Planning Board Meeting ~ February 3, 2026

2026-02-03 · Planning Board · 2:45:11 · watch on YouTube →

The Planning Board met on Tuesday February 3, 2026, moved from its usual Wednesday date because of a possible lack of quorum. Most of the meeting was the preliminary plan application for Durham Heights, an 18-lot cluster subdivision at 439 Quaker Meeting House Road (map 2, lot 60), presented by Joe Martin of Sightlines for the applicant. The board reviewed the submission checklist, then went through staff notes on right, title and interest in a 17-acre parcel retained by the previous owner, on the definition of building site versus building envelope where steep slopes and wetlands are present, on wetland impacts and permitting, and on solid waste collection. A motion was made to hold a public hearing on March 4, 2026 and to hold the application and the draft approval conditions until after public comment. The board then took up the draft land use ordinance amendments heading to town meeting, three questions raised by member Juliet on site disturbance before approval and peer review timing, a proposed inclement weather cancellation policy, and the roles of the new regular member and the new alternate.

No written minutes could be matched to this meeting. The transcript records that the speaker changed but never who was speaking, so any name attached to a statement below is inferred from context and is marked (?).

What was discussed

1. 2:24
   Call to order

   The chair opened the February 3 meeting and noted it had been moved from the usual Wednesday to Tuesday because of a possible lack of quorum.

2. 7:42
   Roll call and amendments to the agenda

   Roll call named Alan (surname unclear), Juliet Kelinger (?), Brian Stickney (?), new member Sunny, and the chair, Brian Lanoie (?). Amendments (?) added an introduction of the new member, a discussion of the roles of the new and alternate members, and a proposed inclement weather policy. The board agreed Sunny would sit in without voting for this meeting.

3. 7:42
   Minutes of January 14

   The minutes were moved and seconded, then amended to correct the year, which had been written as 2025.

4. 7:42
   Town planner's report and grant notice

   George (?) reported that his monthly report to the town manager and select board was in the packet, and that the town has been notified it will be eligible for money from the Maine resiliency program for an economic development study. The work would look at a potential economic development district with the Greater Portland Council of Governments; no announcement from Augusta has been made yet.

5. 12:55
   Ivy Ridge site walk summary

   The board took up the written summary of the site walk at the Ivy Ridge cluster subdivision on New Brook Road. The board walked the centre line of the road and found much of the property had been harvested some years ago, leaving open tracts weaving between house lots that do not fit the purpose of a cluster subdivision.

6. 12:55
   Durham Heights: completeness review opened

   New business was the completeness review of the preliminary plan application for Durham Heights subdivision at 439 Quaker Meeting House Road, map 2, lot 60. No public comment was taken during this item.

7. 18:03
   How completeness works, and a staff note correction

   George (?) explained that finding the application complete starts a clock: a public hearing would be scheduled that night and the board would have 60 days to approve, approve with conditions or deny. A board member noted staff note C7 referred to a waiver for water supply for firefighting that does not exist in the application; George (?) confirmed it was a typo and that the applicant proposes a 120,000 gallon fire pond. Alan (?) noted that a public hearing is likely and that members of the public would be able to comment then.

8. 23:18
   Completeness motion and start of substantive review

   After questions on the exclusion zones and on documentation of legal rights to develop, which George (?) said were substantive rather than completeness questions, a motion was made that the application is complete. The board then moved to substantive discussion of George's notes.

9. 23:18
   Lot count, DEP site location and the paper street to Collins Way

   George (?) said the application proposes 18 lots where the sketch plan had proposed 13, which brings it under DEP site location review. The ordinance requires the board to look at interconnections with abutting parcels, so the plan shows a paper street to the boundary at Collins Way for a possible future connection.

