Topsham Planning Board reviews code-enforcement redline list and use-table concerns

The Topsham Planning Board on Wednesday held a workshop to review a spreadsheet prepared by the town's code-enforcement officer that flags clerical errors and policy questions in the draft recode.

Tom, the code-enforcement officer, told members he compiled the list in May 2022 and later compared it against the 2024 zoning ordinance draft and the posted recode draft. He said shaded cells on the spreadsheet represent policy-level items while unshaded entries are clerical or technical points. "The shaded are more policy and the non-shaded were effectively technical or clarator errors that I've just noticed," Tom said.

Board members focused on how the recode's use table treats specific activities such as food processing. A member said the food-processing use appears to be missing or generalized in the recode draft; Tom and staff confirmed many specific uses were broadened and may now fall under categories such as artisan manufacturing or light manufacturing. "A lot of these uses got more general," Tom said, noting that some operations now captured under broader uses lack precise definitions.

Members and staff warned that an imprecise artisan-manufacturing definition could render existing businesses nonconforming. The planning director said the current artisan definition "doesn't fit for Topsham" and that, in their professional view, it would be problematic to adopt the recode with the current language. Several participants suggested either returning artisan manufacturing to a light-manufacturing category or drafting a clearer definition with examples so applicants and reviewers are consistent.

The group agreed Tom's spreadsheet is a useful starting point for conversation but not a policy-setting document. Staff reminded the board that policy-level decisions ultimately belong to town meeting and that the select board typically places zoning articles on the town meeting warrant. The board asked staff to prepare materials that compare current zones to proposed zones and to include the use-table changes, John Weslesky's letter, and CPIC's responses in the next packet.

Next steps: the board agreed to dedicate one regular meeting a month to recode review and requested printed binders with the redlined recode draft, current zoning code, use tables and the comprehensive plan to review ahead of the meeting. Staff said she would try to produce those binders and distribute them with the next packet. The board set recode review for its next available meeting night and asked staff to bring a visual use table comparison for discussion.