Wales Planning Board Meeting

February 13, 2006

 

Minutes

 

 

In Attendance:  Ed MacDonald (Chair), Alice DiPaolo (Co-chair), Lori Blier (Secretary); Lyndon Spaulding (WPB)

 

Ø      The meeting was opened at 7:05.  Lori distributed the agenda, minutes from January 9 meeting, letter from CEO regarding the Henry Variance, and a timeline document on the Henry issue.  The minutes were reviewed by board members and approved as written.

Ø      The board opened discussions on the Henry variance.  The letter from the CEO indicated that he agreed with Mr. Henry’s attorney in that under condition #3 the variance issued for personal hardship would now be void due to the death of the in-law who occupied the apartment.  He went on to indicate that the variance is non non-existent and subject to the Town of Wales ordinances as adopted in 1996.  The board looked over the supporting materials and agreed that it was within our jurisdiction to rule on the matter.  Lori indicated that there seemed to be some need to officially acknowledge that under current ordinances there is no need to revert the property to single residence status and that rental of the unit is an acceptable use.  A motion was made to approve the Henry’s change of use request and to draft a letter or document stating the board has decided that the change of use of a non-conforming structure was acceptable based on Section 12 C., 4 and D., 3 of the Town of Wales Shoreland Zoning Ordinance.  The motion was seconded and the board voted unanimously to approve the change of use request.  Lori indicated that she would draft a letter to indicate this decision.  There was discussion on needing to make sure that the decision was recorded legally and that the board was unsure of the process; thus, we will provide Selectman Paul Burgess a copy of the letter indicating he should have the town’s lawyer review it for legality and advise on process regarding the variance currently filed at the Androscoggin Registry of Deeds.

Ø      The board went over the Site Review Checklist document Alice pulled together after the December meeting.  Board members indicated that it appeared to cover everything in the ordinance.  Lori did note that while we had initially said we didn’t need all the forms Alice had originally provided as part of the site review package it did appear we needed the application form.  It is referenced in the ordinance and in the cover sheet of the checklist.  Lori will pull together the application form from the template Alice provided to include in the package.  The board will finalize the package at the next meeting. 

Ø      Lori brought up the state mandated changes that will need to be made to the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance and the Floodplain Management Ordinance.  She will contact the people at DEP and SPO who helped out the last time around to verify any needs for public hearings or anything for the amended ordinances.

Ø      Ed brought up the fact that Paul Burgess felt we should look into creating a mining ordinance.  He had gone online to the state’s site to see if there were any but hadn’t come up with any.  Lori and Alice indicated they had seen some online.  All will look online to see if other towns have something that could be a starting point for us.  We will discuss further at our next meeting.

Ø      The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.  Next meeting will be held March 13, 2006.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lori Blier, Secretary

 

 

Related documents:  Site Review Checklist, materials related to the Henry Variance