Standish Planning Board Meeting Minutes
Standish Planning Board
Meeting Minutes
January 06, 2020
The Standish Planning Board meeting was called to order by Chairman Charles Brown at 6:00pm. Present were Deb Boxer, Pat Frechette, Roland Cloutier, Jolene Whittemore, Cheryl Kimball, Zach Mosher, Town Planner and Jackie Dyer, Admin.to Town Planner and Planning Board. The opening statement was read by the Chairman and the declaration of a quorum was met with 6 members being present.
Approval of Meeting Minutes from November 4, 2019
Mrs. Boxer made a motion seconded by Mr. Cloutier to approve the meeting minutes from November 4, 2019. All in favor.
Old Business:
JDP, LLC, Middle Jam Road, Map 20, Lot 47-Preliminary Subdivision Review (5 Lots)
Mrs. Boxer said she would recuse herself from this application as she felt there were things she wanted to say and things that only could be said if she was in the audience and not as a member of the Board. She said she felt she has a conflict of interest and an impropriety. Mr. Brown said he will be abstaining from voting but would still chair the meeting.
Owens McCullough from Sebago Technics was present as well as Mike Phinney, the applicant. He said that they are here to seek preliminary approval after being before the board several times and have done site walks and a workshop. He has also attended a meeting with the Land Trust as well as the abutters to the property. Owens said they have eliminated one of the lots on the plan as part of the subdivision, as it was sold a year or so ago and already has a home on it.
He showed the plan with the division of the lots and the piece of land that will go under Land Conservation with the Presumpscot Land Trust when it is sold to Mr. Daniels. He said they are also keeping Woods Road as it runs through the middle of the property and Mr. Daniels would like to keep this for the public access to the proposed Conservation Land. He said they have eliminated one of the lots as Mr. Daniels wanted to purchase some additional land for a buffer around his home. Mr. Labbe, another abutter is purchasing a small piece of land to go with his and that will also be used as an additional buffer for him as well. Both these have been done directly with Mr. Phinney (JDP, LLC.). There is also a horse paddock on one of the properties and they have purchased a piece to square off their property.
Mr. McCullough said that the piece of land that Mr. Daniels would purchase would eventually be conveyed to the Land Trust and having spoken with them, he said they are very interested in making this happen. Owens said Mr. Daniels is present and he will let him speak about the land and Land Trust conveyance. Owens said at the last few meetings, the main discussion has been about seeking a waiver for the internal road and obtaining driveway entrances. He said that Mr. Mosher had contacted the Town Attorney and she(Sally Daggett) had developed some language for this and also for the Conservation Land and how it could be done, along with the right language for not being able to develop this land with restrictions and a covenant attached to it. This would be approved as part of the subdivision, but eventually conveyed to the Land Trust.
He said they are asking for preliminary approval but are asking if they need to include the lot that was sold and has been built on as part of the subdivision. Owens said this would just be a three-lot subdivision with some being conveyed to abutters and approximately 70 acres going into conservation to the Land Trust. He said if the Board grants preliminary approval, they would do all they needed to do for the final approval with conditions of approval on the plan. He said Zach had written a very thorough memo and he was going off this mostly for what needed to go on the final plan. Owens said that Peter Tubbs has reviewed the plan and they have met with Roger Mosley about driveway locations. Owens said that they will note on the plans as to what is needed as far as stipulations and conditions, so that if someone buys the lot, they will know where the driveway locations are.
Owens said that he and Zach have been back and forth many times and on the plan, they will show the grading, culverts, and what trees would be removed or stay. He said some of the trees would be removed by DPW and they will take care of the cleanup. He said some of the abutters would like to keep some of the trees but feels it’s a Town decision. Owens said that now they just need to clean up the plan, get the conditions of approval and define the open or conservation space.
Mrs. Whittemore said there is a lot of mention between forestry land and conservation land and she asked Owens what that was about? He said that forestry land would be looked at and maybe harvested from time to time to promote more growth. He said that this is good as it helps to protect the rest of the land and conserve it. He said that Mr. Daniels would be the steward of the Conservation land. It would be kept open space and managed as it would need to be.
