Except where specifically defined herein, all
words used in this chapter shall carry their customary meanings. Words
used in the present tense include the future, and the plural includes
the singular. The word "shall" is always mandatory.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A person who owns adjacent land or land across a street right-of-way
from the subject lot.
A structure which is a detached, one- or two-story building,
accessory to a dwelling unit, consisting of one or more rooms designed
for entertainment and/or sleeping with no kitchen facilities.
[Added 6-11-2019]
A use which is both incidental and subordinate to the principal
use.
Any retail business, including but not limited to any bookstore,
newsstand, novelty store, night club, bar, restaurant, cabaret, amusement
arcade or theater which keeps for public patronage or permits or allows
the operation of selling, renting, leasing, exhibiting, displaying
or otherwise dealing in materials or devices of any kind which depict
or describe or involve specified sexual activities.
[Added 6-11-2019]
A measure of land area containing 43,560 square feet.
The Planning Board or a person whose land or structure is
or would be adversely affected by the granting or denial of a permit
or variance under this chapter or a person whose land abuts land for
which a permit has been granted.
The business of producing or raising plants and crops, including
gardening as a commercial operation, greenhouses which are not used
for raising plants as a wholesale business, tree farms and nurseries.
Agriculture does not include timber harvesting. Agriculture does not
include the growing, production, testing, sale or processing of marijuana.
The extraction of water for use in plant, crop or livestock irrigation
is not agriculture, but rather an accessory use to agriculture or
animal husbandry.
[Amended 4-28-1995; 2-27-2017; 6-13-2017]
The boarding of animals, the practice of veterinary medicine
or the growing and raising of livestock and poultry for commercial
purposes, i.e., sale to consumers, wholesalers or retailers.
The growing and cultivation of water plants or animals.
Any projection, relief, cornice, column, change of building
material, window, or door opening on any building.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A yard, field or other area used to store three or more unserviceable,
discarded, worn out or junked motor vehicles as defined in 29-A M.R.S.A.
§ 101, Subsection 42, or parts of such vehicles. "Automobile
graveyard" does not include any area used for temporary storage by
an establishment or place of business which is primarily engaged in
doing auto body repair work to make repairs to render a motor vehicle
serviceable. (See "recycling facility.")
[Amended 11-7-2000]
The average of the elevations of the points located 15 feet
or at the lot line (whichever is closer to the building) from each
exterior corner of a building measured on the extension of a line
which bisects the angle of the corner or, in the case of a circular
building, by averaging the elevations of the points located 15 feet
or at the lot line (whichever is closer to the building) measured
on an extension of a line which bisects each quadrant of a building
or remaining portion thereof. The Code Enforcement Officer may require
additional points to be used in the determination of the averaged
finished grade if, in his opinion, the grading has been done in a
manner to circumvent the height limit.
 |
A cloth, plastic, or other nonstructural covering that either
is permanently attached to a building or can be raised or retracted
to a position against the building when not in use.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A business engaged in receiving, keeping, storing, lending
or exchanging money.
A sign composed of a logo or design on a lightweight material
either enclosed or not enclosed in a rigid frame and secured or mounted
to allow motion caused by the atmosphere.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A business conducted in a building containing a dwelling
unit occupied by the owner or resident manager and his/her family
in which fewer than nine bed-and-breakfast/small inn room units, none
of which have their own kitchen facilities, are offered and rented
to transient guests or to a lodging unit owner for no more than 14
days in a calendar year and in which meals may be available only to
the occupants/transient guests.
[Amended 11-5-2013]
An area on the property and within a building where assistance is provided such as receiving and processing reservations, maintaining occupancy records, coordinating services, managing room key inventory and processing account statements. The bed-and-breakfast/small inn office shall be of a size that is equal to or larger than the average room size in that bed-and-breakfast/small inn. The bed-and-breakfast/small inn office must be open and staffed a minimum of eight hours per day when the bed-and-breakfast/small inn is occupied. All registration, rentals, collection of state or local lodging taxes shall be conducted by and through the bed-and-breakfast/small inn office. The bed-and-breakfast/small inn office shall comply with the requirements of Article X (entitled Lodging Facilities) of Chapter 150 of the Wells Code.
[Added 11-5-2013]
The gross area of a unit as measured from the interior wall
faces which define the bed-and-breakfast/small inn room boundaries.
Projections no greater than 12 inches horizontally and four feet vertically
shall not be included in the gross area.
[Added 11-5-2013]
A room or combination of rooms to accommodate transient guests
or a lodging unit owner. The bed-and-breakfast/small inn unit footprint
shall not exceed 470 square feet. A deck or enclosed porch not exceeding
100 square feet shall also be permitted.
[Added 11-5-2013]
A room in a dwelling unit intended for sleeping, separable
from other rooms by a door.
See "business, service."
[Added 4-28-1995]
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or walls
and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals
or personal property.
The vertical distance measured from the average finished
grade surrounding a building to the highest point of the roof.
[Amended 4-18-1998; 4-14-2000]
A business that stores, services, and/or dispatches busses.
[Added 4-16-2004]
Any use or activity conducted for financial gain or any use
or activity in which fees are charged, other than municipal, religious
or community-based nonprofit organizations.
A business engaged in the provision of a service off premises
but which has an office and equipment/materials stored on the premises.
Any activity conducted by the occupant of a dwelling unit
for financial gain which is carried on in said dwelling unit or structure
accessory to said dwelling unit.
[Amended 6-11-2019]
A business which provides administrative, professional or
clerical services (e.g., lawyer, insurance agent, accountant, surveyor,
planner, engineer, etc.). The term "business office" excludes medical
and doctors' offices.
A business engaged in the provision of personal services,
such as but not limited to a doctor, hairdresser, barber, beautician,
masseuse or tanning salon. A personal service business does not include
the growing, production, testing, sale or processing of marijuana.
[Amended 6-13-2017]
A business engaged in the sale, rental or lease of goods
to the ultimate consumer for his or her use or consumption and not
for resale. So-called wholesale clubs at which members pay a yearly
fee but are primarily ultimate consumers are considered retail uses.
The maximum size of retail businesses in the General Business District
shall not exceed 40,000 square feet. A retail business does not include
the growing, production, testing, sale or processing of marijuana;
and does not include an adult business establishment.
[Amended 4-14-2000; 6-13-2017; 6-11-2019]
On-site retail activity that is incidental and subordinate
to the permitted use (e.g., a hairdresser selling hair product to
a client, retail area for goods manufactured on the premises, a contractor
selling a fence or equipment).
[Added 6-11-2019]
A tent erected on a temporary or seasonal basis (May 1 through
November 1) as accessory to an existing business use, which is not
a home business; consisting of a roof and can include sides constructed
of a fabric or pliable material supported by a frame; said covering
material shall be removed between November 1 and May 1; shall not
to be considered a structure or building but shall require a building
permit if erected more than 10 days.
[Added 11-2-2021]
A business engaged in the provision of an actual service
on the premises, such as but not limited to cleaning or repairing
personal property, training or teaching people, a small animal veterinary
practice, pet grooming, the redemption of beverage containers or a
funeral home. Service businesses does not include a self-storage facility.
