Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes 12-07-2016

Standish Planning Board

Meeting Minutes

December 07, 2016

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brian Libby at 7:00pm. Present were Adam Higgins, Jolene Whittemore, Carol Billington, Betty Thompson, Bud Benson, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Secretary to the Planning Board. Absent were Mike Willette and Cindy Beckwith.

Approval of Meeting Minutes from November 07, 2016 and November 21, 2016(Public Hearing)

Mrs. Billington made a motion seconded by Mrs. Whittemore to approve the meeting minutes as written. All in favor.

Approval of Finding of Fact:

St. Joseph’s College, 278 White’s Bridge Road, Map 20, Lot 32 - Site Plan Application for change of use(conversion of barn to a social events center)

Mrs. Billington made a motion to waive the reading and approve the Finding of Fact. This was seconded by Mrs. Thompson. All in favor.

Old Business:  

Randall Dube, 9 Clark’s Point Road, Map 53, Lot 4-Shoreland Zoning Application

Albert Frick was present to represent the applicant. He gave a brief overview of the application and said there was a site walk done to look over the property. He said they have made some minor changes to the site plan. It shows the easement and where it is going and also an addition of a bulk head on the northerly side for basement access. He said the additions are very, very small and have a minimal impact on the impervious area. He said the Board had made suggestions and they thanked the Board for them.

Mr. Frick said there is very little parking where they can park on their own land without being out in the road way. Mr. Libby asked for comments from the Board and the public. There were none. Mr. Libby said he didn’t make the site walk but Mrs. Billington said she did and because of the easement, this is the only place they can park vehicles. She said there is not much room on the back of the property and this is not as close to the water as some. She said she feels because of the lack of room on the back, this could not even be moved an inch. Mr. Libby said he agreed and felt they were moved back to the maximum practical extent.

Mr. Benson said he had made suggestions for conditions of approval. Mr. Libby read them as follows:

Per standards found in 237-12 C (1) b the Planning Board approval of this (site plan prepared for Randy Dube- 9 Clarks Point Road by Albert Frick Associates with revisions dated 11/29/16). is limited to structure setbacks to the maximum practical extent. Existing structure, with scaled setback from apparent normal high water line of _69 ft., to be demolished and a replacement structure with proposed structure scaled setback of _76 ft._, built on a new foundation.

The following plans and calculations must be submitted by the applicant and approved by the Code Enforcement Officer before permits are issued:

Structure expansion is permitted per § 237-12 C. (1) (a), reconstruction

 Maximum percent impervious lot coverage not to exceed existing per standards found in § 237-15 B.(4),

 Storm water design to reduce runoff and encourage infiltration per standards found in § 237-15 J.(1),

 Erosion & sediment control plan per standards found in § 237-15 Q.

Clearing and a re-vegetation plan (include plantings on the lake side of the property) per § 237-15 P. (2) (a)

3.     Per standards found in § 237-15  B (3) , the applicant’s proposed new structure may be within the FEMA delineated 100-year flood plain and will, at minimum, need an (Elevation Certificate) to prove to the Code Enforcement Officer that the lowest floor is at least 1 ft. above the 100-year flood elevation. The site plan shows a proposed building footprint. The lowest floor elevation or openings of this building, including basement floor must be more than one foot above the FEMA 100 year flood elevation.

4.    This approval and any permits issued under this approval shall lapse and become void unless the start of construction or operation as defined in § 237-16. Administration. F “Expiration of permit.” A permit of the Zoning Ordinance begins within one year from the date of this approval. The Planning Board may extend this permit upon a showing of hardship, provided that the written request for extension is made before the expiration of the one year period.

5.    The approval is dependent on and limited to the plan and proposals submitted by the applicant either orally or in writing. Any variation from the plans or proposals is subject to review and approval from the Planning Board, in writing, except for minor changes which the Code Enforcement Officer may approve.

Mr. Benson said that an elevation certificate has not yet been obtained and they may find the bulk head makes a difference with that.

Mrs. Billington made a motion seconded by Mrs. Thompson to approve the application with the above conditions as presented. All in favor.

