Draft 9/28/04 reviewed by EK; forwarded to Town Office 9/30/04
Minutes
Town of Waldoboro
Land Use Committee Meeting
September 27, 2004
1. Minutes of August 30, 2004
2. Communications with the Public
3. Approval of Boundaries of Rural Village Business District
4. Approval of Changes in Industrial District Boundaries
5. Home Occupations
6. Approval of Parking Standards
7. Approval of Open Space Subdivisions
8. Signs
9. Definition of Automobile Sales
10. Industrial Use
11. Non-conforming Uses
12. Approval of Secretary’s 9/5/04 List of Minor Changes/Corrections
13. Approval of Ordinance Changes regarding Adult Business Establishments, Wildlife Habitat; Discussion of Dock Siting, Land Use District Change for Gross Neck
14. Next Meeting: Monday October 25, 7:00 p.m.
Present:
William Blodgett, Charles Campbell, Steve Cartwright, Charles Flint, Terry Gifford, Norman Golden, Ralph Johnston, Edward Karkow, James Mahan, John Morris, George Seaver (11)
Absent: Elaine Abel, Carlo Bianchi, Dana Dow, Ronnie Frazier, Jo Ann Myers, William Travers, Gordon Webster, William Yerxa
Town officials: Lee Smith, John Black
Robert Faunce, consultant
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by chairman Ed Karkow in the meeting room at the Municipal Building, with a quorum present throughout. CEO Black said that Elaine Abel and Jo Ann Myers had comments but were unable to attend.
1. Minutes of August 30, 2004
On motion of Campbell/Gifford, the Committee voted unanimously to accept the August 30 minutes as distributed. Secretary Alexander pointed out that Bob Faunce’s 9/20/04 summary “Committee-Approved Amendments to Date” differs from the August 30 minutes in two places under home occupations (Item 6, numbers 4 and 8, p. 3). Faunce indicated that the minutes contain the correct wording of the motions as voted, but that he later changed the wording.
2. Communications with the Public
Karkow said the Land Use Committee will be represented at the October 27 meeting of the Waldoboro Business group. Faunce agreed to update the Summary of Changes that gives the chief differences between the draft ordinance revision and the current ordinance and the reasons for the changes. Cartwright will do a press release on the ordinance update effort to date.
3. Approval of Boundaries of Rural Village Business District
Faunce showed the three rural crossroads locations proposed for designation as Rural Village Business Districts. The intent is to expand permitted uses in the Rural Village Business Districts while reducing the number of nonresidential uses permitted in the Rural District.
a) Cross St/Winslows Mills Road: The district as proposed by Faunce includes lots U14/2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 on the west side of Winslows Mills Road and lots U13/10, 9A, 9, 8, 15, and 14 on the east side of Winslows Mills Road. Seaver suggested extending the west boundary of the Rural Village Business District north parallel to Winslows Mills Road from lot U14/9 to the railroad right-of-way at the depth of lot U14/9. Smith cautioned that considerations of wellhead protection for the new public drinking water well (north of Cross St. east of the river) should limit activities permitted in a fracture zone between Kalers Pond and the well, so as not to pollute groundwater near the well. Karkow said a new gas station in this area would not be appropriate, but a convenience store would be a non-polluting use.
b) Old Augusta Road/Washington Road: Morris said Lots R21/42 and 45B are on the west side of a hill on Old Augusta Road with poor sight distances, unsuitable for business uses. The group agreed to delete Lots 41, 42 and 45B from the proposed Rural Village Business District. They agreed to accept Faunce’s proposed boundaries with this change. The proposed business district will contain (clockwise from the northeast corner of the intersection) Map R24 Lot 3; Map R21 Lots 38, 46, 48, and 38A; Map R21 Lots 50, 40, and 39; and Map R23 Lots 13, 12 and 11.
c) South Waldoboro RVBD, Friendship Road/Finntown Road/Back Cove Rd.:
Faunce proposes a zone 500 feet deep on either side of Friendship Road extending from the Little Motor Pool (R8/40) south to Flipper’s Market (R10/1), including part or all of more than 30 lots. Other businesses already in the district include seafood sales, a boat shop, Wistma Milling, and sales of picnic tables. [Secretary comment: The width of the Residential District east of Friendship Rd. is 400’ according to p. 3-2 of the 2002 draft ordinance. In light of this, Faunce recommends that the depth of the Rural Village Business District east of Friendship Rd. be changed from 500’ to 400’ so as to match the existing land use district boundary.]
On motion of Blodgett/Seaver, the Committee voted 11- 0 to approve the proposed boundaries as amended for the three Rural Village Business Districts.
