ROXBURY — Selectmen on Tuesday received a petition asking for discussion and review of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance voted on June 15.
But the petitioners were mistaken: It was actually the Floodplain Management Ordinance that was defeated 17-10 on that date.
The document also asks whether the town should vote to reverse the decision on the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance.
Chairman John Sutton said the board voted unanimously to have the town attorney review the petition for legality. Sutton said Tuesday night that if the town attorney doesn't find fault with the petition, the board would vote to accept it at its Nov. 24 meeting. Barring any problems, a public hearing would be convened on Dec. 1.
Town Clerk Nina Hodgkins said 36 people who signed the petition did so based on the wrong ordinance.
The floodplain ordinance and its zoning maps would have updated Roxbury's 1998 ordinance and maps to 2009 flood insurance standards, as identified by both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Oxford County. It also would have established a flood hazard development permit system and a review procedure for development activities within the town's designated flood hazard areas.
In September, selectmen learned from FEMA that because Roxbury defeated the ordinance, eight Roxbury property owners with current flood insurance policies won't be able to renew them.
Additionally, the town won't be eligible for any public-assistance FEMA grants to prevent continued flooding damage to town roads and trails for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. The affected roads and trails would only be returned to pre-disaster conditions.
In other business, selectmen asked Code Enforcement Officer Richard Kent to issue stop-work orders to junkyard owners Fred Hodgkins, Bryant Hodgkins and Dale Hodgkins.
Those three and another who has not been notified don't have permits to operate junkyards, Sutton said.
"We've had numerous complaints about the way it looks for years," Sutton said. The four junkyards are on Route 120 in Roxbury Notch.
Sutton said there is only one permitted junkyard in town: Cogley's Welding and Salvage.
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