Lamoine Quarterly 1-05 Page 4

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	The Lamoine Quaterly - January 2005

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Parks Ordinance Proposed

Appeals Board Turns Down Sign Request

There's a Cemetery There?

Lobster Pound Appeal Nearing the End

Parks Ordinance Proposed (Lamoine) — Despite posted signs to the contrary, if someone decides they want to pitch a tent and spend the week at one of Lamoine’s public parks, there is nothing on the books to legally stop them. That’s the impetus behind a proposed ordinance to regulate parks in town that will be voted on at the March town meeting. The proposed ordinance would establish a Parks Commission to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. The commission would meet at least 4-times a year to discuss issues surrounding the parks (currently Lamoine Beach Park, Bloomfield Park and a small part of Marlboro Beach). The ordinance would also prohibit overnight camping, littering, damage to structures, and regulate where fires could be lit. Cove Road resident Terry Towne asked the Selectmen to check on whether the proposed regulations would conflict with the covenants contained in the deeds of the property owners in the Bar Harbor Highlands Subdivision, as Lamoine Beach Park was originally part of that subdivision. A check with the Maine Department of Conservation which legally owns Lamoine Beach Park but has given the town operational rights found no conflict. A Maine Parks Commission official found the proposed ordinance to be compatible with the lease language given to the town. A copy of the proposed ordinance will be posted on the town’s website with the town meeting information.	Go to Proposed Parks Ordinance
Appeals Board Turns Down Sign Request (Lamoine) - A proposal by Lamoine artist Christine Schmidt to construct a 4-foot by 8-foot structure in order to show off her sketches got turned down by both the Lamoine Planning Board and the Board of Appeals. The proposed display case exceeds the 6-square foot maximum allowed by the commercial section of the Building and Land Use Ordinance. While members of both boards were sympathetic to the request, they pointed to the ordinance as being the controlling language regarding signs. Many on both boards agreed the maximum sign size seems rather small. One question not resolved was whether the sign ordinance portion of the commercial section applies to home occupations, as the scope section specifically says the commercial section does not apply to home occupations. However, there are no other sections of the ordinance that deal with sign sizes, and Planning Board members present at the Appeals Board hearing felt the sign section did apply to the art gallery that Ms. Schmidt runs at her home. The gallery has not gone before the Planning Board as a permitted home occupation. Ms. Schmidt told Board of Appeals members that she had hoped to run the gallery in semi-retirement after closing a commercial gallery in Southwest Harbor. The Planning Board is the permitting authority for all home occupations, and will explore the process for granting such permits in the coming year (see page 2).
There’s A Cemetery There? (Lamoine) — Most folks don’t realize there are over a dozen cemetery sites in Lamoine, but Boy Scout Daniel Gommel knows. As part of his Eagle Scout project, Gommel has visited most of graves and plotted them on topographical maps using GPS technology. The big cemeteries are quite obvious—East Lamoine (behind the Historical Society Meeting House), Forest Hills (beside the Lamoine Baptist Church) and Marlboro Cemetery (off Seal Point Road). There are many small burial sites—some with only a grave or two present, and located on private property. Gommel said the oldest grave appears to be that of John Ford, a Revolutionary War Soldier buried on his property off Seal Point Road. Ford’s ancestors still live on part of the property nearby, and each Memorial Day a flag is placed on his grave in remembrance that he was an American War Veteran. The maps and notebook are available for viewing at the Lamoine Town Hall. Gommel will add a couple more sites to the project that came to light after his initial work. He credited the late Joe Lear with being a tremendous help in locating all the grave areas. Mr. Lear passed away in 2004 and was Lamoine’s resident cemetery expert and widely respected statewide for his knowledge on cemeteries. Map Preservation Assistant Town Clerk Kathy DeFusco has begun a project to better catalogue and store the dozens of maps in possession of the Lamoine Town Hall. The town has maps ranging from road layouts to geological features and many years of property tax maps that are now being stored in tubes and boxes. Many had laid loose in a map case or rolled up in the vault with no protection. It’s hoped the project will better protect the many maps and make them easier to find. Money set aside for record preservation bought the storage tubes.
Lobster Pound Appeal Nearing the End (Lamoine) — Seen by some as the “appeal without end”, Lamoine’s Board of Appeals may be able to wrap up deliberations on the case brought against the Planning Board’s issuance of Shoreland and Site Plan Review permits to the Seal Point Lobster Pound for an expanded parking lot and truck turn-around area. The case, in one form or another, has been under way for nearly 2-years. The case was brought by Robert Alvarez and several other neighbors of the lobster pound located at the end of Seal Point Road. In 2002 Mr. Alvarez had contacted the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) at the time that lobster pound owners Anthony and Josette Pettegrow were allegedly in violation of the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. The CEO issued the notice of violation and the Board of Selectmen entered a consent agreement that included a fine and a requirement that the Pettegrows obtain the proper Shoreland Zoning Permit for construction of the parking lot. The Pettegrows applied for and obtained the permit for the parking area, and the granting of that permit was appealed by the neighbors on grounds that the Planning Board did not follow the proper procedures in granting the permit. The Board of Appeals agreed that the case should go back to the Planning Board, and in the late summer/early fall of 2003 the Planning Board issued the Site Plan Review and Shoreland Zoning permits. That brought another appeal by the neighbors and began the process in which the Board of Appeals is currently engaged. After several delays by lawyers for both the neighbors and the Pettegrows, the case began on a Sunday afternoon in August. Six hours later the Appeals Board recessed, initially until a Sunday afternoon in September, and when a quorum failed to show, until late October. That evening hearing lasted another four hours, and found the application for the Site Plan Review to be complete. The neighbors said a public hearing on the matter had not been held. Chris Tadema-Wielandt, Chairman of the Board of Appeals, maintained that the public has had the opportunity for input at all times during the appeal process. Nevertheless, a subsequent meeting was advertised as a public hearing, and advertised in local newspapers as such. More hearings were held in November and December, with the Pettegrows attorney presenting the Shoreland Zoning application in great detail, and the appellants challenging that the lobster pound has evolved into an industrial use that is not permitted in the Limited Commercial Zone. Final arguments in the case are scheduled for January 11th beginning at 6:30 PM at the Town Hall, whereupon the public hearing portion of the proceedings will end. After the arguments are presented, the Appeals Board will decide whether the completed applications as presented by the Pettegrows meet the standards set in the Site Plan Review and the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance. If so, the Board can uphold the issuance of the permits granted by the Planning Board. If not, the permits could be revoked or the case referred back to the Planning Board for action.	Mapping the Cemeteries Eagle Scout candidate Daniel Gommel presents maps and a notebook to the Board of Selectmen showing where the burial sites of Lamoine are situated.