Vassalboro Planning Board
Minutes of Aug 4, 2009

Present:
Planning Board: Virginia Bracket, George Gould, Doug Phillips, Sally Butler
CEO: Paul Mitnik,
Public: John Young, Mary Grow

The meeting opened at 7:03 PM.

Review of July 14 Minutes: The July 14 Minutes were approved (Gould / Butler 4-0).

Review of Standard Conditions for Subdivision Approvals

The subdivision standard conditions that are now put on all approvals were revisited under a recommendation made by Doug the last Planning Board Meeting of July 14. Doug wanted to reconsider Standard Condition #6 which states the following:

The sale of lots is prohibited until the road development up to the addition of sub base gravel is approved by the Road Commissioner. A subdivision that is approved in stages, may be developed in stages with the sale of lots after the road is approved for each stage. Paving, if required shall be completed within two years of the approval date, or the sale of ½ of the lots within the subdivision

Doug did not like the wording of sub base gravel which could imply that other considerations such as grade, curves, and clearing may not be included with this wording. Paul indicated that it was intended that this meant the road was completely constructed except paving, though he agreed that the wording could be better. Ginny suggested changing “up to” to “through.” It was acknowledged that road development in the whole subdivision may not be necessary if the end lot was not being sold. Doug suggested changing the wording as follows

The sale of lots is prohibited until the road development through the addition of sub base gravel servicing those lots is approved by the Road Commissioner. A subdivision that is approved in stages, may be developed in stages with the sale of lots after the road is approved for each stage. Paving, if required shall be completed within two years of the approval date, or the sale of ½ of the lots within the subdivision

This was approved (Gould / Phillips 4-0). It was acknowledged that no other changes were needed.

John Young
Shoreland Zoning Webber Pond
Expansion of Non-Conforming Structure
Tax Map 18, Lot 14

John Young was proposing to expand a 13 X 10 storage at 66 Birch Point Road. He indicated that he would like to expand it 2.5 feet but this didn’t meet the 15% expansion limit mandated by the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance for non-conforming structures. John was willing to settle for a two foot expansion which meets the 15% criterion. This will make the shed 15 X 10 feet. The 20 square foot addition to the existing 130 square feet is a 15% expansion.

Doug asked if the structure was just a storage shed and not intended to be used for a bunkhouse. John indicated the use will be storage. Ginny asked about the expansion history of the property. Paul indicated that there was no history of expansion for this shed and each structure is considered individually. The allowance for an 80 square foot shed in the newly amended Shoreland Ordinance was pondered. Paul indicated that this can only be used by properties without any storage who also cannot locate structures more than 100 feet away from the high water mark. So this could not be used for John’s property. The application for the two foot expansion was approved (Gould / Phillips 4-0).

Mary Grow asked about when the next Planning Board meeting would be, due to considerations of Labor Day Holiday. It was decided that the next meeting will be September 1.

The meeting adjourned at 7:30.