LITCHFIELD – Anyone wanting to a build a subdivision in this growing town will have to wait six months to submit an application.
At Litchield’s annual town meeting Saturday, residents voted 52-24 to approve a six-month moratorium on new subdivisions.
“We’re not anti-subdivision. We just want them done right,” said Muriel Bonin, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen.
The moratorium was the most contentious issue on the warrant, with townspeople spending more than a half-hour debating it.
Developers who have already submitted their applications and paid the required fees will be permitted to begin construction. All others will have to wait six months while the Litchfield Planning Board and Conservation Commission work together to come up with a plan for smart development.
About 125 people attended this year’s town meeting.
“That’s normal for us,” Bonin said. “But, considering we’re a town of about 3,150, it really is disappointing.”
In addition to the moratorium, townspeople debated a change about the number of people on the Board of Selectmen and an increase in school funding.
A citizen-initiated petition calling to increase the number of selectmen from three to five failed, 41-26.
Those favoring the change argued that town business often gets delayed because a selectman is absent from a meeting, leaving the board with only two members. Increasing the board to five would make it much harder for that to happen, they said.
Opponents of the petition based their argument on money and time.
“The more people you have on the board, the longer your meetings are,” said Bonin, who voted against the change. “It also would be more expensive for the town.”
Selectmen get paid $2,000 a year for their service.
Townspeople also argued about the amount of additional money that the town would give to the schools to make up for this year’s cut in state funding. The original proposal called for adding $909,659 to the school’s annual budget of $4,849,066.
An amendment was made during the meeting to increase that amount to $965,659 in order to reinstate one of two-and-a-half teaching positions the School Committee had cut from its budget.
After a lengthy debate, townspeople decided to do away with position, voting 69-6 to approve the original amount of $909,659 in additional funds.
All other matters, including a proposal to make the Planning Board an official entity under the rules of the Maine Constitution, passed with an overwhelming majority and little discussion.
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