Ogunquit News
Planning Board to present 14 warrant articles at public hearing on Monday
By Melissa Wood
OGUNQUIT - The Planning Board will try a different approach when it presents 14 warrant articles proposed for the ballot in April at a public forum on Monday, Feb. 26.Most of the changes are designed to bring the town's zoning ordinance into compliance with the Comprehensive Plan, and were part of a bundled warrant article that had been proposed to the voters with a goal of doing the same thing back in November.
However, in response to the voters' refusal to pass that warrant, this time the Planning Board is putting each ordinance change on its own warrant article that can be voted on separately, instead of one bundled article with all changes.
The Planning Board also took the proposals to delete section 3.5 and modify section 9.8 of the zoning ordinance, which regulate expansion in hotel and motels, off the ballot. The inclusion of changes to these sections was seen as responsible for the failure of the warrant back in November.
The board hopes this approach will be accepted by voters and is looking for feedback from the public Monday night.
"It's hard to tell how elections will turn out, but at the last go-round, nobody told us they had any problems," said Town Planner Jon Lockman, who will attend the hearing on Monday, adding, "I'd like to think that it will go well."
The Planning Board will also present a couple of new proposed ordinance changes at the hearing, including a change to the traffic standards ordinance in response to a decision made by the Maine Supreme Court that the Planning Board erred in its strict interpretation of the ordinance when it approved the Ogunquit Village Estates subdivision. The case was brought by a neighbor who appealed the Planning Board's decision.
Lockman explained that the change was pretty technical, but the traffic standards ordinance would be amended to make the language more in line with the board's practice.
In the Planning Board's effort to implement the town's Comprehensive Plan, the changes in the proposed warrant articles affect a wide range of zoning issues. Those include sections on affordable housing, cluster developments and home occupations, as well as stormwater management and the protection of tidal resources, vernal pools and wildlife.
The changes also call for control of timber harvesting outside the Shoreland Overlay District, requirement for visual impact assessments for large projects and the protection of potential archaeological sites - all of which would be part of implementing the town's Comprehensive Plan.
Another warrant article proposes to make the notice period for public hearings consistent with state requirements. There were also a couple of warrants with technical and grammar changes.
Monday's public forum will begin at 7 p.m. at the Dunaway Center.
