| Joanne Cole |
All-Purpose Storage got Planning Board approval on Tuesday to amend its site plan to build two 8,000 s.f. storage buildings instead of the 16,000 s.f. structure previously approved. A new 12,000 s.f. building and extensions of two existing structures were also approved last fall for the 12-acre property at 41 Maine Street (Route 26).
The change from one structure to two reflects fire suppression requirements, Jeff Amos of Terradyn Consultants told the board on behalf of the owners. It would be less expensive to construct two buildings than install the required fire wall or sprinkler system in the larger structure, Amos said. Interim Fire Chief Craig Bouchard approved the plan, new Town Planner Kathy Tombarelli said, provided there were sufficient access between the three new structures for fire apparatus. Amos said they settled on 20 feet of separation.
The board concluded that no public hearing or site visit was necessary and unanimously approved the amendment.
All-Purpose Storage surfaced again, later in the June 20 meeting. Board members noted that the town’s zoning ordinance is silent concerning site plan amendments of the sort they’d just approved. With All-Purpose Storage, they improvised a rough-and-ready process and record. That was fine in the circumstances, Chair Doug McAtee thought, but perhaps the board should propose additional ordinance language outlining requirements and a predictable process.
Planner Tombarelli and member Steve Libby discussed what sorts of amendment requests should trigger review. What’s major and what’s minor? And who should make that determination or do the review? No conclusions were reached, apart from apparent consensus that the ordinance may need supplementing.
Eyes on Augusta. Board members and Tombarelli also discussed pending and recently passed legislation impacting land use planning. The good news: a recently passed bill, LD 1706, postpones for a year the deadline for town meeting municipalities like New Gloucester to implement LD 2003. Enacted in 2022, LD 2003 addresses housing availability by allowing denser development and more flexibility regarding accessory dwelling units, among other provisions. Towns were to have complied with LD 2003—presumably including making ordinance revisions—by July 1.
The Land Management Planning Committee has been working on ordinance updates here, Planner Kathy Tombarelli said, but the extension gives the town “breathing room” and the opportunity to review LMPC’s work and see what changes other communities make to their ordinances.
The board may have welcomed word on LD 2003, but some members are already concerned about another bill on the horizon. LD 1257 could have significant effects on development statewide by easing what counts as a subdivision and simplifying requirements and streamlining how subdivisions are reviewed. Because of subdivisions’ potential outsized impacts on neighbors, the community and the environment, applicable standards and reviews have traditionally been exacting.
Although the Legislature is winding down, it’s early going for the proposed subdivision bill. LD 1257 was introduced late this session and will roll over to next session, member Don Libby said. The bill hasn’t yet had a public hearing.
How the bill might ultimately take shape through the legislative process is unknowable, of course. But if the path of LD 2003 is any guide, the road ahead might be longer than expected and there will be plenty of changes along the way.
Watch the video of the June 20, 2023, Planning Board meeting at this link. Find meeting agendas and related documents on the Planning Board page at this link.