Zach said that the lot that was already sold and built on should be included and shown on the final plan so that someone down the road in years to come would know why it is on the plan and the history. He said that in the conditions it can be broken down into three groups, i.e. the referencing of the Conservation Deed and that it will always stay in conservation and never will be built on., the lot that was bought and built on and the final subdivision lots, restrictions and covenants on all deeds. He said the Town’s main concern is that the Conversation parcel can never be built on. Zach said that he is comfortable if the Board makes a motion to grant preliminary approval and to make sure the lot already sold is known that it is not part of the subdivision. Mr. Brown said it’s in there because it was sold within the five-year period before this came about.
Mr. Brown said in the proposed conditions there is something about a homeowner’s association and would there be one. Mr. McCullough said he and Mr. Phinney had spoken about this and Mr. Phinney is not going to impose any restrictions or covenants on any of these lots. They would propose that the condition be removed, and Zach said it would be. Also condition 8 needs to be reworded as it tells about roadway construction and there will not be any. Zach said that can be removed also. (The numbering of the Conditions has changed from what the memo was).
Mrs. Frechette asked about stump burial and would there be language in the deeds saying they have to take care of the stumps or can they just throw them onto the back of the lot? Mr. McCullough said he has never really dealt with that as people stump their own lots. Charlie said you can bury so many on your own land. Owens said he could craft a note on the plan, but they really must go by local and state regulations. Pat said she knows of some one that bought property and it was built over a stump dump and is now sinking. Owens said he will go over it with Zach but says that most people haul them off. Pat said because there is no homeowner’s association, this might be an issue.
Mrs. Whittemore asked about the conditions and Zach said that some of them were notes on the plan that will be moved over to conditions of approval. Mr. Brown asked for public comment and David Daniels spoke. He said that he has been trying to acquire this land for over two years to purchase and protect this woodland. He asked if the Board had seen the email from the Land Trust? He said they want this property and have voted to approve it as one of their conservation holdings. He went on to say that they budget for maintenance and the trails, etc. They gave them a tentative budget for maintenance around $50,000.00. He said that they want a parking area and to have a forestry plan in place. He said the management plan would be to try and conserve everything the way it is, with maybe an occasional tree that needs to be removed or a trail that needs repair. He said this could be considered at some time an old growth forest. He said the land was harvested approximately 3 years ago but there is a significant amount of red oak and others he would like to never have cut.
David said that they would like to turn the land over to the Trust within the same year they buy it as it would have significant tax advantages and not wait for their death and have to go through probate. The Trust has a policy that there is no commercial harvesting, just clearing some trails for walking. Mr. Daniels said that he has no intention of harvesting and neither does the Trust. He said there are some stumps from a severe windstorm that happened years ago that toppled trees, and these stumps and slash are an advantage to pro-forestry for carbon storage for trees and vegetation growth. The Trust has talked about him staying on as steward and maybe the development of a “small by permission only” camp site on the property.
David said that a couple of other neighbors have submitted emails in favor of this project. He said it would be wonderful if the trees could grow until they were 300-400 years old. Mrs. Whittemore asked about the Land Trust and the acquisition of the land, would this happen in 2020? Mr. Daniels said yes, and he can’t see it not going through with the Land Trust. Mrs. Whittemore said they can make this a condition of approval, but what if it doesn’t get donated. Mr. Daniels said that he has never thought about this at all. Mr. McCullough said that this would stay permanent conservation land forever. He said even if Mr. Daniels still owns it, it stays under this approval as conservation land and can never be developed. Owens said to make sure to protect the land as conservation land, is to place the restrictions on the deed as conservation land only and good luck to anyone trying to get it out in the future. Mr. Daniels said he has seen the proposed deed with the wording that this will only be conservation land and can never be developed and it can be done this way as it is part of the subdivision. Developing structures or roads on this property will not be allowed to happen. Their attorney wants the Daniels to be able to keep the five acres around their house and the rest goes into the conservation land.
Deb Boxer spoke and said that she loves the idea of conservation land but wonders about how the Board can pass this without policy and open this up to everyone in Town. How many lots on a public road will be allowed and how big will the lots be if everyone in Town could do this same thing, she asked? Does the donated land need to be adjacent to the proposed subdivision? She said her families land is fairly restricted, and they could put a thousand house lots for sale tomorrow if this project is approved. She said she can’t see this moving forward as it is, but this needs to go through the proper process and have clear, uniformed guidelines which need to be established first. Deb said she thinks that if this is passed, it will lead to much contention and lawsuits if the next developer is denied the same waivers and approvals this project is requesting. She said she will be the next person up here donating a tract of land and requesting a subdivision. She said there could be 100 house lots up and down Cole Hill Road and how much land would they need to donate to do this? She said before they can do this, they would require a legal standing. Mrs. Kimball asked Deb why she was against this and Deb said all subdivisions by state statue and town ordinance are supposed to have interior roads. She said this will not have an interior road, just driveways on the roadway.
