JAY – Planning Board members proposed an increase to the minimum road frontage needed in a subdivision but added some flexibility to minimum lot sizes in subdivisions.
The board worked on an amendment Tuesday to the Jay Environmental Control and Improvement Ordinance that makes several changes to the town’s governing of land uses and industrial oversight.
For the most part, the changes add language to the ordinance so it will be be in line with state standards and other town ordinances, and adds or clarifies definitions.
The amendment will go before selectmen at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the Community Building.
One of the proposed changes is increasing subdivision application fees from the current $100 base fee plus $40 per lot or dwelling, Code Enforcement Officer Shiloh Ring said.
The proposed fees would be $100 per lot or dwelling, plus an additional $150 for each lot or dwelling to be used if the board needs to hire services such as a traffic study. The extra $150 would be refundable if not used.
During a review of the draft amendment, which is expected to go before voters in December, Planning Board Secretary Barbara Cook suggested the town increase the minimum lot size in a subdivision to two acres rather than the 40,000 square feet for each dwelling unit that currently exists.
The proposed change in the ordinance calls for the minimum lot size in a subdivision to be 40,000 square feet, except for any multiple-unit housing, such as a duplex or apartment building, for which the minimum lot size is 20,000 square feet per dwelling or unit.
Ring said state law requires a minimum of 20,000 square feet per lot for property on a private septic system. The town of Jay doesn’t have a minimum lot size for property on public sewer and water, she said.
Currently, if someone was going to build a three-unit apartment building and have a private septic system, the site would have to be at least 120,000 square feet, Ring said. With the proposed amendment, the site would have to be only 60,000 square feet, she said.
Planning Board Vice Chairwoman Mary Howes said she didn’t favor increasing the lot size in a subdivision to two acres.
“You get into telling people what they can do with their property; I have a problem with that,” Howes said. “The way it’s written now you would need 80,000 square feet for a duplex.”
An acre is plenty, Chairman Delance White said.
“The object here is to provide more flexibility for people,” town attorney Michael Gentile said.
Planning Board members also propose increasing the amount of road frontage in a subdivision from 120 feet to 150 feet.
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