Planning Board Meeting ~ September 3, 2025

2025-09-03 · Planning Board · 2:15:44 · watch on YouTube →

The Planning Board met on September 3, 2025 with four members present. It took up a conditional use application for a bulky waste pickup business at 28 Sawyer Road, found that several abutters had not been notified and that the notice period had not run, and tabled the application to October 1 with a public hearing to be held then. It then gave sketch plan review to Greystone Ridge, a proposed 13-lot cluster subdivision on Pinkham Brook Road, and told the applicant it could go on to preliminary plan once steep slopes and streams are subtracted from the buildable area calculation and the open space figure is confirmed. George Thebarge briefed the board on the ordinance codification, where the consultant has given the town until the end of the calendar year to add policy amendments, and added a fifteenth item at the fire chief's request to remove cisterns as an approved fire protection water supply. The meeting closed with a discussion of the strategic coordination memo, covering the economic development and energy grant applications for south Durham and how the current projects feed the next comprehensive plan.

What was discussed

1. 2:03
   Roll call

   John Talbot opened the September 3, 2025 regular meeting with four members present, which is a quorum.

2. 9:15
   Agenda and minutes

   A board member asked to add discussion of the strategic coordination memo George Thebarge had presented at the previous meeting, and it was added at the end of the agenda. The August 6 minutes were accepted unanimously.

3. 9:15
   Town planner's report

   George Thebarge said his monthly report to the town manager is now included in the packet. He noted the select board will discuss economic development at its September 23 meeting and will hear from the open space plan consultants on October 28, and said planning board members would be welcome to take part in both.

4. 14:42
   Conditional use: bulky waste pickup at 28 Sawyer Road

   Matthew Moorhouse (?), a joint owner of the business, appeared for a conditional use review at map 4 lot 97. George Thebarge explained that because Durham has no commercial or industrial districts, business uses are allowed anywhere subject to conditional use review on environmental impact, drainage, traffic and the scale and intensity of use, and that no site plan review is triggered because existing buildings would be used. He noted an HVAC company received a conditional use for the same location in April of the previous year and that it is not clear whether that use continues.

5. 19:54
   Abutter notification

   The board worked through the abutters from the map and found more than the two or three notified, including properties across Sawyer Road and behind the site, naming Steven Carpenter at 54 Sawyer Road, Linda Marstellar (?), Bruce Marstellar (?) and land held by Pray Properties. Notice is required 10 business days ahead and George Thebarge said only about seven days had passed since the notices were received.

6. 25:09
   Concerns to be addressed before the next meeting

   Rather than work through the criteria, the board listed what it wants: a simple site plan showing where the dumpsters will sit and how far from the road, a screening plan because the site is open to view, the quantity of containers and trucks, and documentation that the applicants have the right to use the property. Members said the application feels incomplete.

7. 25:09
   Table the application and set a public hearing

   The board tabled the application to the October 1 meeting and agreed to hold a public hearing then, with the applicant to notify the abutters that were missed. The chair told those present the item would come back as continuing business at the front of that agenda.

8. 30:30
   Greystone Ridge sketch plan

   The board took up sketch plan review of a 13-lot cluster subdivision on Pinkham Brook Road, map 2 lots 35 and 42. George Thebarge recalled the board's earlier review of a three-lot private way application on the same site by the former owner, Mr. Puffer (?), and said that because the parcel abuts Brunswick, state law requires notice to that town's planning board and clerk. He also said the ordinance calls for paper street rights of way toward large abutting vacant parcels so future connections remain possible, without requiring any road be built now.

9. 36:07
   What the review process requires next

   George Thebarge described the preliminary plan stage, which produces a six-month approval and lets the applicant complete engineering, peer review and state permits before returning with financial security and homeowners association documents. He said the bank letter submitted, from Norway Savings, states the applicants are good customers but is not the financial capacity demonstration the ordinance requires, which is an engineering estimate with a letter of credit or a financing commitment.

10. 41:14
    Site conditions

    Matt Pallier (?), the applicant's engineering consultant, described 37.88 acres in the rural residential and agricultural district, mostly forested, with wetlands and streams delineated by Eric Lima (?). None of the wetlands are of special significance, and a man-made micro pit that could otherwise be a vernal pool is disqualified from significance, so it carries no 250-foot setback. Steep slopes sit near the pit and a wetland system runs through the centre of the parcel.