[Amended 5-20-2003]
A business engaged in the sale of merchandise to retailers
and not to the ultimate consumer. A wholesale business does not include
the growing, production, testing, sale or processing of marijuana.
[Amended 6-13-2017]
A site used for the interment of the human dead.
A tax-exempt religious institution of any denomination that
people regularly attend to participate in or hold services, meetings
and other activities.
Any association of persons organized for social, benevolent,
recreational, literary, scientific or political purposes, whose facilities,
including a clubhouse, are open to members and occasionally to the
general public and which is not usually engaged in activities customarily
carried on by a business or for financial gain.
The person or persons, appointed by the Town of Wells Board
of Selectmen, responsible for the enforcement of this chapter within
the Town of Wells.
An individual who is enrolled in and attending a college
and meets the eligibility requirements of the post-secondary education
institution to reside in student housing or dormitory housing.
[Added 11-7-2023]
A facility providing congregate housing, together with the
associated personal service businesses and amenities necessary for
independent or semi-independent living. A congregate care facility
may include single-family detached dwelling units, duplex or other
multifamily units, or buildings that contain multiple congregate dwelling
units that exceed the multifamily limits under the Code of the Town
of Wells, together with administrative offices and auxiliary buildings
necessary for the care and maintenance of the property. A congregate
care facility may include a nursing home (as defined herein or by
Maine law) or skilled care facility but such nursing care facility
shall be licensed properly in accordance with the prescribed level
of care to be provided by such nursing or skilled care facility. A
congregate care facility may include a physician’s office and
a pharmacy but such office as well as the personal service businesses
referred to above shall only be offered to residents of the congregate
care facility and may not be open to the public at large. Congregate
care facilities shall include facilities for common dining, including
on-site kitchen facilities suitable for preparation of meals for common
dining. The common dining room shall be capable of providing seating
for at least 60% of the total number of residents at the congregate
care facility, less the number of such residents who may be living
in a nursing home or skilled care facility and do not take meals other
than in their rooms or some other supervised dining arrangement. Congregate
care facilities containing three or more dwelling units or three or
more congregate dwelling units shall be considered and reviewed as
subdivisions under the Code of the Town of Wells.[1]
[Added 6-8-2010]
A nonpossessory interest in real property imposing limitations
or affirmative obligations the purposes of which include retaining
or protecting natural, scenic or open space values of real property;
ensuring its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational or
open space use; protecting natural resources; or maintaining air or
water quality.
A retail business containing less than 5,000 square feet
of gross floor area selling convenience merchandise, including but
not limited to items such as foodstuffs, nonprescription medical supplies,
sanitary supplies, newspapers, emergency home repair articles, household
cleaners, toiletries, other household items and motor vehicle fuels,
and which may include a fast-food restaurant as an integrated part
of the business operation.
[Added 4-16-2004]
A circular turnaround located at the end of a street.
An outside lighting fixture that is designed to minimize
the amount of light that is not directed towards the ground. In order
to be considered a cut-off fixture a minimum of 90% of the total lamp
lumens must be directed below 80° from vertical and no more than
2.5% of the total lamp lumens may be allowed above a horizontal line
from the bottom of the fixture. A cut-off fixture may be either a
pole-mounted or wall-mounted fixture.
[Added 4-16-2004]
A business which provides temporary care, protection and
supervision of more than six people for up to 18 hours a day. The
term "day-care center" does not include the term "day-care home."
A business conducted within a dwelling unit where temporary
care, protection and supervision of no more than 10 people is provided
for up to 18 hours a day.
[Amended 4-7-2001]
The hours between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Monday through
Saturday; and the hours 9:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m. on Sundays.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A platform, usually used for seating and/or access to a building,
elevated above the ground which may have a railing surrounding it
but has no roof or other covering.
The number of dwelling units or lodging units per area of
land.
[Amended 4-28-1995]
Includes lot size, density, street frontage, shore frontage,
lot coverage, building height and setback requirements.
A residential building providing sleeping and residential
rooms for college students enrolled in and attending a post-secondary
education institution within the Town of Wells in which common areas
for kitchen, bathing, sanitary, laundry and living spaces are provided.
[Added 11-7-2023]
A drug abuse shelter is a facility that provides food, lodging
and clothing for abusers of alcohol and other drugs, for the purpose
of protecting and maintaining life and providing motivation for alcohol
and drug treatment. This definition is not intended to apply to off-site
meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous (or other similar
support groups), or to off-site private or group counseling sessions
with mental health professionals.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A residential use consisting of three or more dwelling units
in one building. A congregate housing complex or building shall not
be considered a multifamily dwelling.
[Amended 6-8-2010]
A residential use consisting of one dwelling unit, including
a community living facility as defined in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4357-A.
[Amended 11-7-2000]
A residential use consisting of two dwelling units located
in one building.
One or more rooms designed and equipped for occupancy by
only one family, or by a single individual, containing living, sleeping,
bathing, sanitary facilities and one indoor kitchen facility (excepting
an additional kitchen permitted in an accessory dwelling unit.)
[Amended 6-11-2019]
A dwelling unit which is permitted as an accessory use to
an owner-occupied one-family dwelling.
One or more rooms designed and equipped for occupancy by
only one family, or by a single individual, containing living, sleeping,
bathing and sanitary facilities and which may include cooking facilities.
[Added 6-8-2010]
An area constructed to allow emergency access to a building,
including stairs, ramps and railings. The platform area shall be clear
of obstructions and shall not be permitted to be used for seating,
grilling, cooking, or storage.
[Added 6-12-2012]
Housing units intended for and occupied solely by persons
55 years of age or older or an elderly couple one of whom is 55 years
of age or older. Elderly housing may have the same common amenities
as congregate housing.
[Amended 4-26-1996]
An electrically activated sign whose message content, either
in whole or in part, may be changed by means of electronic programming.
The message content may be displayed as pixels on a display surface,
which pixels may consist of incandescent lamps, reflective disks,
light-emitting diodes (LEDs), liquid crystal components (LCDs), neon
or plasma light segments, or various combinations of the above.
[Added 6-8-2010]
Any motor vehicle authorized by a town, county, state or
federal authority to have sound warning devices such as sirens and
bells, which can lawfully be used when responding to an emergency.
[Added 6-14-2011]
Work made necessary to restore property to a safe condition
following an emergency, or work required to protect persons or property
from exposure to imminent danger.
[Added 6-14-2011]
Facilities where research or educational activities of or
relating to the sea, estuaries or marine life occur.
[Added 4-14-2000]
Any sound that is plainly audible for a distance from the source as set forth in § 145-45 of the Wells Code which endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals, or annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensibilities. If the sound source under investigation is a sound amplification or reproduction device, the enforcement officer need not determine the title of a song, specific words, or the artist performing the song. The detection of the rhythmic bass component of the music may be sufficient to constitute excessive or unreasonable noise.
[Added 6-14-2011]
The side of a building below the eaves.
[Added 11-6-2007]
One or more persons related by blood, marriage, adoption
or under approved foster care; or a group of not more than five unrelated
individuals living together in a dwelling unit; or a group of individuals
living together in a community living arrangement as defined by 30-A
M.R.S.A § 4357-A.
