This article applies to all land areas within
250 feet, horizontal distance, of the normal highwater line of any
great pond or river, upland edge of a coastal wetland, including all
areas affected by tidal action or, upland edge of a freshwater wetland,
and all land areas within 75 feet, horizontal distance, of the normal
high-water line of a stream. This article also applies to any structure
built on, over or abutting a dock wharf or pier, or other structure
extending or located below the normal high-water line of a water body
or within a wetland.
Except as hereinafter specified, no building,
structure or land shall hereafter be used or occupied, and no building
or structure or part thereof shall hereafter be erected, constructed,
expanded, moved, or altered and no new lot shall be created except
in conformity with all of the regulations herein specified for the
district in which it is located, unless a variance is granted.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE OR USE
A use or structure, which is incidental and subordinate to
the principal use or structure. Accessory uses, when aggregated, shall
not subordinate the principal use of the lot. A deck or similar extension
of the principal structure or a garage attached to the principal structure
by a roof or a common wall is considered part of the principal structure.
AGGRIEVED PARTY
An owner of land whose property is directly or indirectly
affected by the granting or denial of a permit or variance under this
article; a person whose land abuts land for which a permit or variance
has been granted; or any other person or group of persons who have
suffered particularized injury as a result of the granting or denial
of such permit or variance.
AGRICULTURE
The production, keeping or maintenance for sale or lease,
of plants and/or animals, including, but not limited to, forages and
sod crops; grains and seed crops; dairy animals and dairy products;
poultry and poultry products; livestock; fruits and vegetables; and
ornamental and greenhouse products. Agriculture does not include forest
management and timber harvesting activities.
AQUACULTURE
The growing or propagation of harvestable freshwater, estuarine,
or marine plant or animal species.
ASSESSED VALUE
As used in this article, Town's assessed value shall be the
amount shown on the Town assessing tax records. If the Town's certified
assessment ratio to the state is less than 100%, the Town's value
shall be adjusted accordingly.
BASAL AREA
The area of cross section of a tree stem at 4 1/2 feet
above ground level and inclusive of bark.
BASEMENT
Any portion of a structure with a floor-to-ceiling height
of six feet or more and having more than 50% of its volume below the
existing ground level.
BOAT-LAUNCHING FACILITY
A facility designed primarily for the launching and landing
of watercraft, and which may include an access ramp, docking area,
and parking spaces for vehicles and trailers.
BUREAU
State of Maine Department of Conservation's Bureau of Forestry.
CAMPGROUND
Any area or tract of land to accommodate two or more parties
in temporary living quarters, including, but not limited to tents,
recreational vehicles or other shelters.
CANOPY
The more or less continuous cover formed by tree crowns in
a wooded area.
COASTAL WETLAND
All tidal and subtidal lands; all lands with vegetation present
that is tolerant of salt water and occurs primarily in a salt water
or estuarine habitat; and any swamp, marsh, bog, beach, flat or other
contiguous low land that is subject to tidal action during the highest
tide level for the year. For all the tidal shorelands within Boothbay
Harbor, high-water shall be elevation 5.9 feet local datum, or 7.4
feet NGVD (National Geodetic Vertical Datum). USER NOTE: All areas
below the maximum spring tide level are coastal wetlands. These areas
may consist of rocky ledges, sand and cobble beaches, mud flats, etc.,
in addition to salt marshes and salt meadows.
COMMERCIAL USE
The use of lands, buildings, or structures, other than a
home occupation, defined below, the intent and result of which activity
is the production of income from the buying and selling of goods and/or
services, exclusive of rental of residential buildings and/or dwelling
units.
CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA
The cross-sectional area of a stream or tributary stream
channel is determined by multiplying the stream or tributary stream
channel width by the average stream or tributary stream channel depth.
The stream or tributary stream channel width is the straight-line
distance from the normal high-water-line on one side of the channel
to the normal high-water line on the opposite side of the channel.
