Planning board asks Select Board to schedule special town meeting on shoreland, land-use, lighting and alternative-energy amendments

Planning-board representatives asked the Towne District Select Board on July 15 to place several ordinance amendments on a future special town meeting warrant, including revisions to shoreland zoning, land-use maps, outdoor-lighting/privacy rules and a brief addition to the alternative-energy ordinance.

Planning-board members said the drafts are largely the same across submissions and that some items had been discussed at the planning-board meeting but did not make it into the town report. They described a proposed mapping session that would reclassify several dozen properties in places currently designated as resource protection; the board said the goal is to bring the town's rules closer to state recommendations while preserving protected natural-resource areas.

On lighting and privacy, speakers debated enforcement and scope: several participants said Maine law already prohibits aiming lights at a neighbor and argued such violations are typically handled by law enforcement rather than the code enforcement officer (CEO). Planning-board members asked the Select Board to confirm whether the town should add local language on lighting and privacy or rely on state statutes.

The planning board also raised an ‘‘alternative energy'" amendment consisting of a short sentence the group said was an oversight when the ordinance was first drafted. They noted an existing decommissioning provision (section 12d) was written for large-scale solar installations and that the board's intent is not to require the same bonds or financial plans for small residential rooftop systems. A planning-board member asked whether decommissioning fees or bonds should apply to household systems and said any fee should be scaled to installation size.

Speakers discussed scheduling and notification requirements for a special town meeting in September; the transcript records differing references to notice periods (one speaker mentioned 13 days for a revision and 34 for new items), and the board asked staff to confirm statutory notice requirements before setting a date. A planning-board member proposed inviting Max Johnstone from the Midcoast Council of Governments to review outstanding items and provide technical input before a public hearing on map changes.

Next steps agreed in the meeting: planning-board members will refine drafts and coordinate meeting dates so the town has sufficient notice and a clear public-notification window prior to any special town meeting and subsequent public hearing.