Androscoggin CountyMainePopulation 4,262Sourced from U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2013-2024
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Summary of Draft Amendments to Resource Protection

Archive Annual Town Meeting Information · 1 pages · 301 words · all documents · the town's PDF →

This is machine-extracted text, not the document. It was extracted from the town's PDF; layout, tables and figures may not survive intact. The town's copy is authoritative; open it before relying on anything here.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSED RESOURCE PROTECTION DISTRICT REVISIONS

1. 2023 Zoning Map Revisions: Updated to reflect the Comprehensive Plan's recommendations, removing outdated floodplain data and incorporating new criteria of mandatory shoreland zoning, stream buffers, large wetlands, waterfowl/wading bird habitats, and areas with high co-occurrence of natural resources.

2. Public Concerns: Significant public concern over the accuracy of state data and the impact on existing structures led to a subsequent review of the Resource Protection District changes by a working group of Planning Board and Conservation Commission members.

3. New Data: In 2024, Durham received updated data from Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s Beginning with Habitat Program indicating that only small areas along some streams meet the higher co-occurrence threshold, leading to proposed boundary revisions.

4. Building Restrictions: Existing home sites in the Resource Protection District face expansion restrictions. The removal of inaccurate Beginning with Habitat Co-Occurrence areas will alleviate restrictions for some buildings, but others will remain restricted.

5. Options for Removing Home Sites: Three options were considered for removing existing home sites from Resource Protection, with the Working Group recommending a 100-foot development buffer around existing structures to provide relief while maintaining environmental protections.

6. Development Buffers: Specific recommendations for 100-foot development buffers around existing buildings in floodplains and large wetlands, but with refined building buffers for the more sensitive stream buffers, and waterfowl/wading bird habitats to allow expansions without further environmental degradation.

7. Zoning Map & Ordinance Revisions: The Working Group recommends revising the Zoning Map to remove areas designated solely based on the co-occurrence of natural resources and adjusting boundaries to remove restrictions on existing buildings, with clear guidelines added to the Land Use Ordinance. **PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING TO BE HELD BY THE PLANNING BOARD & CONSERVATION COMMISSION AT THE FIRE STATION ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13 AT 6:30 PM.**

Source: summary-resource-protection-district-revisions.pdf on durhammaine.gov. Text extracted with pdftotext; no wording has been corrected.