Planning Board Meeting ~ February 15, 2024

2024-02-15 · Planning Board · 2:30:52 · watch on YouTube →

Planning Board meeting of February 15, 2024, postponed from February 7. The board took the Leisure Campground's application to expand by 40 RV sites on Map 2 Lot 13 from a completeness review through a full set of findings of fact to site plan approval in one sitting, with Juliet Caplinger recused as an abutting neighbour. Rather than order a peer review or grant the waivers the applicant had asked for on drainage, wastewater, erosion control and stormwater, the board granted approval conditioned on the state permits and engineering designs coming back to it before the town issues any permit, on the fire chief approving a campsite numbering plan, and on the plan being retitled as a site plan with the conditions listed on it. The town planner reported that the select board has put the housing and solar ordinance amendments on the town meeting warrant and amended the fees proposal, and that GPCOG will start an $8,000 visioning study of the town campus after town meeting. The board set March 13 at 6:30pm at the fire station for the formal public hearing on the land use articles.

What was discussed

1. 6:29
   Quorum, agenda and minutes

   John Talbot opened the postponed meeting with all five present and added an item to set the date of the public hearing on the land use articles. The minutes of January 3, 2024 were accepted, with Marc Derr abstaining as he was not on the board at the time.

2. 6:29
   Town planner's report on the ordinance amendments

   George Thebarge reported that the select board reviewed the draft land use ordinance amendments on February 6 and passed the housing and solar amendments unanimously onto the town meeting warrant. It tabled the fees proposal, then changed the ordinance text from reviewing fees annually to periodically, to match the warrant article, and added an umbrella provision giving it authority to set a fee for any administrative service called for by the land use ordinance. He also understood the warrant would carry around $10,000 for digital codification of the ordinance.

3. 6:29
   GPCOG campus study and the planner's hours

   Communications with GPCOG have reopened on a master plan and visioning study covering the fire station, town hall, Eureka Center and ball field, to pull the various ideas for those buildings into one plan. It costs $8,000, covered by a grant GPCOG obtained from the Maine Department of Transportation, which is justified because the study will look at the intersection, parking access onto the state highway and pedestrian circulation, none of which exists now; work would start after town meeting with a presentation to the select board and planning board. Members also noted the warrant includes four more hours a week of the town planner's time, taking him from about 20 to 24, tied to his taking on work with the board of appeals.

4. 11:34
   Leisure Campground expansion: completeness review begins

   Juliet Caplinger recused herself as an abutting neighbour. George Thebarge worked through the deficiency list the board issued on December 6. The full-size plan submitted is titled an existing conditions plan by Mainland Development Consultants of Livermore Falls and carries a note that no ordinance review, engineering design or permitting was done by them.

5. 16:37
   Septic, sight distances and wastewater

   The applicant resubmitted preliminary soil test pit logs by Bonnie Cobb, a licensed soil evaluator, and explained she cannot design systems over 2,000 gallons a day, so an engineer is now involved and new test pits are due on the 28th. On sight distances, the applicant had submitted a MaineDOT diagram carrying a liability disclaimer and no measurements; he later pointed to 500 feet marked on the plan by Mainland, and said an engineered traffic study would take eight weeks and cost $5,500. On wastewater he asked to waive submission of engineering plans, having supplied an unsigned engineering proposal dated December 21, 2023 for a system of 5,000 gallons a day; George Thebarge flagged that the proposal describes 40 park model trailer sites, which may not match what the board reviewed at conditional use.

6. 21:55
   Erosion control, stormwater and the peer review suggestion

   The applicant sought waivers of the erosion and sedimentation control plan and the stormwater plan on the grounds the site is not in the Runaround Pond watershed and no impervious surfaces are being created. George Thebarge calculated roughly 32,000 square feet of disturbance for the road network plus about 1,000 square feet per campsite for 40 sites, around 1.65 acres in total, which exceeds the one acre threshold at which the state requires a stormwater permit. He suggested the board consider a peer review at the applicant's expense by Gorrill Palmer on whether state stormwater rules apply, whether the project warrants a formal engineered site plan, and what the sight distances actually are, citing the Hollow Road subdivision where a peer reviewer found a state permit was needed after the applicant said it was not.