10. 28:41
    Right, title and interest in the retained parcel

    George (?) said the deed shows the parcel already split, with about 17 acres retained by the previous owner, and that the retained land is shown on the subdivision plan but stated by the applicant not to be part of the subdivision. As laid out it has only 50 feet of frontage, and section 6.22 requires all lots in a subdivision to meet zoning standards. A board member added that Collins Way is a town maintained road and connecting it to a privately maintained subdivision road would be debated.

11. 34:22
    Applicant's presentation

    Joe Martin of Sightlines (?) introduced the project team and the permitting sequence: DEP site law, an NRPA tier one wetlands alteration permit issued with it, and a Maine construction general permit filed shortly before construction. He said going to 18 lots at once rather than 14 slows permitting, and construction is now most likely to start next spring rather than this late summer.

12. 39:42
    Wetland impact, Army Corps permit and compensation fee

    Just over 11,000 square feet of wetlands would be impacted, up from an earlier estimate of about 10,000. Because the impact exceeds 5,000 square feet an Army Corps general permit is required along with an in-lieu compensation fee into a state fund, quoted at roughly five to six dollars per square foot, so over sixty thousand dollars.

13. 39:42
    Project description

    The site is in the rural residential and agricultural district and is now one single family residence with mostly wooded land. The plan is one road off Quaker Meeting House Road, 18 single family lots with private wells and septic systems, a little under 45 acres of open space, underground power to the end of the road, and a stormwater system of wooded buffers, grass underdrain soil filters and roof drip line filters.

14. 45:06
    Stone walls, layout changes and wooded buffers

    Stone walls run along much of the property line and were only partly located; George (?) noted section 5.14 sets standards for relocating walls over about 100 years old. The end of the road, formerly lot 14, is now lots 15 through 18, and even numbered lots carry 54 foot minimum wooded buffers as a stormwater treatment measure.

15. 45:06
    Land retained by the previous owner

    Joe Martin (?) said the retained land is not counted as a subdivision lot under state law because it was transferred within five years, but must be shown on the plan. Just over an acre at the end of the road, where the fire pond is proposed, would be conveyed to the retained parcel to give it 150 feet of frontage, with a drainage and access easement over it.

16. 50:20
    Frontage sequencing and density calculations

    The board and applicant went back and forth on whether the 1.03 acre strip is inside or outside the calculations, with the retained parcel shown as 17.44 acres now and about 18.47 acres after transfer. Joe Martin (?) said neither the retained land nor the land to be transferred is included in the net residential density or open space calculations, and offered to rewrite the plan note to make that clear.

17. 55:25
    Legal opinion on frontage and title

    George's recommendation, read out and agreed by the board, is that the applicant submit a legal opinion confirming clear right, title and interest and that the frontage for the retained parcel meets the ordinance, to be reviewed by the town attorney. A member said the board will not approve a non-conforming lot; the group discussed making the legal opinion a condition of final approval. George (?) said he disagrees that the 17 acre parcel meets the back lot requirements.

18. 1:00:43
    Building envelope versus building site

    The board worked through section 4.1 A1A, which requires 40,000 square feet of contiguous area free of wetlands, steep slopes and resource protection on every lot, and section 6.33 B8, which says no building site shall be on slopes steeper than 20 percent, within 100 feet of a water body, within 50 feet of a wetland, or on very poorly drained soil. Members disagreed over whether 'building site' means the whole lot, the area left after setbacks, or the footprint of the house; the ordinance defines building envelope but not building site.

19. 1:11:37
    Site plans for constrained lots

    George (?) said that on a previous subdivision the board had required an individual site plan for lots that barely met the 40,000 square foot requirement, and that the board could do so here for lots such as 7 and 10, or delegate that review to the code officer at building permit stage. Members returned to the point that the purpose of clustering is to keep natural features, and asked for building envelopes and tree clearing lines to be shown clearly.

20. 1:22:05
    Steep slopes, ledge and wells

    The applicant said the slopes on the site are not ledge, citing wells in the area that hit ledge around 80 feet down, and offered to add a setback line or a plan note keeping buildings off the steep slopes. George (?) explained that the well exclusion zones shown crossing the property line are only reference for the state's 100 foot separation between a septic system and a well.