[Amended 4-7-2001]
A freestanding structure not more than 100 square feet in
footprint area and not more than 10 feet in building height used for
the sale of agricultural or livestock/poultry products grown or raised
on the property where the structure is located.
[Added 6-11-2019]
A freestanding structure not more than 50 square feet in
footprint area and not more than 10 feet in building height used by
a minor person (under the age of 16) for the sale of items such as
lemonade, cookies, etc.
[Added 6-11-2019]
A device designed to measure the illuminance of a sign.
[Added 6-8-2010]
The portion of a lot covered by all portions of any structure,
including decks, porches, cantilevered sections and roof eaves exceeding
12 inches.
[Added 4-18-1998; amended 6-12-2012]
The supporting substructure of a building or other structure,
including but not limited to basements, slabs, sills, posts or frost
walls.
A freestanding residential detoxification program provides
care to persons whose withdrawal signs and symptoms indicate the need
for twenty-four-hour residential care. Services include a biopsychosocial
evaluation, medical observation, monitoring, and treatment, counseling,
and follow-up referral. However, the full resources of an acute care
general hospital or a medically managed intensive inpatient treatment
program are not necessary. Services must be conducted in a freestanding
or other appropriately licensed healthcare or addiction treatment
facility. This definition is not intended to apply to off-site meetings
of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous (or other similar support
groups), or to off-site private or group counseling sessions with
mental health professionals.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A business in which a room or rooms may be rented out to
a variety of different groups for public and private meetings, gatherings,
dances, conferences or parties.
That process in which one stakes or risks something of value
upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event
not under his or her control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding
that he, she or someone else will receive something of value in the
event of a certain outcome. Gambling does not include bona fide business
transactions valid under the law of contracts, including but not limited
to contracts for the purchase or sale at a future date of securities
or commodities, and agreements to compensate for loss caused by the
happening of chance, including but not limited to contracts of indemnity
or guaranty and life, health or accident insurance.
[Added 11-5-2002]
A building, structure or other facility used to allow, conduct,
hold, maintain, or operate a game of chance, game of skill, electronic
video machine, roulette, high stakes beano or bingo, slot machines
or any other type of gambling activity. A gambling casino shall not
be construed to include a building structure or other facility when
used incidentally by any bona fide nonprofit charitable, educational,
political, civic, recreational, fraternal, patriotic or religious
organizations, or a volunteer fire department or other public safety
nonprofit organizations when used for the conduct of any beano, bingo,
raffles, games of chance or other activities specifically permitted
by Maine state statute, provided that such nonprofit organizations
do not exist primarily to operate such activities and that all requirements
of state statute, including all requirements for licensing by the
Chief of the Maine State Police, are strictly met.
[Added 11-5-2002]
Any device, machine, paraphernalia or equipment that is used
or usable in the playing phases of any gambling activity, whether
that activity consists of gambling between persons or gambling by
a person involving the playing of a machine. However, lottery tickets
and other items used in the playing phases of lottery schemes are
not gambling devices within this definition.
[Added 11-5-2002]
Any game, contest, scheme or device in which a person stakes
or risks something of value for the opportunity to win something of
value; the rules of operation or play require an event the result
of which is determined by chance, outside the control of the contestant
or participant; and chance enters as an element that influences the
outcome in a manner that cannot be eliminated through the application
of skill. As used in this definition, "an event that result of which
is determined by chance" includes but is not limited to a shuffle
of a deck or decks of cards, a roll of a die or dice or a random drawing
or generation of an object or objects that may include, but are not
limited to, a card or cards, a die or dice, a number or numbers or
simulations of any of these. A shuffle of a deck or decks of cards,
a roll of a die or dice, a random drawing or generation of an object
or objects or some other event the result of which is determined by
chance, that is employed to determine impartially the initial order
of play in a game, contest, scheme or device does not alone make a
game, contest, scheme or device a game of chance.
[Added 11-5-2002]
Any game, contest, scheme or device in which a person stakes
or risks something of value for the opportunity to win something of
value and that is not a game of chance.
[Added 11-5-2002]
Any inland body of water which in a natural state has a surface
area in excess of 10 acres, and any inland body of water artificially
formed or increased which has a surface area in excess of 30 acres.
For the purposes of regulation in the Town of Wells, Ell Pond and
Hobbs Pond shall be considered great ponds.
[Added 4-27-2007]
The sum of the areas of all the floors of all roofed portions
of a building, as measured from the exterior faces of the exterior
walls, plus the horizontal area of any unenclosed roofed portions
of a structure, such as porches. Within buildings, areas having headroom
of less than 6 1/2 feet and areas designed and used for motor
vehicle parking in order to meet the parking requirements of this
chapter shall not be counted as gross floor area. Elevators and stairwells
shall be counted at each floor.
Any portion of a building designated for human occupation
which has a ceiling height greater than 6.5 feet or which is climate
controlled.
[Amended 6-12-2012]
The height of a sign shall be computed as the distance from
the base of the sign at normal grade to the top of the highest attached
component of the sign. Normal grade shall be construed to be the lower
of existing grade prior to construction or the newly established grade
after construction, exclusive of any filling, berming, mounding or
excavating solely for the purpose of locating the sign. In cases in
which the normal grade cannot reasonably be determined, sign height
shall be computed on the assumption that the elevation of the normal
grade at the base of the sign is equal to the elevation of the nearest
point of the crown of a public street or the grade of the land at
the principal entrance to the principal structure on the same lot,
whichever is nearer.
[Added 11-6-2007]
NONOCEANFRONT TIDAL WATERSThe land elevation at which periodic tidal action causes vegetation changes from predominantly salt-tolerant to terrestrial plants. In places where vegetation is not present or where it is not possible to identify plant types, the high-water line shall be the identifiable debris line left by nonstorm tidal action. Salt-tolerant vegetation includes but is not limited to salt marsh cord grass, ditch grass, eel grass, orache, salt marsh sedge, salt marsh bull rush and arrow grass.
INLAND WATERSThat line on the shores and banks of nontidal waters which is apparent because of visible markings, different character of the soil due to the prolonged action of the water or changes in vegetation and which distinguishes between predominantly aquatic and predominantly terrestrial land. In the case of wetlands next to rivers and great ponds, the high-water line is the upland edge of the wetland where the vegetation changes from predominantly aquatic plants to predominantly terrestrial plants. Aquatic plants include but are not limited to the following: water lily, pickerelweed, cattail, wild rice, sedges, rushes and marsh grasses.
OCEANFRONT WATERSThat line on the shore of tidal waters reached by the shoreward limit of the spring tide or the base of the sea wall where one exists, whichever is more seaward, or in areas with natural sand dunes the seaward reach of dune vegetation.
For purposes of site plan approval in Article X, the days that the United States Postal Service is not open for business, other than Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
[Added 4-28-1995]
An institution providing medical and surgical services for
humans primarily on an inpatient basis. It may include emergency treatment
facilities, outpatient facilities, training facilities and other related
support services.