George Lauzon from Middle Jam Road said he is very pleased how this has played out and said that he doesn’t know anyone on the road that isn’t for this project. He said he has lived there a long time and is completely for this proposal. There were no other public comments. Mr. McCullough said he appreciates all the comments made and it comes under special exception being a unique and special situation. He said the Board could look at each plan or project and decide what special rules they might come under. Mr. Brown gave him the Code Book and he read the rule for special circumstances. He said this is a unique lot and meets the special circumstances criteria. He said a lot of the neighbors have come forward and are in favor of this project. Owens said it is within the Town Ordinance and it all started with David Daniels wanting to acquire the land for conservation.
Mr. Cloutier made a motion seconded by Mrs. Frechette to close the public hearing. Four were for the motion and two abstained from the vote. (Mrs. Boxer and Mr. Brown abstained.) Mr. Brown said the waiver needed to be addressed first and read the following:
PLANNING BOARD VOTE
V. WAIVER REQUEST – As mentioned above, the applicant is requesting a waiver from 181-97.1, prohibiting subdivisions from gaining their frontage on existing town and state roads. If the Board is amenable to, a suggested motion:
“Move that the Board grant approval (does not approve) of the waiver under the provisions of Sec. 181-108 of the Standish Subdivision Regulations for the waiver request related to Sec. 181-97.1 that requires the applicant to build an interior road to serve lots part of a subdivision.”
Mr. Cloutier made a motion to approve the waiver as written in the memo by Mr. Mosher. This was seconded by Mrs. Whittemore. All in favor with two abstaining (Mrs. Boxer and Mr. Brown).
If the Planning Board finds the 4– lot residential subdivision application meets the requirements for preliminary subdivision review and is based on the following findings and conditions outlined below, then a suggested motion:
“Move that the Planning Board grant the preliminary approval for “Middle Jam Subdivision plan submitted by Owens McCullough of Sebago Technics LLC on behalf of applicant JDP, LLC with the findings that it meets:
The application meets the requirements found in Chapter 181 – Part 1, Article 3 (District Regulations) and Chapter 181 – Part 3, Subdivision Regulations.
The application meets the requirements found in Title 30-A, Chapter 187, §4404. Review criteria of Maine State Statute for Subdivision Review.
Mr. Cloutier asked about the verbiage on the four lots and change it to three. Mr. Brown said that this was included as the lot was sold less than five years ago. Mr. Cloutier made a motion to grant preliminary approval, but said they needed to go through the conditions first. Notes from the preliminary plan need to be moved to conditions of approval and they need to add all conditions of approval to the plan, with some wording taken out and some changed. Mr. Brown said the motion needed to include the Conditions of Approval. Notes 10 and 11 on the plan need to become conditions of approval with the note on the waivers under their own heading “waivers”, item 8 will be modified and 6 will be removed as presented. Stumps will be located on the lots or stump burial sites. This was seconded by Mrs. Whittemore. All in favor with two abstaining (Mrs. Boxer and Mr. Brown).
CONDITIONS –
All work shall be in conformance with the submitted plans and other application materials prepared by Owens McCullough of Sebago Technics, LLC (75 John Roberts Rd, Suite 1A South Portland ME 04106). Those plans consist of 2 sheets, entitled “Middle Jam Subdivision” and are revised through 12/23/2019.
No deviations from the approved plan are permitted without prior approval from the planning board for major changes, and from the Code Enforcement Officer for minor changes. The determination of major or minor shall be made by the CEO.
The following language shall appear on plan prior to recording: Due to the special circumstances of this plan, whereby the applicant has agreed to permanently restrict approximately 75 acres of land abutting the four lots as undeveloped conservation and forestry land, including allowance of public access thereto, and whereby a condition of approval related to these restrictions is an integral part of the approval of this plan, a waiver of the requirement of Standish Code § 181-97.1(B) [only one access onto an existing Town way is allowed for lots within a subdivision] is granted pursuant to Standish Code § 181-108(B).
