Newcastle resident Kensell Krah presented a petition with more than 80 signatures to the Newcastle Board of Selectman at their meeting Feb. 9.
The petition requested the board not approve the Land Use Ordinance Review Committee’s recommended changes to the town shoreland zoning ordinances. Krah suggested another committee be appointed by the selectmen to review the ordinance changes, which would include affected property owners.
“We need to draw something else up that makes everyone happy,” Krah said. “With the economy the way it is, I think these changes have gone too far.”
Krah said he and other affected landowners felt they were actually losing acreage because of these changes. The increase in the setback from 75 feet to 250 feet from the streams’ edge restricts all building in those areas without special permission, rendering the land useless to the owner, he said.
Tom Kostenbader, a resident with 20 acres of affected land, said the changes, if passed, would cut his lot down to only three buildable acres. He described working with the selectmen, and the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), 15 years ago to ensure that he could build within 150 feet of the shore, because his property was not wide enough to be considered normal resource protection.
“The DEP approved the building, the town issued a building permit, which was accepted by the state,” Kostenbader said. “My piece of property shouldn’t have been included in this plan. Now I’m at the mercy of the town to vote it out. If it’s not going to town meeting, at least I have the security that I will still have some land.”
Selectman Art Mayers laid out the board’s three options from his perspective. He said they could decide not to include the changes on the warrant, put them on the warrant and not give an opinion, or put the ordinance amendments on the warrant with a recommendation as to whether they should pass or not.
Selectman Pat Hudson reflected on the situation. “Everyone has to share the blame on this, I was aware the committee was biased,” she said. “This committee is at fault for not working with landowners. The landowners are also at fault, because no one stepped up to volunteer for the committee. I recommend we vote that these changes not pass.”
Maureen Hoffman, a member of the review committee since its inception, described the purpose of the committee and the process they undertook to devise these changes starting in 2004.
She staunchly defended their hard work, diligence and dedication to what’s best for the town. “I don’t believe this committee was biased,” she said. “We made an attempt to move the entire town forward. We tried to look forward, and protect those things that make this town so important to all of us.”
Hoffman said the property owners would not lose any land; their use of that land will simply be restricted in certain ways to protect shoreline in Newcastle. Those restrictions protect land essential to local wildlife.
Krah recognized the committee’s efforts, but said the plan as presented would fail if it went to a vote. He suggested the selectmen appoint landowners impacted by the ordinance amendments to the review committee to review and revise the changes.
Newcastle resident Steve Frye requested more time for the process of revising these zoning ordinances. “The state is at the verge of bankruptcy right now, they are a toothless tiger,” he said. “They have no resources to enforce the rules, I don’t see a problem in waiting. I am willing to be a foot soldier in this process.”
Members of the review committee and the board stressed the role of public participation in these processes, and criticized the landowners for not being involved enough in the meetings.
Newcastle Town Administrator Ron Grenier commended everyone present for the calmness and civility of the discussion. He advised the board and review committee not to pit themselves against each other.
“It is heartening to see people on opposite sides of an issue commend each other’s hard work,” Grenier said. “This will work out, because both sides will martial their efforts. It is great as an administrator to hear this go on as it should.”
The crowd broke into applause.
The board voted three to two to omit the non-mandatory ordinances from the ballots for Town Meeting in March. Ellen McFarland, Lee Straw, and Bob Plourde gave supporting votes, while Art Mayers and Pat Hudson disagreed.