11. 46:15
    Proposed layout and permits

    Eleven lots would front a proposed 2,400 foot road ending in a hammerhead, entered through an existing 50-foot right of way, while the two existing lots keep their access on Blue Jay Way. The cluster provision halves the district's 90,000 square foot minimum lot and 300 feet of frontage; the plan shows a minimum lot of 50,000 square feet and a minimum frontage of 172 feet, with about 19 acres, just over 50 percent, as open space. A wetland crossing of under 4,300 square feet is exempt from DEP permit by rule, but an Army Corps permit, a stormwater permit and an MDOT entrance permit are required; site law is not.

12. 46:15
    Permitting timetable

    The consultants said they expect to submit to DEP and the Army Corps in October, that they are aware of the October 15 Army Corps rule change requiring a preconstruction notification form, and that the stormwater permit is supposed to take four and a half months but has been taking longer.

13. 52:06
    Steep slopes in the buildable area calculation

    A board member said the ordinance lists slopes greater than 20 percent among land unsuitable for development and that areas of the site exceed that but were not subtracted in the summary table. The consultants said other towns specify a minimum contiguous area, such as two acres, that Durham's ordinance does not, and agreed to add the calculation, saying it does not change the density of 13 lots.

14. 57:09
    Streams and buffers

    A board member said the three streams on the site should be shown clearly and counted as surface water in the same calculation. The consultants confirmed a 75-foot setback, said nothing is proposed inside the stream setback, and that stormwater practices may sit within the wetland buffer because the wetlands are not of special significance.

15. 57:09
    Buffering standards

    A board member said the town intends to take up buffering standards for subdivisions in the coming year and asked whether the applicant would work with the board as a model. George Thebarge said the draft amendments would give the board discretion to look at the road's impact on existing development where the ground is open rather than wooded.

16. 1:02:48
    Applicant's comments on the cluster design

    Michelle Harrison, a partial owner, said she is not a supporter of Durham's conservation subdivision provisions as they stand and would prefer larger lots and more trees, but that the design has buffers on all the lots, a large separation from one abutting neighbour after conversations with him, and wooded land along the rear. She said the buffers were laid out so residents can reach the open space without crossing other people's lots.

17. 1:02:48
    Existing trails, flooding and resource protection

    A board member asked for existing paths and trails to be shown so the board can consider retaining them. Juliet Caplinger asked about the floodplain, flooding and the wetland crossing design, and was told the site is not in a floodplain, there are no flooding concerns and the crossing has not been designed yet. There is no resource protection on the site.

18. 1:07:55
    Whether the plan qualifies as a cluster

    One member said the layout looked spread out for a cluster and wanted to see the full calculation; another said cluster does not mean bunched together but preserving open space, and was comfortable with it if the numbers work. Open space currently stands at 50.1 percent against a 50 percent requirement, and the board asked for an updated plan. John Talbot noted the application form did not tick the cluster box and asked for two well chosen paper street connections so the town does not keep creating isolated neighbourhoods.

19. 1:13:15
    Site visit

    Juliet Caplinger said a site visit is not discretionary for a cluster subdivision and must be held. The board agreed to schedule one when the applicant next appears.

20. 1:13:15
    Ordinance codification

    George Thebarge reported that General Code is converting the land use ordinance into its digital format and has completed an editorial and legal review, producing 139 technical questions that staff have answered. The consultant has agreed to let the town add policy amendments until the end of the calendar year. Of 14 minor policy issues identified, 13 have been drafted, with only the small marijuana exempt facilities item left.

21. 1:18:32
    Public process for the amendments

    George Thebarge proposed sending out all the draft amendments with a plain summary for the website, holding workshops and public information meetings through November and December, and getting the package to the select board straight after the December meeting so it can decide what goes before town meeting. He said any item that draws real opposition during public input can be pulled and dealt with later.

22. 1:18:32
    Fire chief's request to drop cisterns

    The fire chief has written asking that cisterns be removed as an approved fire protection water supply, saying 30,000 gallon systems are difficult to fill and refill and are subject to cracking and leaks, leaving fire ponds or sprinklers. Juliet Caplinger asked who is responsible for maintaining fire pond water levels; George Thebarge said the Deer Creek Crossing pond still holds a good supply in the current drought because of its clay lining and required hydrological analysis, while a pond on Cushing Road looked low, and that maintenance falls to the homeowners association with the town responsible for monitoring and enforcement.

23. 1:24:18
    Long-term maintenance of fire ponds

    Members questioned who will check a pond 20 or 30 years from now, comparing it to stormwater facilities the town has no inspectors for. George Thebarge said the fire department does monitor ponds and test dry hydrants, and that the tools exist for new subdivisions if the town commits the resources. He said the fire chief wants to keep fire ponds for now because the state has just prohibited sprinklers in accessory dwellings.

