AUBURN – A plan to let city planning staff decide the fate of some small zoning projects is coming back, despite being dispatched in November by city councilors.
The Auburn Planning Board members will take another look at a plan to let small businesses expand buildings that don’t match zoning codes. If they approve, the amendment will be decided by the City Council.
“I think it has a better chance this time,” said backer Jim McPhee, a freelance planner. “It’s been approved by both the Planning Board and the planning staff before. And this is new council.”
McPhee said the amendment is almost identical to one the City Council voted on in November. That vote ended in a tie with councilors Bob Mennealy, Belinda Gerry and Joe DeFilipp voting in favor of it and Kelly Matzen, Bethel Shields and Norm Bilodeau voting against it. The seventh councilor, Rich Livingston, didn’t attend that meeting.
City Councilor Eric Samson, who replaced DeFilipp in November’s election, said he wanted to resurrect amendment.
“I know this had a long history,” Samson said. “It kept getting delayed and delayed before it was turned down. But I’ve talked to some people about what it might mean for small businesses, and I’d like to refer it back to the Planning Board once again.”
The Planning Board is set to review the amendment at its March 8 meeting.
No changes
Current zoning codes require businesses that don’t conform to zoning codes to go before the Planning Board if they hope to expand – adding a second floor to a building, for example. That can cost as much as $1,800 in city fees and engineering expenses.
McPhee’s amendment would let those businesses ask city staff for approval for expansions of less than 25 percent of existing square footage. If staff doesn’t agree, the business could appeal to the Planning Board.
Councilors first discussed the matter in May and tabled it then. It was tabled several times before being voted on in November.
“Now, it’s starting over from square one again,” McPhee said.
Timmy Larochelle, of Always Fresh Larochelle Seafood at 22 Mill St., has one business that would benefit from the change. Larochelle said he’d like to build a half-story office on top of his shop, but city zoning codes won’t allow it. He’d need an exception to the parking requirement.
“According to the city’s count, I have two spaces out there, and I’d need a bunch more,” he said. “But I can’t spend $4,000 to hire an engineer to get that changed.”
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