New Business :

Alan and Yolindi DeGouveia ,470 Bonny Eagle Road, Map 6, Lot 59-Site Plan Application for a Social Events Center

Wayne Wood was present to represent the applicant as well as Yolindi DeGouveia. He said that they would like to take the existing house and barn and make it into a social events center and lodge. He said depending on the way the project is looked at, they would like to do weddings and such in the back of the property with a 125 person capacity. He said they would like to be able to rent the house out for parties and events. He said the Town describes this as lodging, but the rental would be comparable to places that are rented out on the lake for a week or more. He said the proposal would be the house only and the barn would not be part of the project at this time.

Mr. Wood said they have parking on the plan for the different venues that might take place outside. They also have some landscaping to be done. They would plant some arborvitaes on one side that grow quickly. Mr. Libby asked for public comment.

Patti Eastman from 440 Bonny Eagle spoke and read the following:

 Mrs. Eastman said the people coming out to and renting the property are under the impression that they have access to hundreds of acres and can do what they want to do. She said the people coming are not from around here and they love having huge bonfires whenever they want to, sending sparks and smoke throughout the neighborhood. She said that the DeGouveia’s don’t seem to realize that smoke travels through the neighborhood into other people’s windows and yards. She said they don’t like smelling it in the house and have to close their windows. She also said they are outdoor people and don’t feel they can live like they want to. They enjoy the fresh air, working out in their yard and flower beds during the summer months. She said they also have another property they rent and the tenant is also upset over this and has the same problems they do.

Mrs. Eastman said the noise produces anxiety for everyone. Mr. Libby asked Mrs. Eastman to please wrap this up so someone else could speak if they wanted to. She said they have floating lanterns that come across their property and she has been told by the Fire Chief that they are illegal. She said there are fireworks being shot off all times of the days and nights. She said any complaints they have addressed to the applicant, they were told to call the Town or the police, and this was not their problem. She said the property manager has told them the same thing. She said she and the others feel this should not be their problem, but it should belong to the property owner. She said they have no licensing and permits for the last three years and if this is allowed to continue, nothing will change.

Kim Eastman from 440 Bonny Eagle Road spoke. He read the following:

Paul Mosley from 400 Bonny Eagle Road spoke. He is also a neighbor on the other side of the applicant’s property. It was he and his wife that sold this property to the DeGouveia’s. He said he has a list of what has been happening the last three years. He said he has seen the web site and how it’s advertised and how it is surrounded by hundreds of acres, which belongs to him and his wife. He said he feels the people that rent the house and property think that they can do what they want on others property because it’s advertised as “hundreds of acres.” He finds people on his property all of the time and has to tell them they are on his property. He said that they have many walking off the property, guests fighting in the middle of the road, guests on his equipment and down around his spring house. He said children are sliding in the winter onto his property and they are unsupervised. He said if something happens, who has the liability?

He said the lot is a small one and the sliding is a huge problem. The kids are going across the snowmobile trail when they do slide and not paying attention to what might be coming and he said again, they are not supervised by any adults. He said the care takers and the owners are not on site to take care of any of these problems or to make sure they are being supervised. He said people seem to think they are on the farmhouse property. He said he could complain but no one would listen and they have had to call the Sheriff’s Department. He said they just think they can go anywhere they want to go, rather it’s their property or not and they don’t seem to care.

He said he has to corral people that come on his property and tell them to leave because they feel they have hundreds of acres to roam on and they can go where they want to go. He said the people that have rented the farmhouse property have cut his small trees for firewood and broken branches off others for their fires. He said they seem to feel it’s his problem and not anyone else’s. He said he finds people on his private road and they can’t seem to understand why they can’t use it.

He finds people feeding his cows all kinds of things. He said they throw all kinds of things in the pasture and the cows will eat anything. He said they throw dirt in the pasture along with some rocks and some grass with dirt balls. He said there have been many times with fireworks and this has scared the cows and caused them to run. One group told him they wouldn’t shoot any off and then that night they did. That night he went to the farm and told the renters he had just chased his cows back into the pasture and if they went on, he would call the Sherriff.

