The Newcastle Board of Selectmen appointed themselves the town’s design review committee Monday evening and agreed to begin the process of reworking the current design ordinances.
The board voted to search for a committee who could help revise the ordinance. The goal is to have a new ordinance ready for adoption by the town in June 2010.
The board action was prompted by a study done by the town’s lawyer Peter Drum, who said the design review current ordinance was fatally flawed.
The board acted after Drum suggested the board should either repeal the current ordinance or restructure it.
Another chore needed as part of the process is for the town to complete an inventory of the town’s historic structures.
For the last year, Newcastle’s design review chores have been administered by the town’s planning board. The planning board has declined to continue in that role and suggested the ordinance needs reworking, said Ellen McFarland, the chair of the Selectmen.
Over the last few years, Newcastle ran into problems with design review following a series of contentious cases where residents and the board disagreed over building guidelines.
The problem, said Drum, was with the ordinance itself. It is full of jargon, is unclear and is so vague it invites litigation.
“It is unfriendly to the public,” he said.
As part of the process to redraw the ordinance, Drum suggested the town engage in a process called visioning, where a moderator holds a series of public meetings to find out what the public wants the town to look like. Then that moderator draws up an ordinance to mirror their desires.
This “visioning” process is expensive and could cost as much as $100,000, Drum said. He suggested Newcastle partner with Damariscotta. The neighboring town is doing the preliminary work in setting up a similar process as part of an effort to redesign itself.
“I propose we work with them because it is really one community running from the Baptist Church (in Damariscotta) to the Congregational Church (in Newcastle),” Drum said.
Damariscotta Town Manager Greg Zinser called the suggestion “intriguing.”
“I don’t know, but it is worth talking about,” he said.
Damariscotta has also recently obtained a major grant to help pay for the process and Newcastle might be able to share costs with their neighbor, said Drum.
Architect Bill Thompson, a frequent critic of the current ordinance and its application, agreed with Drum’s assessment. “I concur with Peter. The current rules are not easily applied,” he said.
