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State Changes Affect Maine's Shoreland Zones

August 11, 2009 - AUGUSTA -- Recent changes to Maine’s Mandatory Shoreland Zoning laws will impact any property owners within 250 feet of a lake, wetland or river. In July, all Maine towns must update their shoreland zoning ordinances to comply with state mandated changes.

Towns may adopt the exact ordinance written by the state, or amend it to meet their own needs. However, a town’s amendments must be more restrictive than the state’s in order to be approved.

“This is a little bit different than town-wide zoning,” explained Doug Webster, the Community Development Administrator in Gray. “The state retains oversight, and looks over the town’s shoulder. The DEP can require the town to make changes that the town then has to follow.”

The Mandatory Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, which was enacted by the Legislature in 1971, affects public and private lands within 250 feet of rivers, wetlands, lakes and the ocean, and lands within 75 feet of certain streams.

If a town does not create its own ordinance, the state will impose a standard ordinance on the town. According to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the organization in charge of the ordinance, 60 of Maine’s 450 municipalities have state imposed shoreland zoning ordinances. Windham, Raymond and Gray all have designed their own ordinances within the state’s requirements.

Windham’s ordinance has already gone into effect.

“We made a lot of changes,” said Roger Timmons, Code Enforcement Director for the Town of Windham. “We changed everything they asked us to. We added definitions beyond what the state called for.”

In addition to more clearly defining many of the state-required changes, Windham has added a 100-foot horizontal distance requirement for grazing animals, including horses.

“What they were doing is pasturing them right to the water,” explained Timmons.

Concerns about animal waste and pollution were the motivation to update the ordinance, which now requires farm owners to keep their animals out of the lakes and rivers. Pastures in existence prior to 2006 that do not meet the new requirements will be grandfathered in. The state model for the ordinance refers to horses as household pets, and does not require the 100-foot setback.

Another major change to the state-mandated ordinance is a new provision requiring docks to be 6 feet wide or less.

While Webster does not foresee the code enforcement officers of the area immediately heading out to measure dock sizes, if a citizen were to complain, the town would have to look into it. If the dock had a permit before the ordinance was put into effect, it could remain at its current width. The current ordinance requires that all docks have permits, but Webster explained that many people are either not aware, or have not bothered to get a permit.

“If (a dock) is brought to our attention, the burden is on the owner to prove it was there before the ordinance. If you really want to make sure you’ve got the permits before the ordinance changes, they need to be secured before August 4,” said Webster. Gray’s ordinance, which has already been passed by the town council, will go into effect Aug. 4.

The DEP also did some reassessment of the habitat value all over the state. As a result, some wetlands that were being protected may be developed, while other areas that had not been protected have been evaluated as valuable wetlands. A rating system has been developed to determine how valuable an area is, and what protection requirements the town must adopt.

“Two commercial areas were added in areas that were already developed,” said Webster. “It works out to about the same amount of (protected) space as before.”

The areas now open for development are along the Portland Road, and by the Dead River Store in Gray. No developers have yet expressed interested in these properties according to Webster.

Windham has added a requirement that new buildings in shoreland zones put in a silt fence 100 feet back from the high water mark. While the silt fence requirement is not new, the setback is.

New copies of the ordinances are available at the town offices, and in some cases, online. While all the ordinances are based on the state’s requirements, each town’s ordinance will differ, and citizens are advised to check the new ordinance closely before building on shoreland property.

By Emily Parkhurst
This article was first published in the Independent, a community newspaper serving Gray, Raymond and Windham, Maine. Created 07/22/2009


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