21. 1:27:08
    Existing septic system and stormwater layout

    The existing house is still occupied; its septic system is not in the state registry and would be pumped, excavated or filled as part of the demolition. The stormwater design uses three grass underdrain soil filters along the road, and at the end a culvert discharging into the fire pond, which holds 120,000 gallons for fire protection, with a dry hydrant and a spillway into a larger soil filter.

22. 1:32:29
    Roof drip line filters, tree clearing and soils

    Two lots, given as lots 7 and 9, would have roof drip line filters sized on a 2,500 square foot footprint; the board suggested a requirement tied to the amount of stone around the house rather than capping house size. The board asked for tree clearing lines because the ordinance says lots should not be clear cut. A member's research during the meeting found two poorly drained soils mapped on the site, named as Scantic and a Biddeford mucky peat.

23. 1:37:31
    Soils mapping discussion

    The board and applicant compared the soil survey mapping against the plans, with the poorly drained soils appearing to sit in the lower wetland areas, and discussed having the third party reviewer look at this.

24. 1:42:58
    DEP public informational meeting and solid waste

    Joe Martin (?) said the applicant held the DEP required public informational meeting the week before with about 15 people attending, with questions on traffic, clearing, proximity to abutters and speed on the road. On solid waste, a member explained the town's contract is moving to automated collection with 64 gallon containers set 3 feet apart, and that placing about 36 containers at Quaker Meeting House Road would be a safety issue; Casella has said it is willing to enter subdivisions.

25. 1:48:08
    Trash arrangements and peer review timing

    Heather Roy, administrative liaison for the applicant, asked whether HOA documents could cover trash collection; the board suggested a letter from the carrier agreeing to serve the road, or a private hauler. On peer review, the board discussed whether to require it now or between preliminary and final, with the applicant noting DEP is using third party stormwater reviewers and that the town engineer reviews to the same DEP standards.

26. 1:53:18
    Motion for a public hearing on March 4

    The board set a public hearing for March 4, 2026, the regular March meeting date, and moved to hold the application and the review of the draft approval conditions until after public comment. George (?) raised the ordinance provision allowing the board to require a report by a wildlife biologist where a subdivision lies within an inland waterfowl and wading bird habitat area, which here falls in the open space; he said page 76 of the ordinance covers it.

27. 1:58:19
    Habitat letters and clearing already under way

    The board noted a letter from the conservation commission about bat habitat and a letter from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The applicant said limited clearing for the road has already happened, that trees are not being sold, and that clearing is being done now to stay outside the bat breeding period of May 15 to August 15.

28. 2:03:20
    Access to the retained lot regardless of approval

    The applicant said a house will be built on the land retained by the previous owner whether or not the subdivision is approved, and the road being cut is where that driveway would go. A member asked whether the 17 acre parcel would then be a non-conforming lot with no road frontage, which was left as one of the questions to be resolved.

29. 2:08:56
    Draft land use ordinance amendments

    George (?) described three tracks prepared since April last year: a codification with about 100 editorial changes from the town's consultant, a set of minor policy changes such as solid waste pickup, and administrative changes such as three weeks to prepare for meetings instead of two. Each goes to town meeting as a separate warrant article, with the policy and administrative articles taken before the codification so the codification is not caught up in any controversy.

30. 2:14:27
    Ordinance hearing schedule

    The legally required public hearing must fall no more than 30 days and no less than a week before town meeting. The board set a tentative first land use public hearing for March 18 and the formal hearing for May 20, with the select board reviewing the drafts in April. Members said they would review the codification changes and comment at the next meeting.

31. 2:19:56
    Items deferred from the amendments

    A proposal from an agriculture committee member to use the state definition of campgrounds, and a noise ordinance, were both put off until after codification as policy matters needing more discussion.