The following language shall appear on plan prior to recording: This approval is dependent upon the applicant permanently restricting the approximately 70.2 acres of land abutting the four subdivision lots as undeveloped conservation and forestry land with public access allowed (the “Conservation Land”). There shall be no further division or development of the Conservation Land. To that end, the applicant’s ownership and any subsequent conveyance of the Conservation Land shall include a permanent restriction that the Conservation Land remain as undeveloped conservation and forestry land, including allowance of public access thereto, and a permanent restriction that the Conservation Land not be divided or developed. In addition to being a condition of the approval of the plan, these permanent restrictions shall be enforceable by each of the owners of the four lots (the applicant to include an affirmative covenant related to the same to be contained in each deed to a lot owner). Notwithstanding any amendment, waiver or release by a subsequent owner of a lot, these permanent restrictions shall not be released or amended without the prior approval of the Planning Board. Prior to the sale of the Conservation Land or any of the lots shown on the plan, the applicant shall submit both the proposed deed for the conveyance of the Conservation Land and a sample lot owner deed to the Town Planner for review and approval as to form and sufficiency by the Town Attorney. Once those deeds are approved as set forth herein, the conveyances of the conservation land and the four lots shall include language containing the permanent restrictions pursuant to this condition of approval.
The street impact fee per code section 181-123 b. will be determined prior to final approval.
All driveway entrances shall be as approved through a street opening permit by the Public Works Department. Exact driveway curb cut locations for each lot shall be chosen by the applicant and approved by the public works director prior to placement of the base pavement.
Any stump burial and burning shall occur in the area noted on subdivision plan and shall comply with local, federal and state regulations. This stump dump is to be used during roadway construction.
§ 181-83. Performance guaranty. A performance guaranty shall be provided to ensure the completion, proper installation and maintenance of all street grading, paving, storm drainage, utilities and other improvements for public benefit or use in accordance with § 252-22 of chapter 252, streets and sidewalks. Where the planning board has approved a phased development, public improvements both on- and off-site shall be assigned to a phase of the development as part of the planning board’s approval of the subdivision.
Prior to recording of the final plan, all conditions of approval shall be added to the subdivision plan.
The record owner of the parcel is JDP, LLC by deed recorded at the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds in Book # 35084 and Page # 233.
Waiver approval that was granted for the interior road will be listed under a separate heading titled “Waiver “on the final plan and under the Conditions of Approval.
All conditions of approval will be listed on the Final Subdivision Plan before it is approved and signed.
New Business:
Item #1 AMENDMENTS TO STANDISH TOWN CODE, CHAPTER 181, LAND USE,
REGARDING SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS
Item #2 AMENDMENTS TO STANDISH TOWN CODE, CHAPTER 237,
SHORELAND ZONING, REGARDING SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEMS
Mr. Brown said that the Board is holding a public hearing to introduce these proposed ordinance changes. He said that the Planning Board can make recommendations on these proposed ordinances but do not vote on them. Mr. Mosher said these projects are happening statewide and will eventually happen in Standish. He said some projects will come before the Planning Board and some will not. Mr. Mosher said he did a lot of research and looked at what other towns have in place for ordinances. Mrs. Boxer asked about the large-scale solar projects and shouldn’t it be said as 17,000 square feet or larger? Mr. Mosher said it should be 17,000 and he will note that for the Ordinance Committee. Mrs. Boxer said that she was thinking about the hundred-acre sandpits we have in Town that will never be reclaimed and that solar farms could be put into these sandpits. Mrs. Boxer asked about stabilization in a large scale and what does “designate to grade below foundation mean?” Mr. Brown said he had worked on a number of these projects and the foundations are like a mushroom anchor as in cell towers and to get them out of the ground you would have to do a lot of digging and disturbing the surface area. Mrs. Boxer said that these anchors should not be allowed to remain. She said that in a hundred years from now, someone would be digging and hit all those cement anchors, trees wouldn’t grow, and this would not be good. She said that she feels that a lot of concrete would be left behind and should be removed.
