Planning Board - Regular Meeting

Where's on order the town ofat deserve planning board meeting for February 11th, 2026 and welcome aboard. All right, let's kick it off with some introductions. I'm William Hanley. I'm chair, vice chair is Tracy, Loft is Keller. We have Gail Marshall, Alan Kimberly, Ann Dalton, and our alternate member, uh, Daniel [laughter] Burke. You know, Daniel, I don't know what it is, but it's the mental block.

It is the mental block. I like blow [laughter] I like blow through the first five and then I don't take personal. Name tag. We're gonna get name tag. I I have one. Yeah, we need the little plaque. More more. Yeah, there we go. All right.

All right. So, [sighs] let's get into it. So, first item on well, first item on the agenda was called to order. Second item is we've got the approval and minutes from the 28th. It's very through all the hard work on the ordinances and everything and we continued Brian's to I yes I move approval of those minutes all those in favor I there you

Heidi that was Gail and Alan and then I get chastised if we jump into the first item with a time on it. So, we've got 3 minutes to kill until 6:05. Um, and you don't want to take No. Okay. So, uh, any news from the table [laughter] about [clears throat] plenty of We have any other items? Yeah. Are there any we could fill in the gap with? I had a wish tooth removed. There you go. Oh, stop.

Basketball season is over. Yes. How' you sigh of relief? How did you guys do in terms of record? Not that well, but there was progress. Excellent skills. That's the goal. That is the goal. We don't speak the truth about what our real goals are as ever. So, good. Congratulations. You did good. Got two minutes, Gale. All right. All right.

I didn't I only found the number six, by the way, which we'll get to on the next. Yes. In one place. Correct. One page. One pair. That doesn't apply. So, I look forward to hearing if there's any other there. Any more snow on the way or was this?

You could ask the director of public works. He might know twice in one paragraph. I don't see much chance for a little while for any snow. That's good. We're holding you responsible for that. Yeah. Go right ahead. But you said [clears throat]

once again, your crew has saved countless lives. People coming out of Hibbert Hill today.

They are good. They are. All right, let's do it. All right, item three on the agenda tonight. We have a public hearing at 6:05 p.m. and it is 6:05 p.m. And that public hearing is the subdivision ordinance, road standards ordinance, land use zoning ordinance, amendments, and reorganization of the town of Mount Durk zoning board of appeals for the 2026 annual town meeting on May 5th, 2026. And that is was this advertised?

Uh yes, it was advertised in the Mount Desert Islander on Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 and Thursday, January 29th, 2026. Thank you. This is why I would wager Matt Williams is joining us tonight. Yes. Uh you're on. Go for it. Yeah. Can you guys hear me? Okay. I was having issues with apparently my mic earlier on a different Zoom meeting. So, I just want to make

All right, cool. Um, so last meeting we reviewed pretty heavily the um ordinance amendments for this year that are related to land use in general. So, the subdivision ordinance, uh, road standards ordinance, the, uh, LUZO amendments, and then also, um, slight changes to the reorganization of the town's uh, board of appeals ordinance. And, uh, again, we covered a big swath of those, that information last meeting, and then there were some small minor amendments to those uh, drafts that I made between that meeting and now. um such as uh you know in the board of appeals ordinance there was a sentence that needed to get prior to the one that was added. Um so I did that and then uh the road standards ordinance there was a clarification to make sure that the board of appeals was uh specified rather than just saying the board. Um and then in between then and now if you have the warrant articles um just the format of how we're doing the warrant articles has changed uh based on CLA's uh suggestions. So rather than doing if you're creating a new we're creating two new ordinances here uh or I should or yeah we're creating the subdivision ordinance and the road standards ordinance. So those will have their own warrant article to create the new ordinance and then if there are associated changes with like the land use ordinance those changes will have their own warrant article. So in total there will be seven uh warrant articles related to ordinances and I think that's it discussion from anybody any I should I I should also ask for any public comment.

Let me do that. I'll open it up for public comment. Anybody is here in the room or online and would like to comment, now's your chance. I am not hearing or seeing anybody. So, all right. Gonna close public comment then. And I assume then we need to make a motion for recommendation to the on each one of them committee. [clears throat]

And I guess I need a list of each one of now is are the warrant articles like warrant article 20 is that do we know if that's accurate? So if I not sure I No, I wouldn't I wouldn't say a number article, just the title of it. Just the title of the article. I mean, we So we have the subdivision ordinance, the road standards ordinance, the land use zoning ordinance, amendments and reorganization. You don't do the reorganization. We don't that town meeting. It's

that town meeting. We just do the amendments. through the land use, the subdivision and the road standards. Yeah, that's it. But there is um Yeah. So the land use though reference to um you know conditional use and code enforcement um which is an article in front of you on the table section 5.8 7.7 and 7.8 May that's not underneath the um regular housekeeping. It's a separate warrant article. So, you need to make sure you go through each one of those.