A business consisting of a building or group of buildings,
excluding housekeeping cottage complexes, which hotel/motel units
are rented to and occupied by transient guests or by a lodging unit
owner for no more than 14 days in a calendar year.
[Amended 11-5-2013]
An area on the property and within a building where assistance is provided such as receiving and processing reservations, maintaining occupancy records, coordinating services, managing room key inventory and processing account statements. The hotel/motel office shall be of a size that is equal to or larger than the average unit size in that hotel/motel and shall have a public restroom facility. The hotel/motel office must be open and staffed a minimum of 12 hours per day when the hotel/motel is occupied. All registration, rentals, collection of state or local lodging taxes shall be conducted by and through the hotel/motel office. The hotel/motel office shall comply with the requirements of Article X (entitled Lodging Facilities) of Chapter 150 of the Wells Code.
[Added 11-5-2013]
A room or combination of rooms to accommodate transient guests
or a lodging unit owner. The hotel/motel unit footprint shall not
exceed 470 square feet. A deck or enclosed porch not exceeding 160
square feet shall also be permitted.
[Added 11-5-2013]
The gross area of a hotel/motel unit as measured from the
interior wall faces which define the hotel/motel unit boundaries.
Projections no greater than 12 inches horizontally and four feet vertically
shall not be included in the gross area.
[Added 11-5-2013]
A one-story building containing a single unit made up of
a room or group of rooms containing facilities for eating, sleeping,
bathing and cooking rented to transient guests for a period usually
not exceeding 28 days. Such a unit shall not be occupied between January
10 and April 1.
A business consisting of one or more housekeeping cottages.
A residential facility occupied exclusively by elderly persons that provides shared community space and shared as well as individual in-apartment dining facilities and normally also provides residents with housekeeping services, personal care and assisted living, transportation assistance, recreation activities and/or specialized shared services such as medical support services and physical therapy. By "elderly" persons it is meant a person 55 years or older or a couple that constitutes a household and at least one of whom is 55 years or older. By "shared community space" is meant space designed to be used in common for the enjoyment and leisure of residents of the facility, such as reading rooms, sitting rooms, recreational rooms, rooms for entertaining guests and exercise rooms. By "shared dining facilities" is meant a room or rooms designed for the serving of meals to residents sitting together plus the kitchen facilities required to prepare the meals. Congregate housing buildings may include congregate dwelling units, and dwelling units in the same building. Congregate dwelling units and buildings containing only congregate dwelling units are not subject to the six dwelling unit per building restriction found in § 145-48 of the Wells Code.
[Amended 4-26-1996; 6-8-2010]
The measure of the amount of light that is intercepted by
an object that is a distance away from the sign. That is, the lighted
sign face illuminates objects that are away from it, and the lighting
level produced by the sign on a particular object is measured in footcandles
(fcs).
[Added 6-8-2010]
Illumination of a sign that is effected by an artificial
source of light not contained within the sign itself.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A light source that is concealed or contained within the
sign and becomes visible in darkness through a translucent surface.
Neon signs are considered to be internally illuminated.
[Added 11-6-2007]
Minor or secondary to something.
A field, yard or other area used to store:
Discarded, worn out or junked plumbing, heating
supplies, household appliances and furniture;
Discarded, scrap and junked lumber;
Old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries,
paper trash, rubber debris, waste and all scrap iron, steel and other
scrap ferrous or nonferrous material; and
Garbage dumps, waste dumps and sanitary fills.
A business in which three or more dogs or cats over the age
of six months are boarded, raised or bred. Pet grooming is considered
an accessory use to a kennel.
[Amended 4-14-2000]
An employee with a major ownership or decision-making role
in the permitted use/business and who is paid an annual salary.
[Added 6-9-2015]
A space used for cooking or the preparation of food, which
contains any of the following: kitchen equipment including any heating
devices to cook food, such as but not limited to a portable or fixed
stove; a dishwasher machine; a refrigerator; a kitchen sink; cabinets
and counters. A bar/counter with a bar sink, small refrigerator or
microwave for an area used for entertainment is not considered a kitchen
facility. A refrigerator or wash/utility sink located in a space not
for cooking or food preparation, with no other kitchen equipment,
is not considered a kitchen facility.
[Added 11-5-2013; amended 6-11-2019]
A facility for the transitional residency of elderly persons,
which includes all of the following: elderly housing, congregate housing
and nursing home.
[Amended 4-26-1996]
The assembly that holds the lamp (bulb) in a lighting system.
It includes the elements designed to give light output, control, such
as a reflector (mirror) or refractor (lens), the ballast, housing
and the attachment of parts.
[Added 6-8-2010]
The keeping of between four and 10 animals, on a lot with
a dwelling unit, such as cattle, sheep, pigs, ostriches, horses and
other useful animals (excluding domestic poultry), for the property
owner's personal use and enjoyment.
[Added 6-9-2015]
The keeping of less than four animals, on a lot with a dwelling
unit, such as cattle, sheep, pigs, ostriches, horses and other useful
animals (excluding domestic poultry), for the property owner's personal
use and enjoyment.
[Added 6-9-2015]
A residential use of one or more rooms designed and equipped
for occupancy by only one family containing living, cooking, sleeping,
bathing and sanitary facilities, which is directly associated with
a permitted industrial, commercial or business use, which is located
on the same lot as such use. Live/work units are only permitted in
the Light Industrial District.
[Added 6-9-2015]
Includes hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts/small inns seasonal
cottage complexes and housekeeping cottage complexes.
[Amended 4-12-2003]
A room or group of rooms in a lodging facility containing
facilities for eating, sleeping, bathing and cooking.
[Added 4-19-1997; amended 11-5-2013]
A person or persons or any entity who have right, title and/or
interest to a lodging unit or lodging facility.
[Added 11-5-2013]
An area of land in one ownership with identifiable lot lines
established by deed, plan or other instrument of record.
That portion of a lot occupied by structures, parking lots,
patios, sidewalks, except sidewalks located in an easement granted
to the Town for sidewalk purposes, or other areas which were devegetated
and which are not to be revegetated.
[Amended 4-12-2003]
That real or imaginary line along the ground surface and
its vertical extension which separates a lot from an abutting lot
or from a street right-of-way.
A lot which was legally created by plan or deed and recorded
in the York County Registry of Deeds which met the requirements of
the zoning ordinance in effect at the time of recording or a lot which
is located in a subdivision approved by the Planning Board and recorded
at the York County Registry of Deeds.
The measure of the brightness of the sign face.
[Added 6-8-2010]
A structure built in a manufacturing facility, designed to
be transported in two or fewer sections, to be used as a dwelling
unit and, if built after June 15, 1976, certified as a manufactured
housing unit by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
A business of making goods and articles by hand or machinery.
Manufacturing shall include assembling, fabricating, finishing, packaging,
or processing. Manufacturing does not include the growing, production,
testing, sale or processing of marijuana.
[Amended 6-12-2012; 6-13-2017]
As defined in State Administrative Rules 10-144 CMR Chapter 122, § 1.17.
