TURNER – A proposed zoning change here would put 5,000 acres into a new “critical rural district” that would greatly affect uses of that land.
Most of it is undeveloped now. It includes bogs, swamps and inaccessible parcels.
This change would set the stage for the transfer of development rights from that district to other parts of town and make this community only the second in the state to begin using this method to stop sprawl, says Zoning Committee Chairman Mike Gotto.
The new zoning proposal would affect 41 owners of 59 parcels that comprise those 5,000 acres, according to town office records.
Many of those owners are up in arms.
“People should know they are losing all their rights to build anything on their property because it is being put in the critical rural area,” landowner Chuck Dunn emphasized.
Dunn, who owns 126 acres on the Androscoggin River that would be in the new district, found out about the rezoning through a friend and not, he says, through any notification.
“People need to know their rights have been stolen. We never got notice that our land was being moved to this new zone.”
Getting specifics
Last year, a new comprehensive plan was adopted at town meeting. That plan has a general outline of areas that were reclassified. Now, a new, proposed zoning ordinance is being drawn and, as part of that process, zones have been drawn on the tax maps and reflect specific land areas and owners who would be affected. The critical rural district is one of the proposed changes in that ordinance.
The critical rural district would allow few uses of the land, according to the draft ordinance. Allowable uses would include: timber harvesting, agriculture and forest management, as well as parks, sludge spreading and gravel pits with Planning Board approval. Virtually no commercial uses or structures would be allowed.
The landowners, however, would have one advantage that no one in other zones has – the ability to sell the development rights associated with their property. Although their use of their land would be extremely limited, if landowners agree to put their land into a conservation easement, they could negotiate on the open market to sell the development rights.
In fact, proponents say, the point of setting up the critical rural district is to create the transfer of those development rights.
By using the transfer of development rights, the theory is that sprawl can be kept to a minimum by leaving some land undeveloped and creating greater densities on land better fit to handle it, according to the proposed zoning ordinance.
Along the Androscoggin
Land that would be reclassified into the critical rural zone includes parcels near The Riverlands, between the Androscoggin River and Upper Street, on the Androscoggin north of The Riverlands, between North Parish Road and General Turner Hill Road and around Little Wilson Pond, which is in the watershed area for Lake Auburn, according to the proposal.
According to Gotto, the 5,000 acres put into the new critical area is land that wouldn’t be appropriate for development in any case. Problems with the land include bogs, swamps, inaccessibility, distance from roadways or essential services, steep slopes and ecological or environmental considerations.
Gotto has been asked by Zoning Committee members to make a change in the proposal. They instructed him to work on an amendment that would allow for one structure on a 20-acre portion of each owner’s property. He said that amendment will be presented at the public hearing Wednesday night on the proposed ordinance.
Many of the parcels, however, are hundreds of acres and the use of only 20 of those acres, although a concession, is not enough, Dunn said.
“It’s the value of letting me do what I want with my land. It’s not about dollars,” Dunn said.
Increasing density
Under the ordinance, the transfer of development rights would allow developers of multi-family dwellings, elderly and congregate housing complexes, and open-space subdivisions to purchase those rights and use them to increase density elsewhere in town. The ordinance says that the density could be as much doubled on those other projects, for instance putting 20 units on 20 acres instead of only 10 units. The ordinance specifies criteria for this to occur, including proper soils, drainage and access.
A map showing the proposed, new zoning classifications is on display at the town office and copies of the proposed ordinance will be available on the town’s Web site.
A public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, at the Town Office. A second public hearing is scheduled for March 3.
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