LIVERMORE — At the June 6 Select Board meeting, a public hearing was set for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 6, at the Town Office/Fire Station to review applications for a new marijuana cultivation facility and large engine repair shop. Also discussed were changes to the Building Ordinance.
“The Planning Board has been working on updating the Building Ordinance,” Planning Board member Travis Tardif said. “The kick starter to this is housing bill L.D. 2003. It’s the state’s knee jerk reaction to create more housing in the state.”
The law goes into effect July 1, Tardif noted.
One of two major changes is for tiny homes that are also state mandated, that must be allowed, Tardif said. The other is for accessory dwelling units [ADUs], he noted then asked if the board members knew what those were.
“You have to allow for the construction of an ADU on your property,” Selectperson Brett Deyling said. “A bunch of other things crammed in to that bill. It’s a shame to see the state say ‘everybody’s got to do this and we don’t care if you don’t have the infrastructure, if you are not ready for it, make it happen.’ It’s a garbage bill but we have to abide by it.”
On any legally existing conforming lot, if there is a house already on it towns have to allow up to two additional dwelling units – one detached or one attached or one of each, Tardif said. Empty lots must allow two dwelling units, he noted.
The state has allowed towns to determine their own square footage so additional square footage can be required if additional dwelling units are allowed, Tardif stated. “You can’t require additional road frontage,” he noted. “The state has also allowed us to make it a minimum square footage for the ADU. The state minimum is 190 square feet, which is tiny.”
Tardif said a section has been added to the Building Ordinance under open space standards on multiple structures and dwelling unit: Two dwelling units, attached or detached, can be built on legally existing empty lots so long as it has 200 foot road frontage minimum with 40,000 square feet required for the first house and 20,000 square feet for each additional dwelling unit.
“That will save us under Shoreland Zoning because Shoreland Zoning is not exempt from this bill,” Tardif noted. “We kept it at a minimum of 190 square foot per additional dwelling unit because I think it is well known people in Livermore don’t like being told what to do.
“Private parties are permitted to restrict the number of housing units on a lot through conveyance or deeds.”
Building three dwelling units wouldn’t exempt the need for a site plan review, Tardif said.
For Shoreland Zoning the goal is to limit any new development, Deyling stated. A nonconforming lot wouldn’t meet the requirements, he noted. Most in the Shoreland Zone do not have appropriate square footage to put another building in, he said.
“It’s not ideal to restrict people’s ability to develop but then you just cram in too many right on the water, it just kind of makes it look shoddy,” Deyling added.
Tardif recently attended a training presented by two attorneys on the new law. “It was not very encouraging to have two attorneys saying, “Well, what gets me …” and “I am not sure about this”, but it is what it is,” he said. “They highly recommended us to get our ordinances through in a timely manner.
“The problem is, there are going to be a lot of code enforcement officers saying, “I can’t let you do this because it goes against our ordinance” but then the state is saying, “You can do this” and then lawsuits ensue.”
Many of the definitions with this bill are not the traditional definitions, Tardif noted. An engineered septic system would be considered a public system with the new definition, we will have to deal with that if and when it comes, he stated.
That will wreck havoc, Deyling said. “The state really put the cart before the horse, without any thought in it to what that actually means for a lot of communities,” he noted. “It’s very frustrating to see.”
“What I would like to see done with this is you look the new sections over, give me feedback,” Travis said. “Give it to Administrative Assistant Carrie Judd, she’ll give it to me, the Planning Board will finalize it, get it sent to the lawyer. Hopefully have a special Town Meeting to get this through at some point.”
Chair Mark Chretien said the ordinance should be dated when the changes are approved, so people will know where the changes are.
A preamble at the front could list dates and changes made, Deyling suggested. The board can take it up on July 6, then get it on the docket for a special town meeting, he added.
“We are ahead of the game compared to most towns,” Tardif said.
Copy the Story LinkComments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