I don't have a list of that in front of me. It would be really helpful to have that list right here. It's right here. Yeah. Okay. I think we all need that. Yeah. Yeah. Kim, I don't know if you have it in the room, but I can just read off the titles of all of them and then let the board write it down. So when they make the motion, they can just read off. They have articles in front of them. Okay. Yeah. I mean, it's true. [clears throat] How about we start with is the am I going to jinx it by saying the subdivision ordinance is pretty straightforward in terms of

I move we recommend to the warrant committee and the select board the recommendation for approval of the subdivision ordinance to the I second that all right you need to you need to uh you need to read it as state where you are what you're doing is you're repealing ing the subdivision ordinance that was enacted in March 4th of 1990 and amended I don't have where it's right in front of you guys on the table. Well, maybe I don't have it all.

Well, I have the ordinance this language that you

this language there articles are on top. Okay, there we go. I move that we recommend to the select board and the warrant committee that they recommend passage of warrant article 20 an ordinance dated May 5, 2026 entitled town desert subdivision ordinance to be enacted as set forth in appendix X age X. The ordinance is on file with the town clerk. The article will repeal the subdivision ordinance enacted March 4, 1990 and amended through May 7, 2024 and replaces it with this new subdivision ordinance. Second, how do you get all that?

Yeah, hopefully she's got the paper. She'll get the paper, too. You need me to Sorry. Yes, I get the papers and I go from that. But yes, I have a a summary of what you've said. All those in favor I the language of the next one the land use five right that voted yeah so Dan didn't always Right.

Can we do the zoning board? Going to want to do the one that references um the warrant article uh in the Luzo that references the new subdivision of [clears throat] and it's not article 20 by the way. Okay. Bonus top. That's the one you just did. We just did that. What? Which one are you do you want now? Because I see this one. You're going to want to do the one that says the article is intended to ensure. So, it's actually the attainable housing

taking away the workforce housing. It's under the land new zoning ordinance. Is that a separate one that I don't have? They're down here on the Well, somebody else can make that motion. Go for it. So, what I would say is from uh the town of um the land new zoning ordinance amendment. Okay. Section 3.4. Okay. I [clears throat] I think I got it.

Okay. Um I um I move we recommend to the select board and the warm committee that they recommend passage of ordinance amendments dated May 5, 2026 entitled shall the voters of the town repeal the existing subdivision ordinance last amended May 7, 2024 and shall an ordinance entitled new town subord subdivision ordinance that is to be dated May 5, 2026 and on file the town clerk be enacted and shall the voters of the town adopt amend Amendments to the town land use zoning ordinance to match the term attainable housing. The definition and process in the new subdivision ordinance to be adopted by the voters and detailed below in section 3.4 of the land use u zoning ordinance.

Second that that work for you? 3.4 3.5 3.4 and 3.5 and and section in section eight you said. Yeah. Because it's a definition of attainable housing. Yes. Okay. All right. Made the motion. Allan second it. All those in favor? I There's that one.

Then we've got the housekeeping one. I um I move that the warrant committee and select board recommend to the town passage of amendments dated May 5, 2026 and entitled quote amendments to the land use zoning ordinance regarding regular housekeeping to be enacted as set forth below. And those changes would include changes to section 3.1, 3.4, 6B10, 6 C7 and 8.

All those in favor? Bye bye. That's the regular housekeeping one. I don't need to do that one again. [clears throat] That's another regular housekeeping one. I guess I fored all of those. Regular housekeeping. All these. Yeah, they weren't They're not collated. Uhhuh. Here's the regular housekeeping. Anybody wants it? What else have we got? We've got some standards. [clears throat]

you. I move we recommend to the warrant committee and the select floor that they recommend passage to the town of an ordinance dated May 5, 2026 and entitled the town of Mount Dert's road standards ordinance to be enacted as set forth an appendix in and an appendix is on on which is on file with the town clerk. The ordinance provides clear standards for the planning board and code enforcement officer to review new extended or modified roads and driveways. This allows most roads and driveways to be reviewed through the code enforcement officer instead of the planning board.

Second. All those in favor? Those are those are the road standards. Why don't we have a pile of papers here? I got to get a set of each of these. Done. One. What else do we have? You have the um amendments to the land zoning orders regarding the appeals and enforcements provisions of section 5.8, 7.7, and 7.8.

Oh, you want them to do the uh Luzo amendments related to road standards since they just did that one. Keep them paired. Yeah. Do we have that somewhere?