7. 27:00
   Culverts and who can require them

   The applicant said his excavator will put culverts in where they are needed during construction. Board members said they want the likely locations shown, and George Thebarge said neither the code officer nor the road commissioner has authority to require a culvert that is not on a plan approved by the planning board, so anything not on the plan would be advisory only.

8. 37:46
   Who designs and inspects the sanitary system

   John Talbot pressed on who will make sure the long sanitary run keeps the required horizontal and vertical separation where it crosses the water line. The applicant said the engineer is designing the whole system, piping included, as a state-stamped print that the excavator can build from, and that the code enforcement officer signs the plumbing permit for anything under 2,000 gallons a day. The board confirmed the expansion is seasonal.

9. 43:01
   Buffering, signage and lighting

   The applicant said existing trees provide the buffering, with nothing within 100 feet and the nearest house 500 feet away, and that he had added stop signs and 5 mile per hour speed limit signs to the plan. On lighting he said the campground is deliberately kept dark, which campers prefer and which also helps deter browntail moths, with motion sensors and cameras on the four buildings; no light fixtures or illumination levels are shown on the plan.

10. 54:00
    Campsite numbering and emergency access

    Allan Purinton raised the numbering, noting site 66 sits next to sites 8 and 16, and said an ambulance or fire apparatus arriving at night needs to find a site quickly. Members discussed directional signage at forks in the road showing which site numbers lie which way, as other campgrounds and hospitals use. The applicant said the fire chief had been reasonable about it and agreed to work with him.

11. 59:05
    Whether to waive the stormwater plan

    George Thebarge explained the waiver test is whether this is a minor or a major project, with the pond watershed and impervious surface percentage as two factors, counterbalanced here by the 1.65 acres of disturbance. The applicant conceded he will need a state stormwater permit and said he asked for a waiver only so he could get through the town process and start the state one, since the plumbing permit cannot be signed until the town approves. Members noted that even after site plan approval no work can start without the state permits.

12. 1:09:29
    Board settles on conditions instead of waivers or peer review

    Having accepted the 500 foot sight distance from Mainland and the applicant's concession on the stormwater permit, the board decided a peer review was not needed. Instead it would deny or set aside the waivers and attach a condition of approval requiring the applicant to bring the state permits, the erosion and sedimentation control plan and the engineered wastewater design back to the planning board before the town issues any permits.

13. 1:20:52
    Application determined complete, and findings of fact

    The board voted that the application is complete, meaning it has enough information to decide, and then worked through George Thebarge's draft findings of fact one at a time, voting on each. Findings covered submission requirements, use of the site, road capacity and peak hour trips, entrance sight distances, internal circulation, parking, utilities, lighting, signage, fire suppression water supply, buffering, historic resources, financial capacity and technical ability.

14. 1:49:02
    Fire suppression water supply

    The applicant proposes a 2,000 gallon water storage tank shown on the plan, with fire department hookups, and noted the existing pool holds 25,000 gallons. The board found the supply meets NFPA 1142 for suburban and rural firefighting on the basis that the fire chief had indicated it is adequate.

15. 1:59:15
    Financial capacity

    The project was estimated during the conditional use review at $700,000 plus or minus, financed from personal savings, but that figure was based on 209 sites; the project has since been cut to 40. The board relied on a Bangor Savings Bank letter confirming deposit accounts, whose amount is given inconsistently on the recording as $635,000 and $675,000, and found the applicant has adequate resources given the reduction in scope.

16. 2:05:01
    Technical ability and the conditions of approval

    The board added conditions that it will review the plans and state approvals before the town issues permits, and that the existing conditions plan be retitled a site plan with the word draft removed and the conditions of approval listed on the print, so that anyone looking at the plan years later sees them. George Thebarge agreed to draft the final wording and circulate it. The three conditions were then read back: the state permits with engineering designs before any town permit; the signage revision with campsite numbering reviewed and approved by the fire chief; and the revision and retitling of the plan.

17. 2:16:48
    Site plan approval

    The board granted site plan approval based on the findings of fact and the three conditions of approval. Members told the applicant he could speed things up by working with the code officer and getting his site plan to the fire chief.

