Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes 08-01-2016
Standish Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
August 01, 2016
The meeting of the Standish Planning Board was called to order at 7:00 pm by Chairman Carol Billington. Present were Adam Higgins, Betty Thompson, Brian Libby, Mike Willette, Bud Benson, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Secretary to the Planning Board. Absent were Alta Harding and Cindy Beckwith.
Mrs. Billington reminded everyone that there was no July meeting because of no new business and if there had been, a new Chairman and Vice Chair would have been elected then.
Election of new Planning Board Chair and Vice Chair
Mrs. Billington asked for nominations and Mr. Willette nominated Brian Libby for Chairman. Mr. Benson asked if the email from Mrs. Harding was received by all. Mr. Willette said he did not have it. Mr. Benson said she was interested in the Chairman position. Time was given to read the email. Mrs. Billington asked if there were any other nominations and there were none. All in favor of Mr. Libby for Chairman. Mrs. Billington asked for nominations for Vice Chair and Mr. Higgins nominated Mrs. Billington. She asked for other nominations and there were none. All in favor of Mrs. Billington for Vice Chairman.
Approval of Meeting Minutes from May 02, 2016(amended), May 16, 2016(continued meeting from 05/02/2016) and June 6, 2016
Mrs. Billington made a motion to approve all of the minutes as written. Mr. Higgins seconded this motion. All in favor.
Approval of Finding of Fact:
Mark L. Woodbrey, 175 Stuart Shores Road, Map 59, Lot 19A Shoreland Zoning Application
Mrs. Billington made a motion seconded by Mr. Willette to accept the Finding of Fact as written. All in favor.
Old Business:
Acres of Wildlife, Pequawket Trail, Map 11, Lots 1-4, Site Plan Review
This application was first submitted on July 13, 2015.Mr. Benson said that they did come down and have a meeting here at Town Hall about making this a contract zone. Since that meeting they have heard nothing further and have no new information. He said there has been no progress for at least a couple of months and he realizes that this is a busy time of year for them. Mrs. Billington said she is wondering about tabling this for two months. Mr. Libby said he feels they should be given an ultimatum and a set date. He said they should be given two months and if nothing, they will be off the docket and have to start from square one. He made the motion they be given two months and this was seconded by Mr. Willette. All in favor to table this to October for the final time.
Michael Lyons, dba Tower Publishing, 650 Cape Road, Map 3, Lot 20 Site Plan Application
This application was asked by the applicant to be tabled to the September meeting. Mr. Benson said he received an email from Mr. Lyons and he is looking into the placement of a fire tank instead of a fire pond. He realizes that the fire pond is very expensive and thinks the fire tank, cost wise, would be a better option. Mr. Higgins made a motion to table this until the next meeting and this was seconded by Mrs. Billington. All in favor.
New Business
Suzanne LaCroix & Stacey Anderson, 97 Smooth Ledge Road, Map 43, Lot 102 - Shoreland Zoning
Joe Williams from Lakeside Construction was present to represent the applicants, who were also at the meeting. He gave a brief over view of what the applicants would like to do. He said there are two buildings on the property and they would like to tear down the one closest to the water. They would also like to move the other one back to the greatest extent possible, do some landscaping to the front yard, and also take out the existing concrete wall and replace it with one of rip rap. They plan to move one retaining wall and make another one that is two feet taller than the existing one.
Mr. Benson said this is almost at the end of Smooth Ledge Road. He said the lake is at one end of the peninsula and there is a big bog on the opposite side. He said the existing house to be torn down is within 4-5 feet of the water’s edge. Joe said the septic would be moved back also further from the water. Sixty eight feet is their greatest set back and he said they meet all of the side setbacks. Mrs. Billington asked if they were beyond the setbacks and they are hundreds of feet away from any wetlands. The retaining wall is failing on the shore side and this is where they would replace it with the rip rap. He said there is a long lawn area behind and they would do vegetation to help with the water runoff.
Mr. Libby said the Board always does a site walk with all shoreland zoning applications. A site walk will be held on Monday, August 8, 2016 at 6:00pm.
Amendment to Standish Town Code, Chapter 181, Land Use, Multiple Sections Regarding “Define Ground Floor and Eliminate Mixed Use Requirement for Existing Structures on Ground Floor
This is a public hearing .Mr. Benson said that the comp plan is what steers the Land Use Ordinances. He said when the SCD was created, there was a hope the new buildings coming in would be with businesses on the ground floor and have residential use on the second floor. He said businesses tend to thrive when there are residences nearby. He said it made it easy for new buildings coming in to be able to have both uses. This amendment would allow the older buildings the same use, but with residences and businesses on the same floor. He said the goal was to create economic growth and he feels the existing buildings, with this amendment, would be healthier. Mrs. Billington said she doesn’t know why this wasn’t done in the first place, except she said the vision was of new buildings that have mixed use. She said that when the comp plan was done and the zoning done the way it was, there really wasn’t anything taken into account what would be done with existing buildings.
Mrs. Billington said the form based code has been fairly restrictive with some of the old buildings and she feels this change across the board would be fine. Mr. Benson said this would help the use and let them change back and forth between residences and businesses. He said this would help to promote jobs within Standish. He said Standish is unique with its older buildings. Mr. Libby said this makes sense and not have buildings being vacant.
Mr. Libby asked if there were any further comments from the Board and also from the public. There were none.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:20pm.