Yeah. This one. We're not in We're not doing the board of appeals. Not doing that one. I move

not for the organization. I move we recommend to the select board and the warrant committee that they recommend to the town passage of a warrant article that reads that shall the voters of the town amend Luzo section 6B.11 as detailed below and adapt a new road standards ordinance dated May 5, 2026 that is attached and has been placed on file with the town clerk. This

Yeah, that's not the right language because that was back when it was a combined warrant article. The new warrant article should just be the you just did the road standard ordinance. The new version should just be the LUZO section 6B1 that you just was doing that. So that copy you're reading was the the copy prior to Claire's suggestions. Well, I then I don't know what you want because I just I was reading a 6B11 warrant article.

Yeah, but that language included the road standard ordinance, too, which uh you had just done uh voted to recommend, but that was just the ordinance. There should be a warrant article for just uh section 6B11. So I think if you read that language it's just should read shall an ordinance date May 5th 2026 and entitled amendments to the town of Mount Desert lands use zoning ordinance regarding road standards parentheses amend lose section 6B11 is detailed below be enacted and that's the article and the explanation is this amendment changes references to uh to state that new extended or modified roads or driveways outside of a subdivision must comply with standards set out within the town of Mount Dert road standard Ordinance.

That isn't what 6B11 that I'm holding says. I know. Heidi what he said. I moved. [clears throat] How about that? She got it. She got it. You moved it. Allan seconded it. All those in favor? Hi. Hi. This is now we have

we have the ordinance amendment for the land use zoning ordinance regarding appeals and enforcement provisions. Just right there which it's highlighted in yellow. out of it. Paragraph this one. This one's off the page. Yeah. Yeah, this one. Oh, that's the one we're not voting on. Um, so is it's attainable housing definitions. No, you did that one over there with the two. Yeah, exactly. A

[laughter] It's just the organizations that is the issue here. I think we should have worked through this before we started. I move we recommend to the select board and the warrant committee that they recommend to the town vot the voters of the town the passage of a warrant article that amends a warrant article amendments dated May 5, 2026 and entitled amendments to the land use zoning orders regarding appeals and enforcement provisions uh specifically sections 5.8 and 7.7 and 7.8 eight.

I forgot. All those in favor. We're going to stop, right? I'm going to want That's it. That's it. I'm going to want to set each one. Yeah. Wow. Because this will now go before the warrant committee on the 3. Yep. All right. So, third. I know. I will plan to go to that meeting. Matt, thank you for all the hard work on that. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Matt. We'll eventually get it straightened out.

Right. We're We're all set.

All right, let's soldier on item four tonight. We have a conditional use approval application and it's conditional use approval application 012026 first one of the year owner name is Brian El Hankle and Gail S Gladstone location is one hill road mount desert tax map 10 lot 46 and the zone is village residential 2 purposes section 3.4 Four animal husbandry, two non-commercial, the care and keeping of livestock, poultry, nine chickens, coupe and run. We had a site inspection at 4:00 and was this one advertised and notified.

Uh I didn't this was continued. This was continued on the 28th of January. Thank you for reminding me of that. It's a continuation from January 28th. any conflict of interest on this? I'm here. Let me just ask. I wasn't here January 28th. So, should Daniel continue on with this? No, they didn't hear the application. Yeah, we didn't. Got it. So, we had a site inspection and um Well, Ann, how about you? All right.

Tell us about your observations. We met at Brian's home at um One Beach Hill Road and we [clears throat] talked about the chickens that he had recently moved from a previous location to his new property. We observed the cage and the nesting boxes. Um Tracy went down to get a closer look at the chickens.

I did. Uh they have a small small but comfortable enclosure um which has a roof covering to keep them uh dry. They have a nice little uh heat lamp there and warm uh warm water. Um I observed three chickens that were out in the yard standing around having a lovely time. [laughter] And uh that's about it. Um I don't know. I don't know if this uh application has the dimensions of the um Yes, it does. It does. Okay. Um but anyway, it looks fine. Quite quite a liable accommodations.

With that, uh Brian, I'll turn it over to you. You have anything to add to the observations from the site inspection? No. And thank you for coming out. I don't have anything further to add other than just the number of chickens that are in the application. I have nine listed in the application and I miscounted our chickens. There are actually 10 chickens there. Apologize. So, if we could amend the application to be 10 instead of nine, I'd appreciate it. Do you count them before they hatch? Just at the start like that, Gail. Yeah.

Sorry. No, just [clears throat] to clarify, these are all of them are fully adult chickens. All all hens, 10 of them.

But I've had I've had chickens a very long time and the coupe has been adequate at our previous location and we moved it fully almost fully intact. We kind of took it into pieces and then reassembled on site. Um, and it has served us well. We've had very limited predation and it hasn't been inside of their pen or coupe. Um, it's generally been when they've been out led out in a enclosed yard, which we don't have at this location at this time. So, they'll remain in their pen. [clears throat]

All right. Well, I'll open it to public comment if anybody would like to comment on the chickens at One Beach Hill Road. Now's your chance. I'm not seeing anybody in the audience or online. So, I'm going to close the public hearing and let's get on with it. I think um first we should um have a motion to find the application complete. So moved. Second. All those in favor?

