Windham planning board recommends land-use changes to embed fire-protection review

The Windham Planning Board voted June 22 to recommend that the Town Council adopt amendments to chapter 120 of the towns Land Use Ordinance to embed a fire-protection and emergency-response review into site-plan and subdivision standards. The boards advisory recommendation comes after more than an hour of technical questions about access-drive widths, curb radii and whether life-safety items should be waivable.

Planning Director Steve Polio told the board the change would move the fire-safety review earlier in the land-use review process so the fire chief (or a designee) could certify compliance or require plan modifications before a project reaches building-permit review. "This allows the fire department to do a more thorough review than the previous street-connection matrix," Polio said, noting proposed changes such as allowing 18-foot paved travel lanes with gravel shoulders for developments of 10 or fewer dwelling units and increasing minor-street curb radii from 15 to 25 feet to accommodate large apparatus.

Board members pressed staff to resolve inconsistencies between the red-line memo and the table in appendix B that developers and reviewers will rely on. One member argued that items tied to life-safety should not be waivable; staff said they would consult the town attorney and consider clearer language tying any waiver process to explicit fire-department consultation and recommendations. The board also requested that the memo be corrected so the table, not conflicting slide text, governs the technical standards.

After discussion the board voted to send the ordinance amendments to the Town Council with the planning boards comments and clarifying edits recorded in the meeting minutes. The advisory vote passed with one member opposed. The planning boards action is advisory; final adoption would occur at the council level.