4. Approval of Changes in Industrial District Boundaries
Town Manager Smith said Ronnie Reed objects to his father’s farmland on the north side of North Nobleboro Road west of Winslows Mills Road being part of the Industrial District. On motion of Golden/Gifford, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to remove Howard Reed’s property U14/12 from the Industrial District and place it in the Rural District. Black was asked to notify Ronald Reed of the change.
On motion of Golden/Seaver the Committee voted 11-0 to designate the Osram-Sylvania properties on Friendship Road (U2/2, 2A) as a new Industrial District except within 300 feet of the Medomak River as measured at right angles to the shoreline. The shorefront land remains in the same proposed land use district(s) as previously.
5. Home Occupations
There was continued discussion of the appropriate size limit for a home occupation. At the August 30 meeting the Committee voted a maximum size limit of 40% of the residence plus 100% of the gross square footage of the residence in one accessory structure. Faunce’s summary distributed in advance of tonight’s meeting changed this to 40% of the gross floor area of the dwelling unit plus an equivalent amount of floor area in the accessory structure. Morris thought the measure should be building footprint rather than gross square footage. Flint suggested setting a maximum square footage independent of the size of the residence, rather than a percentage of the residence. On motion of Morris/Blodgett, the Committee voted 11-0 to replace the underlined sentence in 4. on p. 3 of Faunce’s 9/20/04 summary with the following: “The home occupation may utilize up to a 2500 square foot footprint in one accessory structure plus not more than 40% of the footprint of the principal structure.” This allows an accessory structure with a footprint roughly 40’ x 60’, which was deemed ample for a home occupation.
Faunce’s new language on antiques in #7 was approved.
6. Approval of Parking Standards
Faunce’s revised table of parking standards was approved with the addition of several items from the original list in Article 4 J 9, p. 4-9 and 4-10 of the September 2002 draft ordinance: club, lodge; hospital; school (primary, secondary, post-secondary); theatre, auditorium. Faunce was authorized to update the required number of parking spaces for the added uses. The right-hand column heading should be “Minimum Required Parking” or equivalent.
7. Approval of Open Space Subdivisions
Faunce said the text of new Article 5 G, specific performance standards for open space subdivisions, is the same as that approved at the June 29 meeting. Karkow noted that in the first line of 2. Purposes on p. 7, “that” should be changed to “the”. Faunce said the incentives for a developer to do an open space subdivision are savings in road construction cost, reduction of lot size to 20,000 s.f. and reduction or elimination of minimum road frontage requirements. On motion of Blodgett/Morris, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to approve substituting the Open Space Subdivision text for the existing section G Cluster Housing Development on pages 5-5 through 5-8 of the 2002 draft ordinance.
Faunce displayed maps of the location of houses in Waldoboro over time, showing a dramatic recent increase in the total number of houses. He suggested that open space subdivisions are one way to retain open space in a developing landscape. Mahan said open space subdivisions may save the developer money but de not address the need for affordable housing for local people. He said the lower end of the Waldoboro housing market is around $150,000. A new stick-built house can’t be put up for that price, only modular homes. Seaver asked if there is anything the Land Use Committee can do to insure availability of affordable housing. Faunce said the Town could require a developer to make 10% of the housing units affordable, in exchange for financial incentives. The affordable units would not have to be located on the parcel being developed, but could be on less expensive land elsewhere in town. Seaver asked the cost of an “affordable” house. Faunce said two years ago in Topsham the figure was $125,000.
8. Signs
On motion of Cartwright/Golden, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to approve the addition to Article 4 Section M, Signs, 7. Existing Non-Conforming Signs (p. 4-14 – 4-15), “All lots with permanent, complete and functioning non-conforming signs as of November 5, 1987, may continue to use and maintain one freestanding or roof mounted non-conforming sign and one attached non-conforming sign, and corner lots may continue to use and maintain two attached non-conforming signs.” This exception applies only to Moody’s Diner, the only business in town that had such signs as of November 5, 1987.
9. Definition of Automobile Sales
On motion of Blodgett/Golden, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to accept the proposed definition of automobile sales on p. 21 of Faunce’s material distributed in advance of tonight’s meeting, “Automobile sales consists of any of the following activities: purchasing of vehicles for the purpose of resale; selling more than five vehicles in any 12-month period; or advertising in any form three or more vehicles for sale or displaying three or more vehicles for sale within a 30-day period.”
10. Industrial Use
Golden suggested allowing light industry to have outside storage of materials or waste of not to exceed 1000 s.f., rather than prohibiting outside storage in new Article 5 N. 3. c. With this change, on motion of Morris/Golden, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to approve Faunce’s text changes for Industrial Use on p. 1 - 2 of the material distributed in advance of tonight’s meeting. Alexander suggested adding a title to section 3, “Specific Performance Standards”.