The average stream or tributary stream channel depth is the average
of the vertical distance from a straight line between the normal high-water
lines of the stream or tributary stream channel to the bottom of the
channel.
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
DBH
The diameter of a standing tree measured 4.5 feet from ground
level.
DEVELOPMENT
A change in land use involving alteration of the land, water
or vegetation, or the addition or alteration of structures or other
construction not naturally occurring.
DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS
A numerical standards relating to spatial relationships,
including, but not limited to, setback, lot area, shore frontage,
and height.
DISABILITY
Any disability, infirmity, malformation, disfigurement, congenital
defect or mental condition caused by bodily injury, accident, disease,
birth defect, environmental conditions or illness; and also includes
the physical or mental condition of a person which constitutes a substantial
handicap as determined by a physician or in the case of mental handicap,
by a psychiatrist or psychologist, as well as any other health or
sensory impairment which requires special education, vocational rehabilitation
or related services.
DRIVEWAY
A vehicular accessway less than 500 feet in length serving
two single-family dwellings or one two-family dwelling, or less.
DWELLING UNIT
As used in shoreland zoning, a dwelling unit shall include
any structure having a room or group of rooms equipped or designed
for living or sleeping, including a toilet facility (water closet,
hand washing, and bathing/shower); excluding motel, hotel rooms, rooms
approved for bed-and-breakfast use, and other permitted business or
functional water-dependent use.
[Added 5-2-2009 by ATM Art. 98]
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS
Operations conducted for the public health, safety, or general
welfare, such as protection of resources from immediate destruction
or loss, law enforcement, and operations to rescue human beings, property,
and livestock from the threat of destruction or injury.
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
Gas, electrical or communication facilities; steam, fuel,
electric power or water transmission or distribution lines, towers
and related equipment; telephone cables or lines, poles and related
equipment; gas, oil, water, slurry or other similar pipelines; municipal
sewage lines, collection or supply systems; and associated storage
tanks. Such systems may include towers, poles, wires, mains, drains,
pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarms and police call boxes, traffic
signals, hydrants and similar accessories, but shall not include service
drops or buildings which are necessary for the furnishing of such
services.
EXPANSION OF A STRUCTURE
An increase in the floor area or volume of a structure, including
all extensions such as, but not limited to, attached decks, garages,
porches, and greenhouses.
EXPANSION OF USE
The addition of one or more months to a use's operating season;
or the use of more floor area or ground area devoted to a particular
use.
FAMILY
One or more persons occupying premises and living as a single
housekeeping unit.
FLOODWAY
The channel of a river or other watercourse and adjacent
land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the one-hundred-year
flood without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation
by more than one foot in height.
FLOOR AREA
The sum of the horizontal areas of the floor(s) of a structure
enclosed by exterior walls, plus the horizontal area of any unenclosed
portions of a structure, such as porches and decks.
FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
Timber cruising and other forest resource evaluation activities,
pesticide or fertilizer application, management planning activities,
timber stand improvement, pruning, regeneration of forest stands,
and other similar or associated activities, exclusive of timber harvesting
and the construction, creation or maintenance of roads.
FORESTED WETLAND
A freshwater wetland dominated by woody vegetation that is
six meters tall (approximately 20 feet) or taller.
FOUNDATION
The supporting substructure of a building or other structure,
including, but not limited to, sills, posts, basements, slabs, frost
walls, or other supporting base, object, or device consisting of concrete,
block, brick, wood or any other similar material.
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
FRESHWATER WETLAND
A.
Freshwater swamps, marshes, bogs and similar
areas, other than forested wetlands, which areas:
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
(1)
Of 10 or more contiguous acres; or of less than
10 contiguous acres and adjacent to a surface water body, excluding
any river, stream or brook, such that in a natural state, the combined
surface area is in excess of 10 acres; and
(2)
Inundated or saturated by surface or ground
water 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.
B.
Freshwater wetlands may contain small stream
channels or inclusions of land that do not conform to the criteria
of this definition.