Uh we should probably think about having a motion to maybe use the short form for this. All right. So move. Second. All those in favor? And then we have the little thing of voting. I don't know if we approved the application. Now we press the pause button and we have our review of the application. How do I know where the short form and the short form's not in the package? No, no, I just I'm not seeing it. It is. It's got to be.

Maybe it's in these. It's all to it. Yes. and just allighty. So have the applicant's original application from the 28th in front of me. So much paper tonight. All right. short form checklist application. Let's do it. So, we're going through first the section 6A general performance standards and we're compatibility. So, the applicant talks about the physical size. The coupe is 4 feet wide by 4 feet long, 5t high. The run is 6 feet wide, 14 feet long, and 4 foot high with a portion that's 6 foot high. Visual impact. The applicant says that it's visible from three beachill road and from the pretty marsh road. Proximity to other structures. The coupe is 15 feet back from the owner's home, 100 ft back from the neighbor's home.

Density of development. Most adjacent nearby lots range from one/3 to one acre looks like there's plenty of room for the chickens. So sea application erosion and sedimentation control. There's no filling or grading required. The disturbed soil and the run is periodically covered with loose straw and cleaned out semianually. The cleared material is composted in the compost bin. See application highway safety coupe and run are not located near a road or highway and will not impact any road noise road use. See application I know there's a chicken crossing the road

and the parking requirement too.

Yes. And there's no parking required for the chickens. But uh 684 impact on town services. The applicant says the coupe and run will not use or impact any public services or essential public services. So C application 685 land suitability. Applicant says no impact. So see application lighting outdoor applicant says NA 6A7 storm water applicant says NA 688 vegetation Nothing being cleared. So NA 69 dust, fumes, vapors, odors, and gases. The applicant says no dust, fly ash, fumes, vapors, odors, or gases which could damage human health, animals, vegetation, or property will move beyond the lot line of the establishment. So C application. So the findings of fact are presented by the applicant and the attached application and the conclusion was that the proposed use is in compliance with all standards is section 6A.

So move all those in favor. All right. Section 6B. So 6B1 is NA that's agriculture. 6B7 excavation or filling NA 6B8 fences and walls NA 6B16 sign regulations NA 6B18 wireless communication facilities NA 6B19 animal husbandry 2 is why we are here tonight

not not these districts Oh, sorry. That's the village commercial and shoreline commercial district. That is also NA. 6B20 mobile food vendors NA 6B 21. Rooming House, NA 6B 22, Hotels and Motel, NA. [laughter]

So, the findings of fact are are that this application has 6B23. We sure have them respond. The 6speed 23 is not on the short form checklist, but just for the record, 6B 23 is solar energy systems. NA the findings the fact that the proposed use will include none of the specific activities or land uses described in section 6B and that the conclusion laws that section 6B is notable and that's it. So moved.

Second. All those in favor. Yeah. So this one, section 6C, shoreline zoning standards for review by the planning board. I'm just going to go through and say that the we are not in the shoreline zone. We're in

We are two. BR2 and that the findings of fact are that the proposed use will include none of the specific activities or land uses prescribed in section 6C and that the conclusion law section C 6C is not applicable because we're not in the shoreland zone. So move. Okay. All those in favor. And because of we are not in the shoreland zone, we don't do section 59. So the uh I move 59 is not applicable to this application. There you go. I second that. All right. All those in favor

I. And permit conditions. There any permit conditions to the chickens? at Brian. I was going to say omelets. Yeah, omelets at Brian's. No, no conditions. So, back to our paused approval vote. All those in favor of approving the application as submitted. I I I All right. Congrats, Brian. All right. Thank you all very much. I appreciate you coming out and uh moving the permit through. Thank you.

Have a good night. Have a good night. Okay. Does it matter that the ordinance talks about six chickens? It doesn't. It It only does with respect to if it's in those zones. Yeah. But it's not in village commercial or shoreline, right? So it doesn't it's the number of chickens is just wrong.

The only place I went through that when we get back back home visit that's the only place I saw reference to I could be wrong but roosters. Roosters are not allowed in either any. That's not true. No roosters. Yep. You can roosters are livestock or animal husbandry. You just can't be one. They are permitted if a property owner wants to apply for that. Yes, they are allowed.

Do you have the green folder? Yes, I do. Right. Well, the only other thing remaining tonight is item five. Other is there any other here? Yep. Go ahead. Well, then I guess it's item six. Move to second. Sorry, I took that right away. You did not. It's okay. Any discussion? All those in favor? Hi. There you go.