32. 2:19:56
    Site disturbance before approval, and peer review

    Juliet (?) raised three questions: the extent of site disturbance that may occur before subdivision approval, how that affects outside agency reviews, and when peer reviews should be required. She cited page 71 of the ordinance, which makes development before board approval a violation and defines development to include grading and construction of roads.

33. 2:25:27
    Tree clearing, forestry and peer review timing

    Members said Maine law allows clearing before construction starts unless the town regulates it, and that Durham decided during the shoreland zoning update not to regulate forestry. The board's practice will be to tell applicants to get peer review done before filing the final plan, with the cost and the responsibility on the applicant.

34. 2:25:27
    Inclement weather policy introduced

    The chair distributed a one page policy prepared by George for cancelling meetings in bad weather. It proposes that the chair make the call by 3pm on the day of the meeting, with the meeting moving to the following Wednesday, notice by news blast, the town website and a notice on the door.

35. 2:30:33
    Motion on the weather policy and welcome to new members

    A motion was made to approve the inclement weather policy with the addition of the same 3pm procedure where members are sick and a quorum of three is in doubt. The chair welcomed Sunny as a full member and Darren Lebec as alternate, and George (?) explained that the chair appoints the alternate to vote when a regular member is absent or has a conflict.

36. 2:35:33
    Emails, training and communication rules

    New members were told to set up their own email addresses through the town office and be added to the planning board list. George (?) described the MMA training the town will pay for, the freedom of access training, and the rule against ex parte communications with applicants, abutters or between more than two board members outside a noticed meeting. He also set out when recusal is required, including a 10 percent financial interest, and said disclosure to the board is always the better course.

What was decided

• 7:42
  Sunny, appointed to the board a few days earlier, would sit at the table but not vote at this meeting. Agreed without a vote being taken.passed
• 7:42
  Motion to accept the minutes of January 14, then amended to correct the year from 2025 to 2026, and seconded as amended.outcome unclear
• 12:55
  Motion to accept the summary of the Ivy Ridge site walk.outcome unclear
• 23:18
  Motion that the Durham Heights preliminary plan application is complete. The board went on to substantive discussion.outcome unclear
• 1:53:18
  Motion to hold a public hearing on the Durham Heights preliminary plan on March 4, 2026, and to table the application and the review of the draft approval conditions until after public comment. Restated and seconded again later in the meeting.tabled
• 2:30:33
  Motion to approve the inclement weather meeting policy with the addition of the same procedure for member illness and quorum.outcome unclear

An outcome reads "unclear" where the recording does not state it plainly. The recogniser drops short words, and "the motion does not carry" is one missing word from its opposite.

Worth knowing

• 28:41
  The 17 acre parcel retained by the previous owner is shown on the subdivision plan but stated not to be part of the subdivision, and as drawn has only 50 feet of frontage. George (?) said section 6.22 requires all lots to meet zoning standards and that he disagrees the parcel meets the back lot requirements; the board said it will not approve a non-conforming lot and wants a legal opinion from the applicant, peer reviewed by the town attorney.
• 39:42
  Wetland impact is just over 11,000 square feet, above the 5,000 square foot threshold, so an in-lieu compensation fee of roughly five to six dollars per square foot, over sixty thousand dollars, would be paid into a state fund for wetland work in the surrounding area.
• 1:58:19
  Tree clearing for the road has already begun before any subdivision approval. The applicant said it is being done now to stay outside the bat breeding period of May 15 to August 15 and because frozen ground causes less damage; the board discussed at length where the line falls between forestry and the start of construction.
• 1:53:18
  The public hearing on Durham Heights is set for March 4, 2026, and no decision on preliminary approval will be made before it. George (?) said material for that meeting is needed at least a week beforehand.

Motion language found in the transcript

Located by pattern matching, with no model involved: "I move that", "I'll second", "all those in favour". This is an independent check on the summary above: 3 passages of motion language, against 6 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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