FUNCTIONALLY WATER-DEPENDENT USES
Those uses that require, for their primary purpose, location
on submerged lands or that require direct access to, or location in,
coastal or inland waters and that cannot be located away from these
waters. The uses include, but are not limited to, commercial and recreational
fishing and boating facilities (excluding recreational boat storage
buildings), 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
aids, basins and channels, retaining walls, industrial uses dependent
upon waterborne transportation or requiring large volumes of cooling
or processing water that cannot reasonably be located or operated
at an inland site, and uses that primarily provide general public
access to coastal or inland waters.
[Amended 5-3-2019 by ATM
Art. 5]
GREAT POND
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,
except, for the purposes of this article, where the artificially formed
or increased inland body of water is completely surrounded by land
held by a single owner.
GREAT POND CLASSIFIED GPA
Any great pond classified GPA, pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. Article
4-A, § 465-A. This classification includes some, but not
all impoundments of rivers that are defined as great ponds.
GROUND COVER
Small plants, fallen leaves, needles and twigs, and the partially
decayed organic matter of the forest floor.
HARVEST AREA
The area where timber harvesting and related activities,
including the cutting of trees, skidding, yarding, and associated
road construction take place. The area affected by a harvest encompasses
the area within the outer boundaries of these activities, excepting
unharvested areas greater then 10 acres within the area affected by
a harvest.
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
HEIGHT OF A STRUCTURE
The height of a structure shall be measured from the mean
original grade or the mean finish grade, whichever is lower in height.
As used herein, the mean original grade is the average elevation of
the ground at the downhill side of the structure where it is to be
constructed before any grading or other alteration. The mean finish
grade shall be the average of the finish ground at the downhill side
of the structure after the construction and grading is complete.
[Amended 5-3-2019 by ATM
Art. 4]
HIGH WATER
See "upland edge of a wetland or coastal wetland."
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
HOME OCCUPATION
An occupation or profession which is customarily conducted
on or in a residential structure or property and which is:
A.
Clearly incidental to and compatible with the
residential use of the property and surrounding residential uses;
and
B.
Which employs no more than two persons other
than family members residing in the home.
INCREASE IN NONCONFORMITY OF A STRUCTURE
A.
Any change in a structure or property which
causes further deviation from the dimensional standard(s) creating
the nonconformity, such as, but not limited to, reduction in water
body, tributary stream or wetland setback distance, increase in lot
coverage, or increase in height of a structure.
B.
Property changes or structure expansions which
either meet the dimensional standard or which cause no further increase
in the linear extent of nonconformance of the existing structure shall
not be considered to increase nonconformity. For example, there is
no increase in nonconformity with the setback requirement for water
bodies, wetlands, or tributary streams if the expansion extends no
further into the required setback area than does any portion of the
existing nonconforming structure. Hence, a structure may be expanded
laterally, provided that the expansion extends no closer to the water
body, tributary stream, or wetland than the closest portion of the
existing structure from that water body, tributary stream, or wetland.
Included in this allowance are expansions which in-fill irregularly
shaped structures.
INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE CAMPSITE
An area of land which is not associated with a campground,
but which is developed for repeated camping by only one group not
to exceed 10 individuals and which involves site improvements which
may include but not be limited to a gravel pad, parking areas, fireplace,
or tent platform.
INDUSTRIAL
The assembling, fabrication, finishing, manufacturing, packaging,
or processing of goods, or the extraction of minerals.
INSTITUTIONAL
A nonprofit or quasipublic use, or institution, such as a
church, library, public or private school, hospital, or municipally
owned or operated building, structure or land used for public purposes.
LICENSED FORESTER
A forester licensed under Maine Laws Title 32 M.R.S.A. Chapter
76.
[Amended 5-3-2008 by ATM Art. 87]
LOT AREA
The area of land enclosed within the boundary lines of a
lot, minus land below the normal high-water line of a water body or
upland edge of a wetland and areas beneath roads serving more than
two lots.
