PARIS – The Paris Board of Selectmen hopes to turn a thick binder full of subdivision regulations into a slim packet of papers that could be read and understood in an evening.
The intent, explained member Russ Case during a work session Tuesday night, is to fine-tune a complicated ordinance the board has for years used to make decisions on subdivision applications.
“And that,” said member Trudy Hamilton, “would make it easier for folks to come in (with applications).”
On Tuesday, the board glanced through similar ordinances used in Norway, Turner and Waterford. The Norway document was by far the most popular, consisting of only eight pages and a simple checklist of required subdivision application items and approvals. Waterford’s regulations, stapled into a 23-page packet, were seen by some as too restrictive.
“It’s an infringement upon a landowner’s rights, in my opinion,” Case remarked of the latter regulations, which even required consideration of the number of children a subdivision might be expected to add to town schools.
Code Enforcement Officer Al Holden said the Paris board might consider using a basic set of state subdivision regulations and adding some additional requirements. Items like road standards already used by the town could be improved, he said.
Other requirements the board said might be considered or reviewed included wastewater treatment standards, well standards and access for emergency vehicles.
While talking about Waterford’s regulations, Holden and Hamilton said Paris should be taking into consideration growth in the area.
Waterford likely has so many regulations because so many people have moved into the community, Hamilton said. “We should to some extent look forward, so we’re not sitting down five years from now and going through this again.”
Holden explained that any changes to the subdivision ordinance will have to go before the Paris Board of Selectmen, then voters. The board hopes to have the ordinance ready for the 2005 town meeting.
Holden said he also may bring forward a set of proposed rental housing regulations for the board to consider.
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