He said they have house rules on the web site, but people do what they want and not adhere to them as they are there to enjoy hundreds of acres. He said the noise is there but doesn’t affect him as much as the Eastman’s. He said last September there was a big gathering and he was at his saw mill a quarter mile away. He said the music was so loud that it almost appeared as if it was right in his yard. He said his property is very dense, but even that didn’t stop the loudness. He said it was very obnoxious and this was not the first time it was that loud.

Mr. Mosley asked what might happen so that the noise would not be such a nuisance to himself and also to the Eastman’s. He said his family moved into that area in 1963. He said they have been there over 50 years and are not new comers to the neighborhood. He said he would like to see something done around the farmhouse, but is not sure what it would be. He said in a rural residential environment like they thought they had, he doesn’t feel that just a row of trees would do anything or even a 10 foot fence. He said the renters of the farmhouse really can’t go anywhere off the property, as they would be on his land. He said they take some of the fence down so it doesn’t sustain the weather damage. He said he feels that all these issues belong to him and the Eastman’s as they are the abutting landowners and that should not be this way. He said the problems should belong to the DeGouveia’s.

He said that the abutters are not getting anything out of this but problems. He said the DeGouveia’s collect the money and nothing is done. He said all of the noise and the traffic caused by this is a nuisance and they have three years of history of this being a problem. He said the abutting neighbors get nothing out of this but grief. He said if this is approved, it needs to not be intrusive. He said he doesn’t see how this events center would be able to function positively, when every house around it is single family homes that have been there for many years and their owners also.

Yolindi DeGouveia spoke. She said that she apologizes to the neighbors for anything that has been a problem. She said they have only been running this for two years, not three. She said they rented to locals and when they moved from Maine, they were not successful in selling the property. She said they had damage done and that’s when they decided to do short term rentals. She said the Town was contacted and told her she could do short term rentals. She said she and her husband try their hardest to accommodate people. She said she has never heard anything from the Eastman’s like she has heard tonight.

She said if there were problems, she should have known about it. She said Mr. Mosley has an outdoor furnace and she has no problem with it. Mr. Libby told Mrs. DeGouveia that she needs to stick with facts and they have a lot more to cover. She said they can address the problem with the fire and also they can address the noise issues. She said the people that rent from them are native of Maine and come here to be with family. She said if they need to put up some no trespassing signs and a fence, they can do that. She said she feels if there is a problem, telling people to call the Sherriff is a respectable thing to do.

She said she has never been told there were any problems and she didn’t know. Mr. Libby said they will definitely have a site walk and a lot of those problems will be addressed then. Mrs. DeGouveia said she would be glad to address any concerns anyone had. She said when they bought the house, they painted it and the neighbors didn’t like it. Mr. Libby said they will get nowhere if they don’t stick to the issues at hand. Mrs. Thompson asked if this was already a business and Mr. Libby told her it is not an approved business. Mr. Libby said a site walk is in order and will be held on a Saturday. The site walk was scheduled for Saturday, December 10, 2017 at 9:00am.

There were no other comments or items of business. Mrs. Billington said the abutters are invited to the site walk and also to the workshop later. Mr. Libby said no decisions are made during the workshop, this is for additional gathering of information and what might be done to address the concerns of the neighbors. Mrs. Billington said the applicant should be present at the workshop. Mr. Benson said they still have some things to work on: septic issues, sprinklers, fence for buffers, etc. Mrs. DeGouveia said she would like to see if they are going to get approval before she invests any substantial amount of money. Mr. Libby said they need the paperwork showing that the septic’s are adequate. Mr. Benson told Mrs. DeGouveia that she needs to contact Mr. Hill to see what is needed. Mrs. Billington said she felt that Mrs. DeGouveia needed to come to the workshop and show what she is willing to do. She said she feels it’s important also and she will be there. She said she knows what is needed and would like to proceed. Mr. Libby said the public is welcome to all of the meetings.

 The workshop will be held on January 09, 2017 after the regular Planning Board meeting at 7:00pm. Meeting was adjourned at 8:15pm.