Newcastle voters approved changes to the design review ordinance by one vote during annual town meeting, held in the Lincoln Academy dining commons Monday, June 15.
The 38-37 vote on the amendment was not the only close vote of the meeting. A vote to accept the recommendation of the Newcastle Board of Selectmen regarding the budget for a new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance was 31-28.
Voters also approved a new full-time deputy town clerk position and authorized the selectmen to enter a contract with the consultancy group Maine Design Workshop to help create the new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance.
Voters rejected a $500 increase in the $1,500 annual stipend for selectmen, although only after the selectmen themselves spoke against the raise.
The $1,564,548.52 municipal budget otherwise passed as recommended by the selectmen. The figure represents an increase of $55,018.52 or 3.64 percent.
Newcastle attorney David Levesque was the most vocal opponent of the design review ordinance amendment, which affects color, demolition, and historic preservation, among other matters.
“I find the ordinance itself to be too restrictive, and with the amendment it becomes even more so,” Levesque said.
The ordinance applies to the area around downtown Newcastle as well as the villages of Damariscotta Mills and Sheepscot.
“I think we should just not piecemeal change it,” Levesque said. “Wait until we change the comprehensive plan, which we’ll be talking about later, and then make the changes we deem necessary.”
Newcastle Design Review Committee member Katharina Keoughan defended the changes. “This is trying to make it easier to work with the ordinance,” she said.
The article passed, 38-37.
Voters had to choose between the recommendations of the selectmen and the Newcastle Finance Committee for the “general government” budget.
The selectmen recommended the addition of a full-time deputy town clerk and 2.5 percent raises for town employees. The finance committee did not recommend the new position and recommended 1 percent raises.
The town office has been “strapped” since the retirement of part-time Deputy Town Clerk Sharon Donaghy nearly two years ago, Newcastle Board of Selectmen Chairman Brian Foote said.
Part-time Deputy Town Clerk Diane Wyman plans to retire next year. The full-time deputy town clerk would replace both positions and the timing of the hire would enable a smooth transition, Foote said.
The general government line item to generate the most debate, however, was to increase the annual stipend for the selectmen from $1,500 to $2,000.
Former Selectman Lee Straw objected to the increase. “I would point out that you guys are seriously underpaid, but not as underpaid as some of the committee members in town who probably put in as much or more time than you,” Straw said.
The selectmen said they proposed the increase to have a discussion about the difficulty of finding candidates for selectman. Selectman Ben Frey moved to keep the stipends at $1,500 each. The amended article passed, 51-24.
The selectmen and finance committee also differed on how much to raise for the new comprehensive plan and land use ordinance.
Residents and town officials enthusiastically agreed on the need to rewrite the land use ordinance with support from professional town planners. The disagreement focused on how much the town should spend and who should do the work.
The selectmen recommended $60,000 for the second year in a row to give the town a total of $120,000 to spend. The finance committee recommended $30,000. Mal Carey moved to accept the finance committee’s recommendation.
The finance committee recommended $30,000 in “an effort to elongate it out a little bit more,” Chairwoman Eva Frey said. “Instead of raising $60,000 this year we could split it again and raise $30,000 this year and another $30,000 next year.”
The selectmen have indicated the planning process will cost at least $120,000.
Carey, however, said a committee that met with potential consultants received quotes as low as $45,000 to $60,000 for the work. The committee, however, recommended a more expensive consultant by a 4-3 vote.
The committee-preferred consultancy group has promised high levels of community engagement and has expertise in form-based codes – an alternative to the more common use-based zoning.
Former Selectman Ellen Dickens moved to amend Carey’s motion to the amount recommended by the selectmen.
Newcastle resident Lorraine Anderson spoke against the amendment. “We have so many people whose biggest concern is property taxes,” she said. “So many people in Newcastle are hurting, they are desperate, because of property taxes.”
Newcastle Planning Board Chairwoman Bonnie Stone spoke in favor of the agreement. The current land use ordinance is “a dinosaur” and makes it “almost impossible” for the planning board to do its job, Stone said.
The value of volunteer hours spent looking at how to reform the ordinance in the last year likely already exceeds the $60,000 request, she said.
Dickens’ amendment to Carey’s motion passed, 31-28, and the article passed as recommended by the selectmen 38-29.
Later, an article to authorize the selectmen to enter a contract with Maine Design Workshop to complete the work passed 34-23 after more debate.
Carey and Levesque accused town attorney Peter Drum of using his influence to convince the town to hire Maine Design Workshop because – according to Carey and Levesque – he is a partner in the firm.
Drum has adamantly and repeatedly denied having any stake in the firm and did so again at the meeting. “I’m not in any way employed by them,” he said. “I don’t represent them.”
According to an article in The Forecaster, former Yarmouth Town Planner Vanessa Farr formed Maine Design Workshop with fellow professional planners Lynne Seeley and Sarah Witte, of Yarmouth, and Kara Wilbur, of Portland.
Anderson, Carey, and Don Hunt raised questions about the group’s limited track record and whether it would follow the wishes of the townspeople or insist on a form-based code.
Dickens, however, spoke in favor of the article. “I think we’ve already had a very deliberate, conscientious, and thoughtful process that has brought us to this point, and I think we need to support it,” she said. The article passed 34-23.
An article authorizing the selectmen to enter into interlocal agreements with the town of Damariscotta passed 67-10 after voters approved an amendment proposed by Newcastle Fire Chief Clayton Huntley.
Huntley proposed to amend the article to limit the agreements to harbor and shellfish administration and public works – an amendment identical to one passed at the Damariscotta town meeting June 10.
Residents also amended the interest rate on late tax payments from 6 percent to 2.5 percent at Straw’s urging.
“For us to charge the least fortunate members of our community 6 percent interest because they are unable to pay their tax bill on time is immoral,” Straw said. The article passed as amended 37-9.
A new floodplain management ordinance and an amendment to the shellfish conservation ordinance passed 69-5 and 66-7, respectively.
