PARIS — The Board of Selectmen has voted 4-1 to send a proposed ordinance on accessing private property to the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments for review.

Selectman John Andrews voted against the motion; Selectmen Rusty Brackett, Chris Summers, Scott Buffington and Gary Vaughn voted in favor.

The vote on Thursday evening came two weeks after the board voted to hand off the ordinance to the Maine Municipal Association for review.

Town Clerk Liz Knox said she had emailed the proposed land access ordinance to the MMA, but the association replied that it couldn’t “review the entirety of the ordinance.”

“They said they will only look at specific sections of an ordinance, not the entire thing,” Knox said.

Vaughn said he was “discouraged” by MMA’s response, a feeling mirrored by Summers and Buffington.

The Land Access Ordinance, which was originally called a Private Property Ordinance, was introduced at the Jan. 22 meeting by resident Troy Ripley who wanted private property owners to have the right to prohibit dangerous weapons on their property while still allowing recreational use.

Ripley’s daughter, Megan, 18, was shot and killed in 2006 on the family’s property by hunter Timothy Bean of Paris, who mistook her for a deer.

In a June 12 straw poll conducted by selectmen, residents favored the ordinance by a vote of 418-253. Later that month, the board agreed to name a committee to draft a version of the ordinance.

The committee changed the purpose of it from “prohibiting or restricting weapons being brought onto private property” to “giving property owners the ability to prohibit or restrict access onto their property, and to enhance landowners’ relations with the public.”

The revised ordinance says if property owners want to restrict access to the public they must post their property and register the posting with the town.

During the Dec. 10 meeting, Buffington said that the revised ordinance “was almost a trespassing ordinance” and was “not quite what we had asked for.”

Buffington’s opinion remained unchanged Thursday.

“At least with the MMA, it would be free to get their opinion,” Buffington said. “The town attorney is a different story. The ordinance is not what was presented to us. It’s not even in the neighborhood. I think we should send the ordinance back to the committee with the idea of focusing on what we actually asked for.”

He made a motion to send the ordinance back to the committee, which failed by a 3-2 vote.

Selectman Summers said he wanted the ordinance to get a “legal review” before “we get any more involved than we already have.”

He made a motion to send the ordinance to AVCOG, and “to the town attorney if AVCOG was unable to provide an opinion on the ordinance.”

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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