[Added 6-13-2017]
Marijuana paraphernalia shall be defined in the same way as defined by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services in its Rules Governing the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, 10-144 CMR Chapter 122, § 1.24, as amended.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A business which provides one or more of the following: boat
storage, boat launching or mooring. The term "marina" shall include
related boat sales and service, snack bars, chandleries, fish sales
and processing and marine-related retail sales.
The estimated price a property will bring in the open market
and under prevailing market conditions in a sale between a willing
seller and a willing buyer, both familiar with the property and with
prevailing general price levels.
A business or institution, such as a hospital, convalescent
home or hospice, which provides overnight and long-term health services.
[Amended 4-26-1996]
A business or institution which provides medical care on
only an outpatient basis. For the purposes of this chapter any such
use shall be defined and regulated as a personal service business.
Marijuana specifically permitted pursuant to the Maine Medical
Use of Marijuana Act.[2]
[Added 6-13-2017]
As defined in State Administrative Rules, 10-144 CMR Chapter 122, § 1.31, "Primary Caregiver."
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility used for cultivating, processing, testing, and/or
storing of medical marijuana by a medical marijuana caregiver at a
location which is not the medical marijuana caregiver's primary year-round
residence or their patient's primary year-round residence.
[Added 6-13-2017]
Medical use of marijuana means the acquisition, possession, cultivation, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer or transportation of marijuana or paraphernalia relating to the administration of marijuana to treat or alleviate a registered patient's debilitating medical condition or symptoms associated with the registered patient's debilitating medical condition. See also Maine Department of Health and Human Services' Rules Governing the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, 10-144 CMR Chapter 122, § 1.21, as amended.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A business (including any accessory storage, crushing, screening
or segregating) engaged in the mining or excavation of loam, clay,
sand, gravel, stone, mineral or other similar material for use off
the premises. The following activities shall not be considered to
be mineral extraction:
The removal or filling of material incidental
to construction, alteration or repair to a structure or in the grading
or landscaping incidental to a permitted use.
The removal or filling of material incidental
to the construction, alteration or repair of a public or private road
or public utility.
A parcel of land under unified ownership approved by the
Town of Wells to accommodate three or more manufactured homes.
The area of land within a mobile home park on which an individual
manufactured home is situated and which is reserved for the exclusive
use of the occupants of that home.
Any combination of buildings containing a total of three
or more dwelling units on one lot. The term "multifamily development"
does not include a mobile home park, or any congregate housing facility.
[Amended 6-8-2010]
A use undertaken by the Town of Wells.
A profit or nonprofit institution operated to preserve and
exhibit objects of historical, cultural, scientific or artistic interest
and which may also engage in incidental retail sales.
A business containing less than 2,500 square feet of gross
floor area (for the purposes of this definition, gross floor area
shall not include any floor area located in an area not defined as
a story) intended to serve the day-to-day needs of a residential area
primarily with the sale of merchandise, including but not limited
to items such as foodstuffs, nonprescription medical supplies, sanitary
supplies, newspapers, emergency home repair articles, household cleaners,
toiletries, other household items and motor vehicle fuels.
A measure of land area (measured on a horizontal plane) which
excludes any land below the high-water line of a water body or below
the upland edge of a wetland or any land beneath a street right-of-way.
The area of an accessory dwelling unit as measured from the
interior wall faces which define the unit boundaries. (Interior walls
are included.) Areas of exterior egress and exterior decks shall not
be included. Porches which have a roof shall be included.
[Added 6-11-2019]
All hours other than daytime hours as defined.
[Added 6-14-2011]
Something which lawfully exists but does not meet the current
requirements of this chapter because it was established or constructed
before the adoption or amendment of this chapter or complied with
the zoning ordinance or a Planning Board approval at the time it was
established or constructed.
[Amended 4-18-1998; 4-16-1999; 11-7-2000]
A use permitted within a district which does not conform
to one or more of the standards within this chapter regulating the
use.
A lot of record which does not meet the minimum lot size
or minimum street frontage requirements of the district in which it
is located.
A structure that does not meet the setback, lot coverage,
architectural or height requirements of the district in which it is
located but which met the requirements when it was built or erected.
A use of land or a structure(s) which is not currently permitted
in the district but which was a permitted use at the time the use
was established.
A business which provides daily care, supervision and education
of children under the age of seven.
A facility with beds licensed by the Maine Department of
Human Services and in which nursing care and medical services are
performed under the general direction of persons licensed to practice
medicine in the State of Maine for the accommodation of convalescent
or other persons who are not in need of hospital care but do require
licensed nursing supervision and related medical services.
[Amended 4-26-1996]
Land within or associated with a development which is set
aside, dedicated, or reserved for public or private use or enjoyment,
protection of natural or historic features, protection of abutting
property owners, or to provide areas suitable for active or passive
recreation, as approved by the Planning Board.
[Added 11-7-2006; amended 6-11-2013]
A business providing outside storage of registered motor
vehicles.
An individual that has a physical condition that substantially
limits one or more of the major life activities as further defined
in 5 M.R.S.A. § 4553.
[Added 4-18-1998]
Any sound that can be detected by a person using his or her
unaided hearing faculties. As an example, if the sound source under
investigation is a portable or personal vehicular sound amplification
or reproduction device, the detection of the rhythmic bass component
of the music is sufficient to verify plainly audible sound.
[Added 6-14-2011]
The keeping of between 20 and 60 domestic fowl, on a lot
with a dwelling unit, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, for
the property owner's or occupant's personal use and enjoyment (between
20 to 60 fowl). Exception: The term "fowl" shall not include those
of unusually large size such as ostriches.
[Added 6-9-2015]
The keeping of less than 20 domestic fowl, on a lot with
a dwelling unit, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks or geese, for the
property owner's or occupant's personal use and enjoyment. Exception:
The term "fowl" shall not include those of unusually large size such
as ostriches.
[Added 6-9-2015]
The use to which the lot is primarily devoted. Multiple principal
uses may exist on a single lot.
A private non-medical institution means a substance abuse
treatment program, billing under the MaineCare Benefits Manual, 10-144
CMR Chapter 101, Ch. II and Ch. III, § 97, and which meets
additional requirements, as outlined herein. This definition is not
intended to apply to off-site meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics
Anonymous (or other similar support groups), or to off-site private
or group counseling sessions with mental health professionals.
[Added 6-14-2011]
A freestanding roofed structure used as a passenger waiting
area for pick up and drop off of passengers using trolleys and/or
buses.
[Added 11-6-2007]
Building(s) or structure(s) necessary for the furnishing
of utility services primarily within the Town of Wells, excluding
subsurface or aerial transmission lines. The principal use of any
such facility or structures shall be for such things as, but not limited
to, switching stations, relay stations, solar electricity generation
facility, treatment facilities and pumping stations.
[Amended 4-28-1995; 6-11-2019]
Any noncommercial recreational activities which require some
degree of permanent structural or mechanical components for participation
in the activity, such as ball fields, playgrounds and tennis courts.
A vehicle that:
A factory-manufactured rigid metal or vinyl enclosure, with
the dimensions not exceeding eight feet in width nor the length of
the recreational vehicle, and designed for use with recreational vehicles.
The term shall not include decks, patios, awnings, awning tents, screen
panels or unenclosed roof projections.
