Select Board Meeting ~ October 10, 2023

2023-10-10 · Select Board · 41:43 · watch on YouTube →

Regular Select Board meeting held October 10, 2023, chaired by Joe Tomm, with no public comment and no old business. The single item of new business was a briefing from Town Planner George Thebarge on Durham's historic preservation ordinances, requested by the town manager; Thebarge said he was there for information only and was not asking for a vote. He described three overlapping jurisdictions (code enforcement officer, planning board, historic district commission) and the amendments he had drafted more than a year earlier to consolidate them, which the historic district commission declined to advance in late summer. Board members discussed how the town would process an application in the Southwest Bend district while the commission has no one willing to lead or call meetings, with the suggestion that the town attorney or Maine Municipal Association be consulted. John Talbot, chair of the Planning Board, then gave an update on subdivisions and the ordinance calendar for the April town meeting. The board accepted the consent agenda and adjourned.

What was discussed

1. 6:30
   Call to order

   Joe Tomm opened the meeting, noted a quorum, said Joe Roy was excused and Heather Roy was running late, and led the pledge. There was no public comment and no old business.

2. 6:30
   Historic district ordinance briefing: three overlapping jurisdictions

   George Thebarge described Durham's historic preservation program as three simultaneous tracks. The code enforcement officer must review work on about 10 historic properties under section 5.14 of the land use ordinance against federal Interior Department guidelines, and that review authority extends 1,500 feet from the property line of each of those sites. The planning board must require an inventory of historic features on subdivision and site plan applications and consult the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

3. 11:59
   Southwest Bend district and the proposed amendments

   Thebarge said the historic district itself is the Southwest Bend, where any modification requires a certificate of appropriateness from the historic district commission. He said the 2018 comprehensive plan called for coordinating the overlapping roles after repeated conflicts between the three bodies, and that he was asked in 2021 to draft amendments. The three recommendations were to eliminate article 12, to reduce review scope from a quarter mile to the properties and their abutters, and to convert the commission from a regulatory body to a townwide advisory committee.

4. 17:00
   Commission's withdrawal and what it means for applicants

   John Talbot said the historic commission had been working on simplifying article 12 alongside the board of appeals, solar and housing articles, but elected in late summer not to go forward, leaving three articles active. Thebarge said the commission's only project review authority is inside the Southwest Bend district, which he estimated at 20 or 30 properties and which extends beyond the Union Church down Ferry Road and up Royalsborough Road.

5. 22:11
   Objection to proceeding without the commission

   Heather Roy arrived late and said she was uncomfortable discussing the ordinance while the commission was in an in-between status and could not explain why it pulled the changes. Thebarge said he was present because the town manager asked him to be, that the commission has nobody willing to lead or call a meeting, and that he could not speak to why it stopped.

6. 27:40
   Interim process if an application arrives

   The board separated the long-term ordinance rewrite from the immediate question of how to handle an application while the commission is inactive. Thebarge suggested asking the town attorney or the Maine Municipal Association whether the responsibility flips to the board of appeals, planning board or select board. Discussion covered appointing replacement members or hiring an outside expert, which was said to possibly cost the town more money.

7. 27:40
   Codification

   A board member raised the concern that rewriting the historic ordinance now could be undone by a later codification of the whole ordinance, including bringing it in line with the town manager form of government. Thebarge said he has advocated codification since he started and has asked for a meeting with the consultant, and that he prefers to fix structural issues first.

8. 32:53
   Planning Board update

   At Richard George's request, John Talbot reported two minor plat changes at the last meeting, the larger being Bowie Hill dropping from 13 lots to 11, and a site visit about three weeks earlier for four more lots at Ruby Lane off Swamp Road, for which no formal application has been filed. He said the board is now focused on ordinances ahead of town meeting.

9. 32:53
   Ordinance schedule for April town meeting

   Talbot said the Conservation Commission is leading the solar article, focused on panel height, buffering and escrow for removal rather than which land suits solar, while the planning board will finish the appeals board changes. A public information meeting on housing is tentatively set for November 15, with a survey, a January planning board meeting to review comments, a select board draft, and a formal public hearing no more than 30 days and no less than seven days before town meeting.

10. 32:53
    Building permits and additional dwellings

    Heather Roy asked how building permits would be counted if the housing changes allow more dwellings on a lot that already has a single home. Talbot answered that it depends on construction: a duplex or a single family home with an accessory apartment is one permit, and two separate houses are two permits.

11. 38:26
    Manager report

    The manager report was brief: the election is November 7, and absentee voting has begun with requests accepted online, in person or by phone. The board thanked those who put the town newsletter together.

12. 38:26
    Consent agenda, upcoming meetings and adjournment

    The consent agenda was accepted with one abstention. Upcoming meetings listed were select board on October 24 and November 14, and a planning board meeting on November 1. No executive session was held.

What was decided

• 38:26
  Accept the consent agenda as presented (moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George, carried 3-0-1; one member abstained, saying she had not attended the meetings covered by the minutes)passed
• 38:26
  Adjourn at 8:44pm (moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy, carried 3-0)passed

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.

Motions the minutes record

The town's own written account of what was decided, taken from sb_meeting_minutes_10_10_23.txt. It owes nothing to the recording or to a model: the clerk typed it, with the vote. Where the summary above claims a decision this list does not carry, the summary is the part to doubt.

• accept the consent agenda as presentedcarried 3-0-1

  Moved by Josh Klein-Golden, seconded by Richard George

• adjourn at 8:44pmcarried 3-0

  Moved by Richard George, seconded by Heather Roy

Worth knowing

• 17:00
  The historic district commission has nobody willing to lead or call a meeting, so it is not meeting, yet any project in the Southwest Bend district, estimated at 20 to 30 properties, still requires a certificate of appropriateness from it before work can proceed. Thebarge said the code officer has not received an application affected by this.
• 6:30
  Under the 2005 ordinance the code officer's historic review authority reaches 1,500 feet from the property line of each of about 10 historic properties; the drafted amendment would cut that back to the properties themselves and their abutters.
• 22:11
  Heather Roy said she did not like the optics of the board discussing the ordinance while the commission was in an in-between status, and wanted to ask the commission why it pulled the changes before moving forward.
• 38:26
  The election is November 7 and absentee voting has begun; ballots can be requested online, in person or by phone.

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: 2 passages of motion language, against 2 decisions summarised.

Elsewhere

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