FRYEBURG PLANNING BOARD
Minutes- December 15, 2009
Rescue Barn
In Attendance: A.O. Lucy - Chairman, Ed Price - Vice Chairman, Michael Holtgrefe - Secretary, Bill Mosher, Judy Redding - Associate, John Weston - Associate
The meeting was called to order at 6:37 pm and a quorum was declared.
Ed Price made a motion to have Judy Redding and John Weston act as voting members for the meeting. The motion was seconded and the vote was unanimous.
Corrections were made to the November 24 th meeting minutes. John Weston made a motion to approve the minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded and the vote was unanimous.
CEO Report
The Code Enforcement Officer has issued 5 building permits, 4 plumbing permits and 2 notices since the November 24 th meeting.
Public Hearing on Shoreland Zoning and Floodplain Revisions:
A.O. Lucy reviewed the reason for the revisions to the Land Use Ordinance and the Shoreland zoning map and Katie Haley summarized the extent of the map revisions. Copies of the ordinance revisions were available. There were no public questions or comments regarding the proposed revisions and the public hearing was closed.
Comprehensive Plan Discussion:
A.O. Lucy began this segment of the meeting by summarizing the potential need to update the Town's Comprehensive Plan, the Planning Boards role in the updating process, and the Boards desire to have input from the public regarding their thoughts on how to proceed with the updating effort.
Mr. Lucy introduced J.T. Lockman, the Planning Director for Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission (SMRPC).
Cliff Hall and William Harriman Jr. both stated that the meeting was not well publicized and Mr. Hall stated that he thought that there was a 30 day public noticing requirement for meetings or public hearings concerning the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Lucy explained that this meeting was not a public hearing, but just an attempt to gain information and input. J.T. Lockman stated that he was here to discuss general information regarding Comprehensive Plans and none of the information was going to be specific to the Town of Fryeburg , therefore there were no requirements to have the meeting publicized. However, it was noted that there was indeed a notice in the paper about the Comp. Plan informational meeting.
J.T. Lockman then introduced himself and discussed his history of working with comprehensive plans. The Growth Management Act began in 1988 and new rules were adopted in 2008 which changes various requirements of comprehensive plans. He handed out an information package highlighting some of the comprehensive plan requirements, which he reviewed page by page. The Town of Fryeburg has until 2012 to update the comp plan, because that is when the letter from the State that says that the plan is consistent with the state requirements expires. Mr. Lockman stated that there is currently no grant money available for towns working on comp plans, therefore, it is an unfunded mandate from the State, leading one to believe there are no real State consequences to not being current. He stated and that it cost the Town of Eliot about $30,000 and took approximately 4 years to complete a plan update. He also stated that he isn't aware of any town completing a plan update without hiring a consultant, except maybe a few municipalities that have full time planners. There are various roles that Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission can play in assisting the Town with the plan update, ranging from just completing the mapping portion to facilitating meetings to doing the entire plan.
The floor was opened to questions and comments, which are summarized below:
- Mr. Lucy asked how many towns are currently working on comprehensive plan updates and what a rough cost estimate would be. Mr. Lockman stated that he isn't aware of any towns working on the updates because of finances and the complexities of the updating requirements and that it would cost the Town roughly $30,000+.
- Mr. Lucy asked if the Land Use Ordinance would need to be updated to be consistent with the comp plan updates. The ordinance would need to be amended within 2 years to be consistent.
- A conversation ensued regarding what happens if the comp plan isn't updated by 2012. Mr. Lockman said there are no direct repercussions but there could be implications if land use issues are ever brought to court.
- John Weston asked if the Town can just update a few parts of the plan and Mr. Lockman's response was that it would likely add complication to the process
- Ted Raymond stated that he thinks a comp plan update will serve as a vehicle to resolve Town issues and that it should be updated since so many people are upset about recent activity pertaining to land use. He also thinks that activity in New Hampshire could directly affect Fryeburg, similar to how Kittery has been affected. He also wants to be ensured that the Town's documents will stand up to legal battles.
- Gene Bergoffen stated that there are new requirements for the inclusion of 'growth areas' when completing the update and that may not fit into Fryeburg's largely residential nature. Mr. Lockman confirmed that this issue would have to be addressed during the update and that many towns struggle with this issue.
- Mr. Bergoffen also wanted to know what procedures seemed to work best for other towns when updating their plans. Mr. Lockman says that he has seen many methods work ranging from the Planning Board completing the work to having a separate committee. He feels that smaller groups work best and are most efficient.
- Mr. Hall reviewed conversations that he has had with the State Planning Office (SPO) and relayed that the SPO said that hiring a consultant isn't necessary and that the SPO has documentation and assistance available to aid the town in the update. He also stated that the 2012 is quite arbitrary and that date could change. He also questioned whether our current plan was consistent with the new rules. Mr. Lockman said there is no way our current plan is consistent with the new rules and that he isn't trying to give the Town a sales pitch. His experience is that consultants are generally necessary to complete the update.
- Mr. Harriman stated that there are already problems with the Land Use Ordinance and it's consistency with the existing comp plan. Mr. Lockman said that the Land Use Ordinance could be invalidated based on the inconsistency but ultimately that is a judges final decision. He stated that the comp plan sets standards for the Town to follow and the Land Use Ordinance sets standards for applicants.
- Mr. Harriman suggested that the Town shop prices of consultants that do comprehensive plans. Tom Klinepeter stated that the Town has about $7000 set aside to be used for comp plan updates. Michael Holtgrefe suggested using web conferencing technology to cut expenses if the town hires SMRPC to assist in the update.
- Mr. Lucy informally polled the attendees to see who thought that the Town should pursue a plan update. It appeared as though the majority expressed that the plan should be updated in some fashion, although some were still expressing concern over the process of completing the updates, as well as general concerns over the cost of the process.
- Mr. Lockman summarized his visit with the that idea that it may be a good step to start with a visioning session and try to get a large group of people together to discuss a vision statement for the town before going further with any type of process..
Upon departure of Mr. Lockman and the majority of the public in attendance, the Planning Board continued discussions about how to proceed with the comprehensive planning effort. Kent Pidgeon stated that it was important for the Planning Board to read and study, the Land Use Ordinance and the Comprehensive Plan, as well as the information available from the State Planning Office in order to make informed decisions. The Planning Board discussed and debated whether an update of the Land Use Ordinance would help resolve some of the conflicts in town and negate the need to update the comp plan. At this point the general consensus of the Board is that they will continue to work on updating ordinance sections and review them for consistency with the existing comp plan. If an ordinance is determined to need a change, and will not engage working on the corresponding section in the current Comp. Plan may also need adjustment to match any specific changes desired in the LUO, both of which will need town hearings and votes. The Board is not yet planning on engaging a full Comp. Plan review until further discussion and inputcomp plan for awhile.
The next Planning Board meeting will be on January 12 th at 6:30 at the Town Office.
John Weston made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded and passed with a unanimous vote .
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 pm .
Respectfully submitted,
Katie Haley
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