[Amended 4-18-1998]
A recreational vehicle containing between 320 and 400 square
feet of floor area, not counting recreational vehicle accessory enclosures.
A facility which is not operated for a profit or a business
operated for profit which provides an indoor or outdoor recreational
activity for the training and development of a sport or skill and
may include temporary (not to exceed 14 days) accommodations in student
housing or dormitory housing for occupants of any age.
[Added 11-7-2023]
A business which provides an indoor or outdoor recreational
activity, such as miniature golf, playing of video games, showing
of movies and the exhibition of any of the performing arts, but not
including powered apparatus, such as Ferris wheels, water slides and
devices usually found in amusement parks or motorized vehicles that
produce fumes, bright lights or noise.
[Amended 6-11-2013]
A business which provides a low-intensity, customarily nonspectator,
outdoor recreational activity, including but not limited to golfing,
cross country skiing, hunting, paintballing, horseback riding and
canoeing, kayaking and other recreational uses requiring access to
the water. This use shall not include any recreation activity which
requires the use of motors or engines for the operation of recreational
equipment or for participation in the activity and shall not result
in more than 5% of the area on which the recreational activity occurs
being unvegetated. Horseback riding and equestrian activities may
include an indoor riding facility as an accessory use to the outdoor
activity. Target shooting activities may include an indoor, sound
diminishing facility, as an accessory use to the outdoor activity.
[Amended 4-14-2000; 4-16-2004; 6-11-2013]
A business which provides an indoor recreational activity
such as exercising, dancing, racquetball, tennis or swimming.
[Added 6-11-2013]
Outdoor recreational activities, such as hiking, fishing
and hunting, which involve no structural or mechanical components
or facilities or no modification of the landform or landscape.
A business in which materials or products are processed and
stored for reuse.
A registered medical marijuana dispensary means an entity registered and licensed pursuant to the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program that acquires, possesses, delivers, transfers, transports, sells, supplies or dispenses medical marijuana products, paraphernalia or related supplies and educational materials to qualifying patients or visiting qualifying patients and registered caregivers, as those terms are defined in 22 M.R.S.A. § 2422, as amended, for their medical use. See also Maine Title 22 Chapter 558-C and Rules Governing the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, 18-691, Chapter 2 (formerly 10-144 CMR Chapter 122, § 1.29), as amended, now administered by the Maine Department of Administration and Financial Services. A registered medical marijuana dispensary is neither a caregiver retail store, as defined in 22 M.R.S.A. § 2422(1-F), as amended, nor a cannabis store, as defined in 28-B M.R.S.A. § 102(34), as amended, which uses are specifically prohibited in the Town. No more than three registered medical marijuana dispensaries shall be allowed to be approved at any given time in the Town of Wells.
[Added 6-14-2011; amended 6-13-2023]
A business in which new products or processes are created
and studied. Research and development facility does not include the
growing, production, testing, sale or processing of marijuana.
[Amended 6-13-2017]
A business involving the preparation and serving of foods
and beverages in edible or disposable containers for consumption on
the premises or off the premises, normally requiring a short period
of time between ordering and serving during which the customer waits
standing at a service counter or in a motor vehicle.
A business that serves foods and beverages unpackaged and
ready to eat, in individual servings or in nondisposable or nonedible
containers, which are consumed while seated on the premises.
Marijuana that is cultivated, manufactured, distributed or
sold by a retail marijuana establishment or retail marijuana social
club. Retail marijuana is prohibited in the Town of Wells, pursuant
to the Town's authority under 7 M.R.S.A. § 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility or an entity licensed to cultivate, prepare and
package retail marijuana and to sell retail marijuana to retail marijuana
establishments and retail marijuana social clubs. Retail marijuana
cultivation facilities are prohibited in the Town of Wells, pursuant
to the Town's authority under 7 M.R.S.A. § 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
Includes retail marijuana stores, retail marijuana cultivation
facilities, retail marijuana products manufacturing facilities, and
retail marijuana testing facilities. Retail marijuana establishments
are prohibited in the Town of Wells, pursuant to the Town's authority
under 7 M.R.S.A. § 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
Concentrated retail marijuana and retail marijuana products
that are composed of retail marijuana and other ingredients and are
intended for use or consumption, including, but not limited to, edible
products, ointments and tinctures.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility or an entity licensed to purchase retail marijuana;
manufacture, prepare and package retail marijuana products; and sell
retail marijuana and retail marijuana products only to other retail
marijuana products manufacturing facilities, retail marijuana stores
and retail marijuana social clubs. Retail marijuana products manufacturing
facilities are prohibited in the Town of Wells, pursuant to the Town's
authority under 7 M.R.S.A. § 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility or an entity licensed to sell retail marijuana
and retail marijuana products to consumers for consumption on the
licensed premises. Retail marijuana social clubs are prohibited in
the Town of Wells, pursuant to the Town's authority under 7 M.R.S.A.
§ 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility or an entity licensed to purchase retail marijuana
from a retail marijuana cultivation facility and to purchase retail
marijuana products from a retail marijuana products manufacturing
facility and to sell retail marijuana and retail marijuana products
to consumers. Retail marijuana stores are prohibited in the Town of
Wells, pursuant to the Town's authority under 7 M.R.S.A. § 2447(4);
as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A facility or an entity licensed and certified to analyze
and certify the safety and potency of retail marijuana and retail
marijuana products. Retail marijuana testing facilities are prohibited
in the Town of Wells, pursuant to the Town's authority under 7 M.R.S.A.
§ 2447(4), as amended.
[Added 6-13-2017]
A strip of land over which a person or persons have been
given the legal right to pass and/or to install and use facilities,
such as roads, streets, utility services and railroads.
A route or track consisting of a bed of exposed mineral soil,
gravel, asphalt or other surfacing material constructed for or created
by the repeated passage of vehicles. The term "road" includes the
term "street."
Cross-sectional dimension of the circle swept by the rotating
blades.
[Added 11-3-2009]
A game of chance in which players bet on the compartment
of a revolving wheel into which a small ball will come to rest.
[Added 11-5-2002]
A business in which logs are converted into planks, boards,
etc., by machinery for later use in the manufacture of various products.
A freestanding roofed structure not more than 100 square
feet in floor area and not more than 10 feet in height used as a waiting
area for school children while awaiting pick up by a school bus.
[Added 11-6-2007]
An institution, public or private, for post-secondary education
that offers courses leading to a degree or certification and has its
own teaching staff, students, buildings, which may include housing
and other facilities.
[Added 11-7-2023]
An institution for education or instruction which is not
operated for a profit or as a business or which provides courses of
study which are sufficient to qualify attendance in compliance with
state compulsory education requirements.
A public or private not-for-profit or commercial institution
for the education and training of persons in the widest array of technical
trades and service skills and knowledge that can be used in the job
market.
[Added 11-8-1994]
An opaque barrier that obstructs a view between adjacent
properties at a minimum height of six feet above grade.
[Added 4-16-1999]
A one-story building containing a single unit made up of
a room or group of rooms containing facilities for eating, sleeping,
bathing and cooking and that is not occupied and to which water service
is turned off between November 1 and April 30.