11. Non-conforming Uses
Faunce’s Sept. 17 memo “Comments on Non-conforming Uses” was distributed in advance of tonight’s meeting. Seaver asked whether the information contained can be included someplace so that future Planning Boards can refer to it. Karkow said that Article 10 D Non-conforming Uses on p. 10-5 of the 2002 draft ordinance is sufficient.
12. Approval of Secretary’s 9/5/04 List of Minor Changes/Corrections
On motion of Morris/Campbell, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to accept Alexander’s five-page list of typographical and other minor changes dated 9/4/04, distributed in advance of tonight’s meeting. After the meeting Karkow made a change to the top of p. 2 of the list, p. 4-28 U 1 line 3, to insert “will” before “run off” and delete the hyphen in “run-off”. The third line as revised should read
“… that will run off, seep, percolate…”
13. Approval of Ordinance Changes regarding Adult Business Establishments, Wildlife Habitat; Discussion of Dock Siting, Land Use District Change for Gross Neck
A. Adult Business Establishments/Entertainment
Gifford asked whether the local ordinance can prohibit “adult” business establishments in all land use districts. Faunce said this could invite a legal challenge. On motion of Flint/Golden, the Committee voted 10 – 1, Campbell opposed, to approve Karkow’s suggested revision to Article 5 A. Adult Business Establishments/Adult Entertainment 2. Requirements, the first paragraph of which is revised to read “Location. Adult business establishments must be at least 1,000 feet from any other business establishment and at least 1,000 feet as measured along the ordinary course of travel from the main entrance of each premise of a public, private or parochial school, school dormitory, church, synagogue or similar place of worship or legally established residential structure in existence prior to the establishment of the business. Adult business establishments may be located only in the Route 1 Urban and Route 1 Rural Districts.”
On motion of Cartwright/Campbell, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to approve Karkow’s revision to the definition of Adult Business Establishment/Adult Entertainment on p. 12-2 of the 2002 draft ordinance:
“Any retail business whether conducted from fixed or mobile location or vehicle including, but not limited to, any bookstore, newsstand, novelty store, nightclub, bar, cabaret, amusement arcade or theater, which:
Keeps for public patronage or permits or allows the operation or use of any adult amusement device containing sexually explicit material; or
Permits any person on the premises, including an employee, entertainer or patron, to expose that person’s genitals, pubic hair, buttocks or perineum, or the areola of a female breast, to a patron or member of the general public; or
Exhibits or displays motion pictures or other visual representations described or advertised as being “X-Rated” or “For Adults Only”, or which customarily excludes persons from any portion of the premises by reason of immaturity of age by the use of such or similar phrases; or
Offers as a substantial portion of its stock-in-trade books, magazines, or other periodicals, video recordings, or “marital aids” and devices characterized by emphasis on sexual activities.”
B. Wildlife Habitat
On motion of Morris/Cartwright, the Committee voted 11 – 0 to add “or on current Beginning with Habitat maps for Waldoboro” after “1998 Comprehensive Plan” at the end of the first line of Article 5 U. on p. 5-27 of the 2002 draft ordinance.
C. Discussion of Revision to Siting of Docks
Karkow proposes prohibiting individual recreational docks over mudflats that are active or potential shellfish harvesting areas. He will research the requirements of the Natural Resources Protection Act (Title 38 Section 480) before the October meeting, at which discussion of the proposed text change will be continued.
D. Discussion of Proposed Change to Land Use District for Gross Neck
Karkow proposes changing the August 1, 2002 proposed land use district map to show all of Gross Neck Road and extensions within the Residential District. Approximately the north half of Gross Neck is in the Rural District on the 2002 map. According to the 2002 draft ordinance
new single-wide manufactured homes are prohibited in the Residential District but allowed in the Rural District.
Faunce read from the definition of “Manufactured Home” in Article 12 (p. 12-15 -12-16) and said the Town cannot distinguish between a single-wide modular home and a single-wide mobile home. A mobile home can be transported on its own chassis, while a modular home is not constructed on a permanent chassis. Black said mobile homes are built to HUD standards, while modular homes are built to BOCA code. Morris asked whether the Committee is saying that all houses have to be at least 16 feet wide. Seaver suggested determining what is the goal for Gross Neck and working backward from that to the ordinance language. The discussion was terminated by the chairman at 9 p.m., to be continued at the October meeting.
14. Next Meeting: Monday October 25, 7:00 p.m.
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan S. R. Alexander
Secretary