MARINA
A business establishment having frontage on navigable water
and, as its principal use, providing for hire off-shore moorings or
docking facilities for boats, and which may also provide accessory
services such as boat and related sales, boat repair and construction,
indoor and outdoor storage of boats and marine equipment, bait and
tackle shops and marine fuel service facilities.
MINERAL EXPLORATION
Hand sampling, test boring, or other methods of determining
the nature or extent of mineral resources which create minimal disturbance
to the land and which include reasonable measures to restore the land
to its original condition.
MINERAL EXTRACTION
Any operation within any twelve-month period which removes
more than 100 cubic yards of soil, topsoil, loam, sand, gravel, clay,
rock, peat, or other like material from its natural location and transports
the product removed, away from the extraction site.
MINIMUM LOT WIDTH
The closest distance between the side lot lines of a lot.
When only two lot lines extend into the Shoreland Zone, both lot lines
shall be considered to be side lot lines.
NATIVE
Indigenous to the local forests.
NONCONFORMING CONDITION
Nonconforming lot, structure, or use which is allowed solely
because it was in lawful existence at the time this article or subsequent
amendment took effect.
NONCONFORMING LOT
A single lot of record which, at the effective date of adoption
or amendment of this article, does not meet the area, frontage, or
width requirements of the district in which it is located.
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE
A structure which does not house or is used for a functionally
water-dependent use, or which does not meet any one or more of the
following dimensional requirements, setback, height, lot coverage,
or in, on or over the water or wetland, but which is allowed solely
because it was in lawful existence at the time this article or subsequent
amendments took effect.
[Amended 5-5-2012 by ATM Art. 28]
NONCONFORMING USE
Use of buildings, structures, premises, land, or parts thereof
which is not allowed in the district in which it is situated, but
which is allowed to remain solely because it was in lawful existence
at the time this article or subsequent amendments took effect.
NORMAL HIGH-WATER LINE (NON-TIDAL WATERS)
That line which is apparent from visible markings, changes
in the character of soils due to prolonged action of the water or
changes in vegetation, and which distinguishes between predominantly
aquatic and predominantly terrestrial land. Areas contiguous with
rivers and great ponds that support nonforested wetland vegetation
and hydric soils and that are at the same or lower elevation as the
water level of the river or great pond during the period of normal
high-water are considered part of the river or great pond. USER NOTE:
Adjacent to tidal waters, setbacks are measured from the upland edge
of the coastal wetland.
PERSON
An individual, corporation, governmental agency, municipality,
trust, estate, partnership, association, two or more individuals having
a joint or common interest, or other legal entity.
PIER, DOCK, WHARF and BRIDGES
A.
PIER and/or DOCKA platform extending from a shore over water and supported by piles or pillars, used to secure, protect, and provide access to or dockage for ships, boats or other similar water devices.
B.
WHARFA landing place or pier where ships may tie up and load or unload.
C.
BRIDGEA structure spanning and providing passage over a gap or barrier, such as a river or roadway.
PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE
A building other than one which is used for purposes wholly
incidental or accessory to the use of another building or use on the
same premises.
PRINCIPAL USE
A use other than one which is wholly incidental or accessory
to another use on the same premises.
PUBLIC FACILITY
Any facility, including, but not limited to, buildings, property,
recreation areas, and roads, which are owned, leased or otherwise
operated or funded by a governmental body or public entity.
RECENT FLOODPLAIN SOILS
The following soil series as described and identified by
the National Cooperative Soil Survey:
|
Fryeburg
|
Hadley
|
Limerick
|
|
Lovewell
|
Medomak
|
Ondawa
|
|
Alluvial
|
Cornish
|
Charles
|
|
Podunk
|
Rumney
|
Saco
|
|
Suncook
|
Sunday
|
Winooski
|
RECREATIONAL FACILITY
A place designed and equipped for the conduct of sports,
leisure-time activities, and other customary and usual recreational
activities, excluding boat-launching facilities.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
A vehicle or an attachment to a vehicle designed to be towed,
and designed for temporary sleeping or living quarters for one or
more persons, and which may include a pick-up camper, travel trailer,
tent trailer, camp trailer, and motor home. In order to be considered
as a vehicle and not as a structure, the unit must remain with its
tires on the ground, and must be registered with the State Division
of Motor Vehicles.
REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
A system intended to replace:
A.
An existing system which is either malfunctioning
or being upgraded with no significant change of design flow or use
of the structure; or
B.
Any existing overboard wastewater discharge.
RESIDENTIAL DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms designed and equipped exclusively
for use as permanent, seasonal, or temporary living quarters for only
one family at a time, and containing cooking, sleeping and toilet
facilities. The term shall include mobile homes, and rental units
that contain cooking, sleeping, and toilet facilities regardless of
the time-period rented. Recreational vehicles are not residential
dwelling units.
RIPRAP
Rocks, irregularly shaped, and at least six inches in diameter,
used for erosion control and soil stabilization, typically used on
ground slopes of two units horizontal to one unit vertical or less.
RIVER
A free-flowing body of water including its associated floodplain
wetlands from that point at which it provides drainage for a watershed
of 25 square miles to its mouth. USER NOTE: The portion of a river
that is subject to tidal action is a coastal wetland.
ROAD
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 motorized vehicles, excluding a driveway
as defined.
SALT MARSH
Areas of coastal wetland (most often along coastal bays)
that support salt-tolerant species, and where at average high tide
during the growing season, the soil is irregularly inundated by tidal
waters. The predominant species is salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora). More open areas often support widgeon grass, eelgrass,
and Sago pondweed.
SALT MEADOW
Areas of a coastal wetland that support salt-tolerant plant
species bordering the landward side of salt marshes or open coastal
water, where the soil is saturated during the growing season but which
is rarely inundated by tidal water. Indigenous plant species include
salt meadow cordgrass (Spartina patens) and black rush; common three
square occurs in fresher areas.
SERVICE DROP
Any utility line extension, which does not cross, or run
beneath any portion of a water body, provided that:
A.
In the case of electric service:
(1)
The placement of wires and/or the installation
of utility poles is located entirely upon the premises of the customer
requesting service or upon a roadway right-of-way; and
(2)
The total length of the extension is less than
1,000 feet.
B.
In the case of telephone service:
(1)
The extension, regardless of length, will be
made by the installation of telephone wires to existing utility poles;
or
(2)
The extension requiring the installation of
new utility poles or placement underground is less than 1,000 feet
in length.
SETBACK
The nearest horizontal distance from the normal high-water
line of a water body or tributary stream, or upland edge of a wetland,
to the nearest part of a structure, road, parking space or other regulated
object or area.
SHORE FRONTAGE
The length of a lot bordering on a water body or wetland
measured in a straight line between the intersections of the lot lines
with the shoreline.
SHORELAND ZONE
The land area located within 250 feet, horizontal distance,
of the normal high-water line of any great pond, or river; within
250 feet, horizontal distance, of the upland edge of a coastal wetland,
including all areas affected by tidal action; within 250 feet of the
upland edge of a freshwater wetland; or within 75 feet, horizontal
distance, of the normal high-water line of a stream.
SHORELINE
The normal high-water line, or upland edge of a freshwater
or coastal wetland.
SKID TRAIL
A route repeatedly used by forwarding machinery or animal
to haul or drag forest products from the stump to the yard or landing,
the construction of which requires minimal excavation.
SLASH
The residue, e.g., treetops and branches, left on the ground
after a timber harvest.
STREAM
A free-flowing body of water from the outlet of a great pond
or the confluence of two perennial streams as depicted on the most
recent edition of a United States Geological Survey 7.5 minute series
topographic map, or if not available, a 15 minute series topographic
map, to the point where the body of water becomes a river or flows
to another water body or wetland within the shoreland area.