[Added 4-12-2003]
A business consisting of one or more seasonal cottages.
[Added 4-12-2003]
A type of business that provides individual spaces for lease
or rent to individuals for the storage of personal property.
[Added 5-20-2003]
The shortest horizontal distance from an identified object,
line, boundary or feature to the nearest part of a structure’s
footprint, object, use or feature.
[Amended 6-12-2012]
A collection of treatment tank(s), disposal area(s), holding
tank(s) and pond(s), surface spray system(s), cesspool(s), well(s),
surface ditch(es), alternative toilet(s) or other devices and associated
piping designed to function as a unit to dispose of wastes or wastewater
on or beneath the surface of the earth.
A collection of independent retail stores, services, and
parking areas constructed and maintained by a management firm as a
unit.
[Added 11-2-2010]
The length of a lot bordering on a water body measured in
a straight line between the intersections of the lot lines with the
shoreline at the high-water line.
A lettered, numbered, symbolic, pictorial, or illuminated
visual display designed to identify, announce, direct, or inform that
is visible from a public right-of-way. The term "sign" includes banners,
pennants, streamers, moving mechanisms, and lights.
[Amended 11-6-2007]
A two-dimensional area that describes the largest square,
rectangle, or parallelogram on the facade of a building which is free
of architectural details.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign displayed above the peak of a pitched roof or above
the parapet of a building with a flat roof.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign which displays movement or the optical illusion of
movement of any part of its structure, design, or pictorial segment,
including the movement of any illumination or the flashing or varying
of light intensity; or the automatic changing of all or any part of
the sign's facing. The term "animated sign" excludes "electronic message
centers."
[Added 11-6-2007; amended 6-8-2010]
The total area of the face used to display a sign, not including
its supporting poles or structures. If a sign has two faces that are
parallel (not more than two feet apart) and supported by the same
poles or structures, the size of the sign is one-half the area of
the two faces.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign painted or printed on, or attached to, an awning.
[Added 11-6-2007]
Any sign with copy that may be manually changed.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign at the exit or entrance of premises with no copy other
than indication of such an exit or entrance.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A banner displayed on a premises on which a grand opening
is in progress.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A freestanding sign supported by one or more uprights, posts,
or braces; or set upon a base; that is permanently affixed in the
ground and not attached to any part of a building. It includes a pole
sign and a monument sign.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A freestanding ground sign permanently affixed in the ground
at its base, supported entirely by a base structure, and not mounted
on a pole or poles, uprights, or braces.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign that was lawfully constructed or installed prior to
the adoption or amendment of this ordinance and was in compliance
with all of the provisions of this ordinance then in effect, but which
does not presently comply with this ordinance.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A freestanding sign that is permanently affixed to the ground
by a structure of poles, uprights, or braces and not supported by
a building.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A freestanding sign not permanently attached to the ground
or a building or not designed to be permanently attached to the ground
or a building. A portable sign which has been simply modified by removing
its wheels and/or propping it up on blocks shall still be considered
as a portable sign for the purposes of this ordinance.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign attached to and projecting from the wall of a building
and not in the same plane as the wall.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign that is displayed above the eaves and under the peak
of a pitched roof on a building.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign painted on or attached to a wall of a structure and
substantially in the same plane as the wall.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A sign applied, painted or affixed to or in the window of
a building. A window sign may be temporary or permanent.
[Added 11-6-2007]
A plan for a use of a lot submitted to the Code Enforcement
Officer, Staff Review Committee or the Planning Board for approval.
The term "approved site plan" shall mean a plan reviewed and approved
by the designated reviewing authority.
Any machine which operates by inserting a coin, token or
similar object, setting the internal mechanism of the machine in motion,
and by the application of the element of chance may deliver or entitle
the person playing or operating the machine to receive cash, premiums,
merchandise, tickets, or something of value.
[Added 11-5-2002]
A large container for the temporary storage of solid wastes
that can be hoisted by a mechanism onto large trash trucks, so-called,
for emptying. Solid waste dumpsters that can be truck-borne are not
structures, but no dumpster, so-called, can be located closer to any
lot line than a structure in the district in which it is located.
[Added 4-28-1995]
[Added 11-5-2002]
Any money or property;
Any token, object or article exchangeable for
money, property, amusement or entertainment; or
Any form of credit or promise directly or indirectly
contemplating transfer of money or property, or of any interest therein,
or involving extension of a service, entertainment or a privilege
of playing at a game or scheme without charge.
Human genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal;
acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, fellatio or sodomy;
and fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic regions,
buttocks or female breast.[3]
[Added 6-11-2019]
Any one of the state-numbered highways (Route 1, Route 9,
Route 9A, Route 9B and Route 109).
A pond, wetland, basin or structure which collects surface
runoff and discharges it at a measured rate as surface runoff.
A pond, wetland, basin or structure which collects surface
runoff and permits only infiltration of stormwater into the ground,
without a surface runoff discharge outlet.
That portion of a building contained between a floor and
the floor or roof above it, but not including any portion of a building
so contained if more than 1/2 of such portion is below the average
finished grade of the land surrounding the building.
See "water body."
A public or private way which provides the principal means
of access to two or more abutting lots. The term "street" does not
include the term "road."
The horizontal distance along any lot line which abuts a
street right-of-way.
Anything constructed, assembled or erected having a fixed
location uninterrupted for more than 10 days on or in the ground or
in the water. Any attachment to a structure shall be considered to
be part of the structure. The term "structure" shall not include signs;
utility distribution lines; stone walls; fences; embankment retaining
walls; culverts; fire cisterns; fire hydrants; mailboxes; vehicles
registered for use on public ways; at-grade paving, such as sidewalks,
patios, driveways, business, seasonal tents and parking lots; and
other items located in the public right-of-way normally and customarily
related to a road. The term "structure" shall not include picnic tables
and other tables, chairs, benches and other seating, trash cans, bicycle
racks and planters each of which can be transported by two or fewer
persons without use of mechanical assistance. The term "structure"
includes utility transmission lines. Exclusions from this definition
may not negate the requirement for a building permit.
[Amended 4-28-1995; 6-4-1996; 11-5-2002; 11-2-2021]
A residential building that provides a room or suite of rooms,
known as a unit, occupied by college student(s) enrolled in and attending
a post-secondary education institution within the Town of Wells which
include kitchen, bathing, and sanitary facilities within each unit.
[Added 11-7-2023]
The division of a parcel of land into lots as defined in
30-A M.R.S.A. § 4401 or as in acts amendatory thereto.
Completion of all exterior work, if any, on the building
and completion of all site grading and landscaping work.
Completion of the installation and backfilling of the building's
foundation.
[Amended 11-7-2006]
The height above grade of the tower plus wind generator,
measured from the pre-construction ground level to the highest pointed
reached by the turbine blades.
[Added 11-3-2009]
A business in which two or more sites are provided for occupancy
by tents or recreational vehicles for recreation or vacation purposes.
An activity or business which cuts and removes trees from
their growing site, which also includes timber cruising and other
forest resource evaluation activities, pesticide or fertilizer application,
insect and disease control, timber stand improvement, pruning, regeneration
of forest stands and the attendant operation of cutting and skidding
machinery. Timber harvesting does not include the clearing of land
for agricultural use or for approved construction.
