Town of Searsmont

Planning Board Minutes

February 20, 2007

 

  1. Call To Order:  7:00 p.m.

 

  1. Attendance:  Chair George Sprowl, Vice Chair Paul Leeper, Jack Degraff, Steve Porter,

                            and Dave Marceau.

 

  1. Review of Applications and Requests:  None.

 

  1. Minutes: Review of February 6, 2007.

                      Motion made, seconded, and passed to accept minutes with corrections.                          

 

  1. Communications:  None

 

 

  1. Old Business:

 

·  Paul presented his template of a  site plan application:

Motion made to accept the final draft of a site plan application, Seconded and passed unanimously.

 

·  Discussion on the formulation of a Flood Plain application for Searsmont continued.   Paul will be researching it further for implementing it into the Ordinances.

 

·  Review of the Home Occupancy Ordinance was discussed. Further discussions and investigating will continue on this topic.

 

 

·         Discussion was held on clarifying Ordinances pertaining to the Right of Ways. This included review of section 700, definitions, and Abandon/Discontinued road laws.  There is concern about, but not limited to:

·                    Back Lots that border abandon roads and the property owners rights

·                    The  forty foot width requirement of a row.

·                    That a discontinued road must be decided upon at town vote.

·                    And that an abandoned road is one that has not been maintained for 30.yrs.

 

Further discussions will continue after Bruce Brierley consults with Maine Municipal Association’s rules and regulations.

 

 

 

 

 

  1. New Business:

·                    Discussion  took place on  The States Memorandum concerning Shoreland

            Zoning amendments and updating the towns to be in accordance with them by

            July 1, 2008.

 This notice was handed to everyone at the last meeting. It states that our municipality must choose whether it wants to continue to regulate timber harvesting in the shore land zone or whether it will elect to repeal timber harvestion regulation on the local level, leaving administration and enforcement of timber harvesting in the Shoreland zone to the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Forestry, using the State-wide timber harvesting standards.

Concern concentrated on:

1.      Who will pay for the D.O.C staff? Is it a guarantee that the State will?

2.      Are all towns are coming to the States recommendation of timber harvesting to simplify?

3.       Do benefits out weigh set backs, if there are any?

·                    The Planning Board discussed The benefits of having the State-wide timber

             harvesting standards.

·                    This will be decided upon at the 2008 Town Meeting, and changes to the

             Shoreland Ordinances to comply will be finalized, and presented to the public

             before then.

 

8.     Adjournment:    Motion made, seconded, and passed unanimously to adjourn at 8:20 p.m.