York Town News
Planning Department Monthly Report:
What's on the horizon for the York Planning Department this month
By Town Planner Steve Burns
Town Planner Steve Burns
Applications being reviewed by the Planning Board
The back-up waiting to get to the Planning Board is easing up a bit, but it's still at least a month's wait.
Applications on the July agenda:
- Zacharias Farm/BBQ Festival. State Championship BBQ festival. The board should be able to finalize new standards for temporary events, then reach a decision on this event.
- Amendments to the York Village Business Center. Amend the Route 1 Use Permit to divide the lot and resolve the sign permit issue.
- Brixham Grange. A new owner has applied to the Planning Board for a change of use to a neighborhood store and small restaurant.
- Peter Weare. Development of two commercial buildings at the intersection of Logging Road and Route One.
- Cape Neddick Village Building 1. Minor site work has begun on this site. The design of Building 2 was approved initially, but the developer has decided to start with Building 1. This review is limited to building design only.
- Borkowski. This is a five-lot subdivision in Kittery that would have sole access through York off the end of Woodside Meadow Road.
- Highland Farm Phase 2. Continuing preliminary consideration. The applicant has indicated they may ask to be tabled for an extended period because of progress in land negotiations.
Actions taken at the June meeting:
- Amendments to the York Village Business Center. Buildings and site changes approved subject to resolution of sign issues. I'm not clear how those sign issues will be resolved, so this is a bit more open-ended than it sounds.
- Zacharias Farm/BBQ Festival. State Championship BBQ festival, on hold pending modification of Site Plan and Subdivision Regulations to address temporary events.
- Highland Farm Phase 2. Continued preliminary consideration.
- Webber Change of Use. Approved.
- Public Works Department. Approved.
- Cape Neddick House Amendments. Approved.
Applications in the works: Applications the Planning Board has formally reviewed, but still in the works.
- Scudiere Non-Conforming Lot Split. Awaiting a legal opinion.
- Ocean View Village Parking Lot Expansion. Changes to correct past deficiencies. Awaiting further work by the applicant.
- Campagna Subdivision Amendment. Boundary line adjustment not yet resolved.
- Marketplace. Still waiting, but it's active.
- Twin Lights Subdivision Amendment. Minor lot line change considered, but on hold pending evaluation by the developer of violation complaints.
- Cottage Place Lighting Amendment. Awaiting follow-up by the applicant.
Sketch-Review applications completed earlier: Applications the Planning Board has seen, but with plans that are still at a conceptual level.
- American Legion Function Hall. Conceptual direction provided in April for a new facility planned for their site adjacent to Hannaford. They're working on their formal application.
- Scott and Barbara Perkins. A three-lot subdivision of a 10 acre lot off Pine Hill Road. No word on this one recently.
Applications on the radar screen: New applications the Planning Board hasn't seen yet, incomplete submittals, rumored developments, and stuff like that...
- A CVS-like Pharmacy(?). Nothing new.
- Danis Cluster Subdivision. I have received a submittal for Sketch Review for this 24-lot cluster subdivision. I have not yet reviewed the submittal.
- Cragin/Currier Logging Road Subdivision. Nothing new to report this month.
- York's Wild Kingdom. Nothing new this month.
- York Hospital. I have reviewed the plans for expansion of the surgery center, patient care rooms and the parking lot. The applicant's engineers will need to revise the submittal before it is scheduled with the board. A zoning boundary problem has also surfaced, which will probably necessitate a zoning amendment before the application can be approved.
- Tennis Anyone? This application was able to be permitted at the CEO level, so the Planning Board won't have to review it.
- Talpey's Tavern. I've reviewed conceptual plans for changing the parking, circulation and landscaping on this site. I don't know if they will materialize into an application.