This includes a monopole, freestanding, or guyed structure
that supports a wind energy system.
[Added 11-3-2009]
A large rectangular container (the trailer) mounted on an
undercarriage with wheels that can be hitched to a truck (the tractor)
and hauled over the road. The trailer is not a structure while attached
to a legally registered tractor.
[Added 4-28-1995]
A person or persons who rent and occupy, for a fee, a lodging
unit for a limited duration not to exceed 90 days and do not rent
or reoccupy the same or any lodging unit within the lodging facility
within 90 days. A transient guest has no right, title or interest
in the property. The fee for accommodations must be reasonable in
relation to similar lodging facilities in Wells, Maine. Unusually
low fees will be considered a circumvention of this definition.
[Added 11-5-2013]
A use which includes the receiving and/or transmitting of
information through the air employing equipment mounted high above
the ground on a tower.
A use which provides for the interface between different
modes of transportation. It may include a terminal building housing
retail, service, office, restaurant and other such accessory uses.
A channel between defined banks created by the action of
surface water, whether intermittent or perennial, and which is characterized
by the lack of upland vegetation or presence of aquatic vegetation
and by the presence of a bed devoid of topsoil containing waterborne
deposits on exposed soil, parent material or bedrock and which flows
to a water body or wetland as defined. This definition does not include
the term "stream" as defined elsewhere in this chapter and only applies
to that portion of the tributary stream located within the shoreland
zone of the receiving water body or wetland.
A use that provides facilities for the temporary storage
of trucks and trailers at a commercial business. A truck terminal
may include the transfer of goods between trailers and the temporary
warehousing of goods between shipments. A truck terminal may provide
facilities to inspect vehicles, change vehicle fluids, maintain engines,
change tires, repair vehicle bodies or for other maintenance on trucks
and trailers.
[Added 4-28-1995]
The boundary between upland and wetland as identified by
a change from predominantly wetland vegetation to predominantly terrestrial
vegetation.
The purpose for which land or a building is arranged, designed,
intended or occupied.
Items used to distribute and/or collect services or products
of a utility to or from individual lots but not for the purpose of
resale. Such items include, but are not limited to, poles, pole-mounted
accessories, wires, cables, conduits, pipes, pumps, manholes, valves,
junction boxes, ducts and other incidental items.
[Amended 6-4-1996]
Structures used to carry a product or service of a utility
but which do not distribute and/or collect the product or service
to or from individual lots. Such structures include, but are not limited
to, poles, pole-mounted accessories, wires, cables, conduits, pipes,
pumps, manholes, valves, junction boxes and ducts.
[Amended 6-4-1996]
A relaxation of the terms of this chapter by the Zoning Board
of Appeals where the enforcement of this chapter would result in undue
hardship.
All live trees, shrubs, ground cover and other plants.
The volume of all portions of a structure enclosed by a roof
and fixed exterior walls or floors as measured from the exterior faces
of these walls, floors and roof.
A business engaged in the storage, wholesale and/or distribution
of products, goods, supplies and equipment.
Includes:
OCEANFRONT AND NONOCEANFRONT TIDAL WATERSAny land or water area upon which tidal action occurs.
ELL POND AND ASSOCIATED WETLANDSEll Pond itself and any wetlands contiguous with or adjacent to Ell Pond which during normal high water are connected by surface water to Ell Pond and any wetlands separated from the pond by a berm, causeway or similar feature less than 100 feet in width having a surface elevation at or below the high-water line of Ell Pond.
STREAMA free-flowing body of water from the outlet of a great pond or the confluence of two perennial streams as shown on the following United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute series topographic maps to the point where the body of water flows into a great pond or tidal waters. The USGS maps to be used for the purposes of this definition are the Wells quadrangle, photo inspected, 1979; the North Berwick quadrangle, photo revised, 1973; the Kennebunk quadrangle, provisional edition, 1983; and the Alfred quadrangle, provisional edition, 1983.
Any project extending from one bank to the opposite bank
of a stream, whether under, through or over the watercourse. Such
projects include but are not limited to roads, fords, bridges, culverts,
water lines, sewer lines and cables, as well as maintenance work on
these crossings.
Those uses that require, for their primary purpose, location
on submerged lands or that require direct access to, or location in,
coastal and inland waters and which cannot be located away from these
waters. The uses include but are not limited to commercial and recreational
fishing and boating facilities, finfish and shellfish processing,
fish storage and retail and wholesale fish marketing facilities, waterfront
dock and port facilities, shipyards and boat building facilities,
marinas, navigation aides, basins and channels and uses which primarily
provide general public access to marine or tidal waters.
A business (including any accessory storage on site) engaged
in the extraction of groundwater or surface water for transport off
site for sale.
[Added 4-28-1995]
Includes the following:
COASTAL WETLANDAll tidal and subtidal lands; all lands below any identifiable debris line left by tidal action; all lands with vegetation present that is tolerant of saltwater and occurs primarily in a saltwater or estuarine habitat; and any swamp, marsh, bog, beach, flat or other contiguous low land which is subject to tidal action during the maximum spring tide level as identified in tide tables published by the National Ocean Service. Coastal wetlands may include portions of coastal sand dunes.
FRESHWATER WETLAND:
Freshwater swamps, marshes, bogs and similar
areas, other than such areas dominated by woody vegetation at least
20 feet in height, which are shown on the Overlay District Zone Map
and are:
Of 10 or more contiguous acres or of less than
10 contiguous acres and adjacent to a surface water body, excluding
a stream or brook, such that in a natural state the combined surface
area is in excess of 10 acres; and
Inundated or saturated by surface water or groundwater
at a frequency and for a duration sufficient to support, and which
under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of wetland vegetation
typically adapted for life in saturated soils.
Freshwater wetlands may contain small stream
channels or inclusions of land that do not conform to these criteria.
An activity associated with the management or research of
wildlife habitats pursuant to a written plan approved by at least
one of the following agencies: Maine Department of Inland Fish and
Wildlife, Natural Resource Conservation Service, or Wells National
Estuarine Research Reserve. However, if the applicant is one of the
agencies listed, it may not approve its own plan.
[Added 6-12-2012]
A system of equipment located on a single lot that converts
and then stores or transfers energy from the wind into usable forms
of energy for use on the same lot as the system, or on an abutting
lot in the case of a common system serving more than one principal
use or structure. This equipment includes the base, blade, foundation,
generator, nacelle, rotor, tower, transformer, vane, wires, inverter,
batteries, or other components used in the systems. Wind energy conversion
systems are an accessory use.
[Added 11-3-2009]
A mill operated by the wind’s rotation of large, oblique
sails or vanes radiating from a shaft, used as a source of power.
[Added 11-3-2009]
The parts of the wind system including the blades, generator,
nacelle and tail.
[Added 11-3-2009]
An occasional activity held within a building or open area
where goods are offered for sale to the general public, including
so-called garage sales, porch sales, tag sales and the like, but not
including tent sales.
[Amended 4-28-1995]
