Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus (left) consults the town charter while Selectmen Robin Mayer and Ronn Orenstein look on during the Wednesday, July 5 meeting of the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen. (Maia Zewert photo)
During its first meeting of the new fiscal year, the Damariscotta Board of Selectmen appointed a new committee charged with developing an amendment to the land use ordinance integrating the concept of form-based code.
The selectmen appointed Rosa Erags, Laurie Greene, Ann Jackson, Adam Nelson, Bruce Rockwood, and Shari Sage to the committee Wednesday, July 5. Robin Mayer, the chair of the board of selectmen, will also chair the ad-hoc committee.
The formation of the committee follows months of discussions between the town, local business owners, and both residents and non-residents about commercial development in Damariscotta. As proposals for two major commercial developments have gone before the Damariscotta Planning Board, community members have expressed a renewed interest in regulation of commercial developments.
After a workshop between the selectmen and the planning board June 7, the town decided to form a committee tasked with reviewing its existing land use ordinance and the final report from the Heart and Soul Design Charrette, a town-wide planning process in October 2009.
The committee will then draft either an amendment to the land use ordinance integrating form-based code, which calls for multiple-story, mixed-use buildings; or adopting stricter design standards for future commercial development, Town Manager Matt Lutkus said.
The committee will be a “roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-to-work committee” and will meet twice a month over the next three to four months to draft the document, Mayer said.
“The vision is to get in, do the work, and get out,” Mayer said.
Once the committee has produced a draft document, public discussions will be held before a final version is created and sent to a townwide vote.
The name and formal charge of the committee will be decided at a future date.
The selectmen also appointed Neil Genthner and Adam Maltese to three-year terms on the Damariscotta Planning Board. Genthner and Maltese replace Bruce Garren and Stephen Cole, whose terms expired this year.
The selectmen appointed Dana Orenstein and Jenny Begin as first and second alternates to the planning board, respectively. Alternates will be asked to attend every meeting to provide consistency as applicants come before the board, Lutkus said.
The selectmen appointed former Selectman Jim Cosgrove and George Betke to two- and one-year terms on the Damariscotta Board of Appeals, respectively. Fred Sewall was reappointed to the board for another three-year term, and Lucy Harrington and Phoebe Nelson were appointed for one-year terms as alternates.
The selectmen decided to move their meetings from Wednesday evenings to Tuesday evenings. Meetings will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the town office on the first and third Tuesdays of the month.
The new schedule will start with the selectmen’s meeting Aug. 1. The board will hold its annual goal-setting workshop after its regular business.
