CHESTERVILLE – The Chesterville Planning Board wants to hear input on some proposed ordinance changes.

A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the town office to review proposed changes to the land and shoreland zoning ordinances in order to comply with state laws.

Another issue to be discussed concerns new timber harvesting regulations, said Brenda Medcoff, code enforcement officer.

New timber harvesting regulations proposed by the state offer three options for the town.

In the first, the town would keep its present regulations and local control. The second option would have the town adopt state regulations with the state forestry service overseeing compliance.

The third, and one the board is leaning toward, is a combination of the two where the town retains control but can call on the forestry service for help in determining if violations occur.

The first option leaves the town responsible for legal expenses to pursue violations and time spent by the code enforcement officer to follow harvesting complaints. On the plus side, the town would retain control with its own regulations.

The second option could help the town with the time and expense of investigating complaints and taking legal action, but some concerns have been raised over whether the forestry service could handle so many cases in a timely manner, she said.

A combination of the two retains more local control while having the expertise of the state available for the town to call upon.

Input is needed before the annual town meeting so Medcoff hopes people will come to the hearing.

If the town chooses option two or three, she said, the change will not happen unless or until 252 out of 336 municipalities also make the decision to adopt the state’s proposal. Until then the town’s regulations will continue as they are, she said.

Medcoff will explain the changes in more detail Tuesday night, but the board would like to hear what people think about the proposals.

Under the shoreland zoning, the state is seeking to protect more waterfowl habitat areas through changes to shoreland zoning, she said. In Chesterville, most of the proposed changes are already in the town’s ordinance.

People will also review proposed changes to the town’s land use ordinance involving some construction being allowed without a permit if the applicant has met other permit conditions such as setbacks, she said.

Other issues will also be reviewed during the hearing.

For more information, call 778-2499.