18. 2:22:14
    Date for the land use public hearing and upcoming applications

    The board set the formal public hearing on the land use articles for March 13 at 6:30pm at the fire station, noting that once the articles come back from the select board there is no room for changes and the hearing is to inform residents before town meeting. George Thebarge said two site plans are coming: a local business expansion needing both a conditional use permit and site plan review, and a CMP filing in March for a conditional use permit, site plan and shoreland zoning permit for a power line pole replacement project, on which the board's review is confined to the parts within resource protection and shoreland zoning. Whichever is submitted first will be reviewed first.

What was decided

• 6:29
  Accept the January 3, 2024 meeting minutes, moved by Allan Purinton and seconded by Juliet Caplinger; the minutes record 4-0-1 with Marc Derr abstainingpassed
• 1:20:52
  Determine that the application for the expansion of Leisure Campground is complete, moved by Allan Purinton and seconded by Brian Lanoie; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:20:52
  Find that the applicant has met the submission requirements for site plan approval, striking item 22 which was the waiver request, moved by Allan Purinton and seconded by Brian Lanoie; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:26:43
  Find that the site plan reflects the natural capabilities of the site, with added findings that a state stormwater permit is required and that the final plan must be submitted to the planning board before the town issues any permits, moved by Allan Purintonpassed
• 1:26:43
  Find that the access road has the capacity to take the added traffic and the project does not generate peak hour trips affecting traffic safety, moved by John Talbot and seconded by Brian Lanoie; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:32:31
  Find that the project entrances meet safe sight distances, on the basis that the applicant provided a measurement by a qualified professional showing 500 feet, moved by John Talbotpassed
• 1:38:35
  Find that the site plan minimises cut and fill and that entrance and internal circulation are adequate, with the state permit condition repeated, moved by Brian Lanoie and seconded by Allan Purinton; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:38:35
  Find that the parking layout and design meet the standards for setbacks, aisles, spaces, signage and safe pedestrian access, moved by Allan Purinton and seconded by Brian Lanoie; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:43:39
  Find that adequate utilities are provided, placed underground and screened, conditioned on the state permits and the engineering design for the wastewater system being submitted before town permits are issued, moved by Brian Lanoie and seconded by Allan Purinton; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:43:39
  Find that the lighting plan provides adequate illumination within ordinance limits and prevents glare becoming a nuisance, moved by Marc Derr and seconded by Brian Lanoie; the minutes record 4-0passed
• 1:49:02
  Find on signage that no detailed design information was provided to verify compliance with section 5.24 but the information supplied is adequate, and condition approval on the campsite numbering plan being approved by the fire chief for safety before town permits, moved by John Talbot and seconded by Brian Lanoiepassed
• 1:49:02
  Find that the water supply will sustain the fire suppression requirements of NFPA 1142, based on the 2,000 gallon storage tank with fire department hookups and the fire chief's view that it is adequate, moved by Allan Purintonpassed
• 1:54:07
  Find that the landscaping plan adequately buffers abutters and the public from views of parking, garbage storage, utilities and outdoor storagepassed
• 1:54:07
  Find that there are no historic or archaeological resources on the site that would be affected, moved by Brian Lanoie and seconded by Allan Purintonpassed
• 1:59:15
  Find that the applicant has adequate financial resources, noting the $700,000 estimate was based on 209 units and the project is now 40, moved by Marc Derrpassed
• 2:05:01
  Find that the applicant has the experience and has retained qualified consultants and contractors, with conditions that the planning board review the plans and state approvals before town permits and that the existing conditions plan be revised into a site plan listing the conditions of approvalpassed
• 2:16:48
  Grant site plan approval for the Leisure Campground expansion based on the findings of fact and the three conditions of approvalpassed
• 2:22:14
  Hold the formal public hearing on the land use articles on March 13 at 6:30pm at the fire stationpassed
• 2:22:14
  Adjourn the meetingpassed

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 pbminutes_02_15_2024.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 January 3rd, 2024 meeting minutescarried 4-0-1

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Juliet Caplinger

• the application for the expansion of Leisure Campground is completecarried 4-0

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the applicant has the submission requirements for site plan approval except for Item #22, which is the waiver request that can be removed, Items 1 through 21in the findings of fact are included in the motioncarried 4-0