Shoreland Zoning Update
As we reported at the public hearing, there is good news on this front. The state had initially directed the town to change the Shoreland Zoning on about 500 properties to Resource Protection, which imposes very stringent controls on land use. Many of these properties have already been developed for homes. After Cayce Dalton, Brett Horr and I met with the state's Shoreland Zoning Coordinator and reviewed these changes in detail using our GIS, we were able to remove about 400 homes from this change. Our contact at DEP was very helpful in our work, and it's reassuring to know the state was openly agreeable to help us apply their new rules in a realistic manner. There are still many policy changes included in this amendment, but the worst problem has been resolved. One last issue we've got to resolve on the Shoreland Map is that of the unstable coastal bluffs. The state is requiring a setback from the top of unstable coastal bluffs, and we've got a bunch of these, especially along the York River. When we looked at the data associated with these features, we found that most don't have any hazard risk or landslide potential so we dropped those off the maps. That's when the state stopped being so accommodating. The rules are apparently not flexible on this point, so we'll be adding back most of the coastal bluffs to the draft Shoreland Map. Can't blame us for trying, right? Overall the revisions are looking good.
Ordinance Amendments
On June 28 the Planning Board conducted the second of four public hearings regarding 14 posted ordinance amendments. This hearing was livelier than the first hearing, and in the end the board removed two amendments from the November slate. The first removed was the rezoning of the York Beach village area. The board wants mandatory design review to be implemented concurrent with any expansion of the mixed use zone into residential neighborhoods, and this simply wasn't ready yet. The second amendment removed was a very simple amendment to language which provides some flexibility regarding front setbacks in existing neighborhoods. The board concluded it needed further research to determine whether or not to proceed with this amendment, or whether it should be modified further. The board agreed to work on both of these amendments starting at their August workshop, but that means neither will be ready for a November vote. For the 12 amendments the board voted to forward to the Board of Selectmen, these will be posted for a public hearing in mid-August.
Growth Ordinance Amendments
The Board of Selectmen is still considering its options for the Growth Ordinance. This has been a topic at the past two meetings, and will be subject to further discussion on July 9. The Board of Selectmen is required by the ordinance itself to consider amendments each year. The matter is complicated by two new amendments to the new state law, which governs local rate of growth ordinances. It is a dynamic situation, to say the least. The board may decide to pursue amendments, or may decide to leave the ordinance alone for now.
Comprehensive Plan Amendments
The Planning Board conducted the first of its two public hearings on five draft amendments to the Comprehensive Plan. There are a number of minor editorial changes and corrections to be made, but no substantive changes were made as a result of the first public hearing. The next public hearing will be posted for Thursday, Aug. 23.
Impervious Surfaces
Jon Discher has finished creating a new, more detailed stream data layer and is about to begin to revise the watershed mapping. As he showed the new mapping to me, it struck me how complex our stream systems are. It is far more complicated than I realized. Our old stream mapping was based on the USGS quad sheets, which just don't have the level of detail now available to us. What Jon found is many more miles of first-order (small) streams, and a larger number of streams classified at higher orders. It reminded me that our understanding of our environment is limited by the information we have at hand, and that our GIS is an extremely valuable tool.
Planning for the Summit of Mount A
An informal group, meeting at the invitation of the Piscataqua Garden Club, has met several times to discuss the future of the summit of Mount Agamenticus. There is no crisis to resolve - this is purely a planning exercise. The summit of Mount A is a landmark in the community and in the region, and it is constantly changing. There is a desire to ensure that the changes which occur over time will lead to long-term improvement rather than degradation. It's an effort similar in many ways to the master plan that was put together a few years ago for Sohier Park. Work of this group will be integrated into the work of the Mount Agamenticus Steering Committee (a committee comprised of the major property owners in the area) and that of other stakeholders. It's an interesting and challenging project, which gives us an opportunity to make the summit one of Maine's truly great public spaces, and to ensure that legacy lives on forever.
Third-Grade Class Visits
Last month we finished up with this year's third-grade visits to Town Hall. Each year for six years now the third graders have had a chance to visit the Town Clerk's vault to see town records from the early years, to see the insides of voting machines, to make a map of York and to see their homes on our GIS. It's a great opportunity for the kids to get to know more about their town and about their government.
