(Lamoine) — Members of Lamoine’s Planning Board have drafted a new ordinance to coordinate all the other ordinances which allow appeals to the Lamoine Board of Appeals. The measure received mixed reviews from the Appeals Board in June.

Currently the rules are different in the many ordinances already on the books in Lamoine. The Building & Land Use ordinance allows for administrative appeals which greatly narrow the focus of the Appeals Board. Most of the other ordinances require “de novo” appeals, which means the Appeals Board has to hear the entire application all over again—essentially acting as a second Planning Board.

The proposed ordinance would clarify that administrative appeals would be allowed in most cases, except where a permit was not granted by the Planning Board due to a tie vote. The Appeals Board debated what it’s scope ought to be under an ordinance. Many feel the board should be a true appeals board, hearing only evidence in a narrow scope of what’s being appealed. At least one member, though, felt the board should be open to applying all aspects of a permit, even if they are not the initially identified subject of the appeal, and thus keeping the “de novo” option open for all appeals. The ordinance has yet to be scheduled for the Selectmen or Town Meeting.