water quality. And with respect to water volumes (flooding), we have the new Storm Water Management Plan. We've talked about watershed-based zoning, and all this work together is the foundation on which that will be based.
Applications being reviewed by the Planning Board
Applications waiting to go to the board are still backed up a couple months.
Applications on the November agenda:
- Public Works Department. Conceptual discussion about submittal requirements for a minor expansion of the public works barn.
- Clay Hill Farm Subdivision Amendment. Reducing from four lots to two, believe it or not!
- York Shores Subdivision Amendment. Minor boundary line change.
- Sparhawk Subdivision Amendments. Further consideration of minor amendments to this approved subdivision.
- Woodbridge Square. Application to tear down the two old buildings adjacent to the Fazio's Restaurant building and develop a new office building.
- Highland Farm Phases 1 & 2. Continued review of the preliminary application, and changes to the overall road design.
- Cape Neddick House. Proposal for commercial re-development of this property.
- Cottage Place Lighting Amendment. Planning Board asked for modifications to the plans. No further action taken.
- Sparhawk Subdivision Amendments. Applicant asked for additional information. No further action taken.
- Pine Hill Estates Subdivision. Conditional approval granted for a four-lot minor subdivision located on Pine Hill Road.
- Highland Farm Phase 2. Continued review of the preliminary application.
- Union Bluff Function Hall. Conditional approval granted for the final plan.
- Campagna Subdivision Amendment. Boundary line adjustment not yet resolved because of a sight distance problem at the driveway.
- Marketplace. The town engineer is still waiting for the results of a meeting between the design engineer and Maine DEP.
- Bell Marsh Road. The Planning Board referred this issue to the Board of Selectmen in April 2006 without accepting the application.
- Twin Lights Subdivision Amendment. Minor lot line change considered, but on hold pending evaluation of violation complaints.
- Peter Davis. He has submitted revised plans for the Davis Drive subdivision in mid-October. I need to review them.
- Lost World Disc Golf. Conceptual discussion in November 2005 - no action since.
- 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 had been expecting to receive this application this summer, but it hasn't materialized yet.
- OYHS/Jefferds Tavern. Conceptual direction provided for new barn and connector.
- Unknown name. 12- to 14-lot cluster subdivision in the vicinity of Josiah Norton Road. A rumor from Corner Post Surveying.
- Camp Eaton Master Plan Update. The owner went to the Planning Board a decade ago to discuss long-term plans for the campground. I have now received an application to update their plans, but have not yet reviewed it.
- Anchorage Amendments. This is an application for minor amendments, but they don't comply with Shoreland requirements so I haven't scheduled this with the board yet.
- Spur Road & Route One. The corner lot (across Route One from Stonewall Kitchen) is heating up. Based on a discussion with the applicant's representative, this may be coming to the board in the December/January timeframe for conceptual review.
- 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. I met with a potential buyer/developer in mid-October, but I can't get a good read on whether or not we're going to see this application proceed.
- 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. I received a call from a commercial broker inquiring about this site for a 300,000-square-foot indoor amusement facility, but nothing new from Berkshire Development.
- Cliff House. They are considering minor amendments to their approved expansion plans. Perhaps another pool and some minor changes to the buildings.
- Whippoorwill Amendment. Still waiting on a couple very minor items needed to process this.
- 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.
- 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.
Brett Horr joined the Planning Board at the October workshop to begin work on Shoreland Map changes. At this time, our focus is to draft a map which modifies our current Shoreland Map only to the minimum extent required by new state rules. We hope to have this in time for the January workshop. I will be in touch with DEP staff to review the changes to the map as early as possible to ensure we have time to address any other required changes. Once that process is completed, we can spend time as available looking with the board at other map improvements which are optional.
Site Plan & Subdivision Regulation Amendments
On Oct. 26 the Planning Board amended the Regulations for the third time this year, adopting the four changes discussed at the September workshop. The amendments included: expiration of conditional approvals; application completeness standards; incorporation of field changes into the procedures section; and optional provisions for Low Impact Design. The amendment dealing with Low Impact Design is a follow-up on the non-point pollution training we received from the State's NEMO program last summer, and helps to implement our goal to improve our development design standards to minimize damage to water quality.
Historic District Commission
I will be meeting with the HDC on November 1st to help orient their new members and to discuss the Historic and Archeological Resources Chapter of the Comp Plan. With the turnover in membership over the past couple years, much of the institutional memory of this Committee has been lost.
York Beach Zoning Revisions
Back when I started on this project with the York Beach Renaissance Committee, I committed to 8 weekly meetings to help them refine their zoning proposal. The committee is attempting to establish appropriate controls in the village center, and create a new transition zone around the center. The transition zone would permit some commercial expansion and is specifically intended to encourage commercial parking to help support the dense development in the village center. We started with the committee's original draft from a year ago, and to date we have worked our way through the permitted uses for the two new zones. We have started to work on dimensional standards, and we haven't yet touched zone boundaries or performance standards such as parking and building design requirements. These are some of the tougher issues, so clearly the committee has plenty of work to do to get this draft ready to present again to the town.
Growth Ordinance Amendment
Work on the town's ordinance is on hold subject to community work to amend LD 1535. Depending on how the statute is amended, there may be no need to modify our local ordinance.