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the site plan reflects natural capabilities of site to support the development. Building and parking are located on suitable land. Environmentally sensitive portions of site have been avoided and protected and natural dr…

  Moved by Allan Purinton, no seconder recorded; no outcome recorded

• the access road has the capacity to take the added traffic proposed and the project does not generate peak hour trips that affect traffic safety on those roadscarried 4-0

  Moved by John Talbot, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the project entrances meet the safe site distances and are appropriately spaced to meet traffic safety standards at the findings of the existing project entrance located on Route 136 which has the posted speed limit of 5…

  Moved by John Talbot, no seconder recorded; no outcome recorded

• the site plan minimizes cut and fill alterations and provides adequate room for safe operations. The entrance and circulation are adequate for the types of vehicles anticipated and fire lanes around buildings are adequat…carried 4-0

  Moved by Brian Lanoie, seconded by Allan Purinton

• the parking layout and design proposed parking meets the design standards for setback aisles and parking spaces, signage prevention of damage to lighting and landscaping and for safe pedestrian accesscarried 4-0

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• adequate utilities are provided and placed underground and adequately screened with the condition that State permits and engineering design designed for the system be submitted to the planning board prior to the issuance…carried 4-0

  Moved by Brian Lanoie, seconded by Allan Purinton

• the lighting plan provides adequate illumination meeting ordinance limitations and preventing glare from creating a nuisance for abutters or publiccarried 4-0

  Moved by Marc Derr, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the application provides no detailed design information on the proposed signage to verify compliance with Section 5.24. The signage information provided is adequate and the site numbering plan is to becarried

  Moved by John Talbot, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the water supply will sustain fire suppression requirements of NFPA 1142 water supplies for suburban and rural firefighting which will include findings of the existing condition plan shows a conceptual location for a 2,0…

  Moved by Allan Purinton, no seconder recorded; no outcome recorded

• the applicants landscaping plan adequately buffers abutters in the public from views of parking garbage storage utilities and outdoor storage and is designed for adequate for long-term maintenance. Markcarried 4-0

  Moved by Brian Lanoie, seconded by Marc Derr

• there are no historic or archaeological resources on the site that would be affected by the project’s developmentcarried 4-0

  Moved by Brian Lanoie, seconded by Allan Purinton

• the applicant has adequate financial resources to construct improvements and keeping with the standardscarried 4-0

  Moved by Allan Purinton, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• the applicant has experience with site development and has retained qualified consultants and contractors to complete the project in keeping with the standards

  Moved by Brian Lanoie, seconded by Allan Purinton; no outcome recorded

• the applicant has the experience with site development and has retained qualified consultants and contractors to complete the project in keeping with the standards and findings Items 1 through 3 as provided here and the …

  Moved by John Talbot, no seconder recorded; no outcome recorded

• grant site plan approval based on the findings of fact and conditions of approvalcarried 4-0

  Moved by John Talbot, seconded by Brian Lanoie

• adjourn the meetingcarried 5-0

  Moved by Juliet Caplinger, seconded by Allan Purinton

Worth knowing

• 21:55
  The expansion will disturb roughly 1.65 acres, above the one acre threshold at which the state requires a stormwater permit, and the applicant conceded he will need one. Rather than grant the waivers he asked for on drainage, wastewater, erosion control and stormwater, the board approved the plan on condition that the state permits and engineering designs come back to it before the town issues any permit.
• 54:00
  Campsite numbers at the campground are not in sequence: site 66 sits next to sites 8 and 16. The board made fire chief approval of a numbering and directional signage plan a condition of approval, so that emergency vehicles arriving at night can find a site.
• 6:29
  The town meeting warrant will carry four more hours a week of the town planner's time, from about 20 to 24, with the extra hours tied to him taking on work with the board of appeals, plus around $10,000 for digital codification of the ordinance. GPCOG will run an $8,000 visioning study of the fire station, town hall, Eureka Center and ball field, paid for by a Maine DOT grant.
• 1:59:15
  The campground expansion was originally proposed at 209 sites and is now 40. The bank letter the board relied on for financial capacity is read out on the recording as both $635,000 and $675,000, so the figure cannot be stated with confidence.

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: 6 passages of motion language, against 19 decisions summarised.

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