Mr. Mosher introduced Chris Byers from Boyle Associates, a solar panel consulting company. He spoke about what they do and how they do some large-scale projects, also some small-scale ones. He spoke about projects all over the US and their impact on the environment. He talked about construction of the panels, foundations of the panels installed, stabilization, how the panels wear out and what they do with the panels after. He said at the start there is an I-beam that is drilled into the ground and Chris said the projects vary individually. He said the I-beam is a non-concrete solution. He said it’s rare to use concrete in the place of a piling. He said if they hit a rock, a special machine is brought in to drill through the rock and then it is filled with a compacted gravel. Mr. Browns said that this makes it easier as everything is pulled from the ground. He talked about removing the panels and taking the post out of the ground and not causing much erosion. He said they work with the DEP on many different aspects of erosion, sedimentation and ground water. Chris said they like to provide a meadow buffer, and this is also their water control. He said they like to have everything as stable as possible. Mrs. Boxer asked about when people are out clearing, where are they sticking these in, especially in a forested area and when they are decommissioned, can they pull them out and leave it as it was? Chris said he thinks this is possible, but he wasn’t sure. He said restoring it to its original habitat would be good for animals and birds. Mr. Brown said that the wording of the ordinance could be changed to say that the site would be restored and stabilized to its original state, as much as necessary, to minimize erosion. Mrs. Boxer said that could be added to 181-49.35. Chris said they put down a seed mix that is appropriate for native soils and mowed just twice a year. Chris said that when they vibrate these stabilizers out, they try and disturb the soil as little as possible. Mrs. Boxer asked about the stabilization and can the Ordinance be worded such that there is barely any disturbance of soils and nothing is left in the ground in the future? Chris said they do a lot of projects in big open fields and the restabilization is done closer to the concrete pads as everything is already stabilized when the beams are pulled out of the ground.
Mrs. Frechette asked about recycling the panels and asked what Maine was doing about this. Mr. Byers said he wasn’t sure, but there is a market for buying used panels and repurposing them. She said that so much of what’s contained in the panels cannot be recycled and are pollutants. Chris said that maybe 5% of panels removed cannot be refurbished. He isn’t sure what Maine is doing about panels that can’t be repurposed. Chris said after 25 years, eighty percent of panels still are working. He said it often takes 8 years before you see any return on a project. Mrs. Frechette said that panels do cause pollution on the carbon footprint, especially when improperly disposed of and thrown away. Chris said that he hopes they would properly be disposed of and not just thrown into a land fill. Mr. Brown said the Board’s role is to listen and discuss these proposed ordinances and send any recommendations to the Ordinance Committee as to how it’s written and if any changes need to be made. Mr. Mosher said now would be the time to voice their opinions on these proposals and recommendations: their removal and decommissioning, stabilization of the site and erosion control.
Mr. Cloutier made a motion to move forward in sending the Boards recommendations to the Ordinance Committee and Town Council. All in favor.
Item#3 AMENDMENTS TO STANDISH TOWN CODE, CHAPTER 181, LAND USE,
REGARDING ADULT USE MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENTS (PRODUCTS
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES, TESTING FACILITIES & CULTIVATION
FACILITIES) AND MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
Item#4 AMENDMENTS TO STANDISH TOWN CODE, CHAPTER 181, LAND USE,
REGARDING ADULT USE MARIJUANA ESTABLISHMENTS (PRODUCTS
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES AND TESTING FACILITIES ONLY) AND
MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES
Mr. Brown said the first ordinance includes cultivation and the second does not. Mr. Mosher said that he is not sure what will come of these as there isn’t much area in Standish. The zoning limits this and the buffering: i.e. schools, daycares, churches. He said they might move forward with manufacturing and testing. Mr. Mosher said the adult use is recreational use. Mrs. Frechette says this should be brought to the towns people to be voted on. Mr. Brown said this vote will happen at the Council level. She said she feels like this is blindsiding to people and they should be asked what they want. Mr. Cloutier said the Council has looked at the new law and what is permissible at the State level. He said they are here to make recommendations to the Council. Mrs. Frechette says the Town has the right not to recommend or allow recreational marijuana in Town. Mr. Mosher said there will be no retail stores in Standish at all. Mr. Cloutier said this goes to referendum if the Council decides so. He asked if we want to allow for testing and manufacturing in Town? Mrs. Frechette said she feels this needs to be limited as much as possible. She says she has a problem with adult use marijuana Mr. Mosher said this is before the Planning Board as it’s a law that a public hearing must be held. He told Mrs. Frechette that she should go to the Town Council meeting and voice her opinions to them. Mr. Brown said he feels the Council sets some good criteria for the Board to go by. Mr. Mosher said if some of this is allowed it gives the growers the ability to sell their product to buyers. He said this needs to be controlled and zoning wise, we are not going to see warehouses for selling on every block. This would allow wholesale use to happen and trucked out of Town. Mrs. Frechette said this is still illegal under federal law. She said she feels we are opening ourselves up for other stuff later.
There was no further discussion. Meeting was adjourned at 7:50pm.