24. 1:34:56
    State law changes affecting the ordinance

    Accessory dwelling units must be allowed as standalone structures rather than only within a barn or over a garage, and similar mandated changes apply to mobile home parks and tiny homes. It is not yet clear whether LD 1829 removes the town's two acres per dwelling unit requirement. The provisions in effect now are the prohibition on sprinklers in accessory dwellings and the bar on reviewing three units as a subdivision or site plan, with other parts starting in 2027.

25. 1:40:02
    How the changes go on the warrant

    The plan is one warrant article carrying the 15 minor policy issues together, up or down, and a second article for the codification itself, so that if the first fails the codification still proceeds. Members discussed pulling anything that looks likely to sink the article, and asked that items within the 139 that amount to policy be pulled out for the board to look at again.

26. 1:45:21
    Legal review and public presentation

    George Thebarge said he had discussed with the town manager sending only the amendments that raise legal questions to the town attorney, given budget constraints, and had identified about six, including cannabis and the review of non-conforming expansions. Members argued for covering as much as possible in public meetings rather than only posting to the website, so nobody can say something was hidden and so the board hears about anything it has missed.

27. 1:56:27
    Economic development and energy grants

    George Thebarge said two grant applications are in, given as about $20,000 and $75,000, to explore an agricultural and energy economic development district in south Durham along the power line, where gravel pits could take solar farms and battery storage. He raised testing the sand and gravel aquifer as a possible semi-public water source, citing Lisbon's groundwater supply serving a lettuce producer at 300 gallons per minute. The agricultural committee has raised concern that this could be unfair competition for existing organic growers.

28. 2:01:45
    Strategic coordination and the next comprehensive plan

    George Thebarge set out the projects now running: the housing response to LD 1829, codification, the economic development district, the agricultural committee's work with Maine Farmland Trust, and the Conservation Commission's two-year open space plan. He said these form the research phase for the next comprehensive plan, with money to be budgeted for phase one and enactment aimed at the 2029 town meeting, and that a proposal has been requested from GPCOG to support an economic development committee, to be presented on September 23.

29. 2:07:19
    Marketing an economic development district and adjournment

    Members said creating a district does not by itself attract anyone, and that the town would have to market it. The meeting closed with a reminder of the September 23 select board session on economic development and the October 28 session on the open space plan, where a packet is expected the week before.

What was decided

• 9:15
  Add discussion of the strategic coordination memo to the end of the agendapassed
• 9:15
  Accept the minutes of the August 6, 2025 meetingpassed
• 25:09
  Table the conditional use application for the bulky waste pickup business at 28 Sawyer Road to the October 1 meeting and hold a public hearing at that meetingtabled
• 25:09
  Direct the applicant to notify the abutters that were missed, including those across Sawyer Road, and to allow the full notice periodpassed
• 1:07:55
  Indicate by consensus that the Greystone Ridge sketch plan may go forward to preliminary plan, subject to recalculating the unsuitable land to include slopes over 20 percent and the streams, and confirming the open space figurepassed
• 1:13:15
  Schedule a site visit for the Greystone Ridge cluster subdivision, which Juliet Caplinger said is required rather than discretionarypassed
• 1:18:32
  Add the fire chief's request to eliminate cisterns as an approved fire protection water supply as a fifteenth minor policy amendmentpassed
• 1:45:21
  Send the amendments that raise legal questions, about six of them, to the town attorney before the public participation processpassed
• 2:12:26
  Adjournpassed

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

• 19:54
  The bulky waste application was tabled because abutters had been missed. Only two or three property owners were notified, the board identified more across and behind Sawyer Road, and George Thebarge said only about seven days had passed against a requirement of 10 business days. The application returns October 1 with a public hearing.
• 46:15
  Greystone Ridge expects to file with DEP and the Army Corps in October. An Army Corps rule change on October 15 requires a different form for the wetland crossing, and the consultants said the stormwater permit is supposed to take four and a half months but has been taking longer because the department is backed up.
• 1:18:32
  The fire chief has asked that cisterns be dropped as an approved fire protection water supply, leaving fire ponds or sprinklers, and is keeping fire ponds only because the state has just prohibited sprinklers in accessory dwellings. The board asked who will maintain pond water levels decades from now; George Thebarge said the Deer Creek Crossing pond is holding water through the current drought while a pond on Cushing Road looked low.
• 1:56:27
  The town has applied for two grants, given as about $20,000 and $75,000, to explore an agricultural and energy economic development district in south Durham along the power line, using existing gravel pits for solar and battery storage. The agricultural committee has objected that this could be unfair competition for the town's existing organic growers.

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 9 decisions summarised.

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