EUSTIS – Selectmen rejected a petition to rezone land from recreational/residential to general purpose and to amend minimum lot size. A landowner wanted voters to consider the questions on the petition Saturday during the annual town meeting.

Selectmen say the petition would spot zone an area for development and is not consistent with a town development plan.

However, Beverly Lavigne’s attorney states that it wouldn’t be spot zoning and selectmen have no justifiable basis to refuse to place the request before voters Saturday.

Lavigne of New Sharon, who owns property in Eustis on Old Dead River Road, presented selectmen with a petition signed by 26 residents last year.

The petition calls for a special town meeting to amend, rezone and correct mapping for the town of Eustis land use ordinance and zoning adopted March 6, 1993, and amended March 7, 1998.

The two articles on the petition ask voters to rezone land from recreational/residential to general purpose in the vicinity east of Old Dead River Road to Bigelow town line and back to the Mountain View Road; and to amend minimum lot size in general purpose from 40,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet or 20,000 square feet.

Town officials consulted with an attorney and Maine Municipal Association on the petition.

Selectmen opted not to put the issue before townspeople because they believe that changing the zoning in Lavigne’s subdivision is spot zoning, selectmen’s Chairman Jay Wyman said.

Wyman also said it is not consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan.

In a letter to Lavigne’s attorney signed by all three selectmen, the officials state, “We remain firm in our decision not to include her articles on the annual town warrant.”

Maine Municipal Association’s letter to town officials states that selectmen were within their rights to reject the petition.

Richard Flewelling, association representative, wrote that the way he understood it the petition only concerns Lavigne’s property. The petition appears, he stated, to request an illegal spot zoning and selectmen have the sound discretion to refuse to honor it.

Lavigne’s attorney, David Pierson, stated in a letter to selectmen dated Feb. 23, that the association’s advice to selectmen is wrong because it is based on a critical misunderstanding of the facts.

The petition seeks to rezone an entire zoning district in which the land is owned by a number of landowners, not just Lavigne’s property, Pierson stated.

“In fact, because of recent sales, less than a one-half of the land that would be affected by a change in zoning is owned by Lavigne,” he stated.

Therefore, the request to rezone the land is not “illegal spot zoning” under the association’s interpretation, Pierson stated.

More important, assuming the association’s letter is correct with respect to the town’s comprehensive plan, Pierson stated rezoning the area to general purpose would make the zoning more consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan, which calls for 40,000-square-foot lots in this area and not the 80,000-square-foot-minimum size currently required.

The zoning request cannot be characterized as illegal in any respect and the selectmen have no justifiable basis for refusing to place this request on March 6 town meeting warrant, he wrote.

The request to reduce the minimum lot size in the general purpose zone to 20,000 or 30,000 square feet presents a separate issue. It may be necessary to amend the comprehensive plan, Pierson stated.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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