STRUCTURE
Anything built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons,
animals, goods or property of any kind, together with anything constructed
or erected with a fixed location on or in the ground or over the water;
exclusive of fences, and poles, wiring and other aerial equipment
normally associated with service drops as well as guying and guy anchors.
The term includes structures temporarily or permanently located, such
as decks, patios, tower, and satellite dishes that are 30 inches or
greater in diameter.
SUBSTANTIAL START
Completion of 30% of a permitted structure or use measured
as a percentage of estimated total cost.
SUBSURFACE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
Any system designed to dispose of waste or wastewater on
or beneath the surface of the earth; includes, but is not limited
to, septic tanks; disposal fields; grandfathered cesspools; holding
tanks; pretreatment filter, piping, or any other fixture, mechanism,
or apparatus used for those purposes; does not include any discharge
system licensed under 38 M.R.S.A. § 414, any surface wastewater
disposal system, or any municipal or quasi-municipal sewer or wastewater
treatment system.
SUSTAINED SLOPE
A change in elevation where the referenced percent grade
is substantially maintained or exceeded throughout the measured area.
TIDAL WATERS
All waters affected by tidal action during the maximum spring
tide.
TIMBER HARVESTING
The cutting and removal of timber for the primary purpose of selling or processing forest products. The cutting or removal of trees in the Shoreland Zone on a lot that has fewer than two acres within the Shoreland Zone shall not be considered timber harvesting. Such cutting or removal of trees shall be regulated pursuant to §
170-101.10P, Clearing or removal of vegetation for activities other than timber harvesting.
TIMBER HARVESTING, RELATED ACTIVITIES
Means or is the construction and maintenance of roads used
primarily for timber harvesting and other activities conducted to
facilitate timber harvesting.
TRIBUTARY STREAM
A channel between defined banks created by the action of
surface water, which is characterized by the lack of terrestrial vegetation
or by the presence of a bed, devoid of topsoil, containing waterborne
deposits or exposed soil, parent material or bedrock; and which is
connected hydrologically with other water bodies. "Tributary stream"
does not include rills or gullies forming because of accelerated erosion
in disturbed soils where the natural vegetation cover has been removed
by human activity. This definition does not include the term "stream"
as defined elsewhere in this article, and only applies to that portion
of the tributary stream located within the Shoreland Zone of the receiving
water body or wetland. USER NOTES: Water setback requirements apply
to tributary streams within the Shoreland Zone.
UPLAND EDGE OF A WETLAND
The boundary between upland and wetland. For purposes of
a coastal wetland, this boundary is the line formed by the landward
limits of the salt-tolerant vegetation and/or the maximum spring tide
level, including all areas affected by tidal action. For purposes
of a freshwater wetland, the upland edge is formed where the soils
are not saturated for a duration sufficient to support wetland vegetation;
or where the soils support the growth of wetland vegetation, but such
vegetation is dominated by woody stems that are six meters (approximately
20 feet) tall or taller.
VEGETATION
All live trees, shrubs, and other plants, including, without
limitation, trees both over and under four inches in diameter, measured
at 4 1/2 feet above ground level.
VELOCITY ZONE
An area of special flood hazard extending from offshore to
the inland limit of the primary frontal dune along an open coast and
any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms or
seismic sources.
VOLUME OF A STRUCTURE
The volume of all portions of a structure enclosed by roof
and fixed exterior walls as measured from the exterior faces of these
walls and roof. Volume also includes the basement area having a headroom
of six feet or greater in height.
WATER CROSSING
Any project extending from one bank to the opposite bank
of a river, or stream, tributary stream, or wetland, whether under,
through, or over the water or wetland. Such projects include but may
not be limited to roads, fords, bridges, culverts, water lines, sewer
lines, and cables as well as maintenance work on these crossings.
This definition includes crossings for timber harvesting equipment
and related activities.
WETLAND
See "freshwater wetland" or "coastal wetland."