A.
Words used and not otherwise defined in this chapter shall have their
customary definitions as defined in any standard college-level dictionary.
For purposes of this chapter the singular use of a word or phrase
shall include the plural.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
B.
ABUTTER
ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT
ACCESSORY STRUCTURE OR USE
AGGRIEVED PARTY
AGRICULTURE
AQUICULTURE
AUTOMOBILE GRAVEYARD
BED-AND-BREAKFAST FACILITY
BOAT LAUNCHING FACILITY
BUILDING
CABINS
CAMPGROUND
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
COASTAL WETLAND
COMMERCIAL USE
CONGREGATE LIVING FACILITY
CONVALESCENT HOME
CUSTOMARY HOME OCCUPATION
DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS
DISTRICT
DRIVEWAY
DUMP
DWELLING
DWELLING, MULTIPLE-FAMILY
DWELLING UNIT
EARTH
EMERGENCY OPERATIONS
EROSION CONTROL FACILITIES
ESSENTIAL SERVICES
EXCAVATION
EXCEPTED LOT
EXPANSION OF A STRUCTURE
EXPANSION OF USE
FACILITY
FAMILY
FILLING
FIRE PREVENTION ACTIVITIES
FLOOR AREA
FORESTED WETLAND
FOREST MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
FOUNDATION
FRESHWATER WETLAND
(1)
(2)
FRONTAGE, ROAD
FUNCTIONALLY WATER-DEPENDENT USES
GREAT POND
GREAT POND CLASSIFIED GPA
HEIGHT OF A STRUCTURE
HOTEL
INDIVIDUAL PRIVATE CAMPSITE
INDUSTRIAL
JUNKYARD
LANDFILL
LIVING AREA
LOT
LOT AREA
MARINA
MARKET VALUE
MINERAL EXPLORATION
MINERAL EXTRACTION
MINIMUM LOT WIDTH
MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT
MOBILE/MODULAR HOME
MOTEL, HOTEL and INN
MULTIPLE-FAMILY DWELLING
NONCONFORMING LOT
NONCONFORMING STRUCTURE/FACILITY
NONCONFORMING USE
NONFORESTED WETLAND
NORMAL HIGH-WATER LINE
NURSING OR CONVALESCENT HOME
PERSON
PIERS, DOCKS, WHARFS, BRIDGES AND OTHER STRUCTURES AND USES
EXTENDING OVER OR BEYOND THE NORMAL HIGH-WATER LINE OR WITHIN A WETLAND
POND
PRIMARY OR LEGAL RESIDENCE
PRINCIPAL STRUCTURE
PRINCIPAL USE
PRIOR APPROVAL
PRIVATE ROAD
PROTECTION SECTOR
PUBLIC FACILITY
RECENT FLOODPLAIN SOILS
RECREATIONAL FACILITY
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE
REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
RIPRAP
ROAD
ROOMING HOUSE
SALT MARSH
SALT MEADOW
SERVICE DROP
SETBACK
SHORE FRONTAGE
SIGN
STREAM
STREAM, TRIBUTARY
STRUCTURE
SUBDIVISION
SUBDIVISION ROAD
SUBSTANTIAL START
SUBSURFACE SEWAGE DISPOSAL SYSTEM
SUSTAINED SLOPE
TIMBER HARVESTING
UPLAND EDGE
VEGETATION
VOLUME OF A STRUCTURE
WATER BODY
WATER CROSSING
WETLAND
WETLANDS ASSOCIATED WITH GREAT PONDS
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The owner of a property immediately adjacent to or across
the road from the property of the applicant or developer.
An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a small, self-contained
residential unit located on the same lot as an existing single-family
home. An ADU has all the basic facilities needed for day-to-day living
independent of the primary residence, such as a kitchen, sleeping
area and a bathroom. The installation of an ADU may be as a separate
unit within an existing home, an addition to the home, or a separate
structure on the lot.
[Added 8-12-2015]
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.
An owner of land whose property is directly or indirectly
affected by the granting or denial of a permit or variance under this
chapter; 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.
The production, keeping or maintenance for sale or lease
of plants and/or animals, including but not limited to forage 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.
The growing or propagation of harvestable freshwater, estuarine,
or marine plant or animal species.
As defined in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3752.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
A lodging facility that is based in the permanent dwelling
of the person or family acting as the proprietor that accommodates
for a fee transient guests; that has fewer than seven sleeping rooms
offered for rent; and that does not provide full-service dining, but
may serve meals to guests only.
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.
A structure for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons,
animals, goods or property of any kind.
A group of buildings that is available for transient lodging
for a fee, each containing eating, sleeping, and bathing facilities;
that are designed for seasonal use by the lodgers; and that consist
of no more than two dwelling units per building.
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.
A document issued by the Codes Enforcement Officer which
verifies that all conditions of approved permits have been met to
the best of his knowledge.
All tidal and subtidal lands; all lands below any identifiable
debris line left by tidal action; 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 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.
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.
A building designed to house persons not related to each
other (except spouses) who use that building as their primary residence;
that contains separate sleeping facilities and communal eating facilities
limited to the use of the residents and staff; and that is not a nursing
or convalescent home.
See "nursing or convalescent home."
An occupation or profession which is customarily conducted
on or in a residential structure or property and which is clearly
incidental to and compatible with the residential use of the property
and surrounding residential uses and which employs no more than two
persons other than family members residing in the home.
Numerical standards relating to spatial relationships, including
but not limited to setback, lot area, shore frontage and height.
A specified portion of the municipality, delineated on the
Protection Districts Map, within which certain regulations and requirements
or various combinations thereof apply under the provisions of this
chapter.
Vehicular accessway, not a road, accessing no more than four
lots.
A place where refuse, garbage, debris or the like is placed
on or in the ground.
A fixed structure containing one or more dwelling units.
One or more buildings used for residential occupancy by more
than two families, each living independently of each other. This includes
apartments, condominiums, and cluster housing.
A room or group of rooms designed and equipped or used as
living quarters for only one family. The term shall include guesthouses,
apartments, and mobile homes, but not recreational vehicles.
Topsoil, loam, sand, gravel, clay, peat, rock, or other minerals.
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.
Structures and facilities intended to limit erosion from
tidal forces or storm surge. They include but are not limited to retaining
walls, riprap, and bulkheads.
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.
Any removal of earth or earth material from its original
position.
A lot established for a specific use in any district that is appropriate by virtue of its specific use to be less than 65,340 square feet in area in any district other than Town Centers District or less than the minimum lot area required in the Town Centers District and that is subject to all the provisions of § 125-33K of this chapter. Specific permitted uses may include, but are not limited to, parking lots, boat launching ramps, tennis courts, public recreation fields, private or municipal garages and storage buildings and the like. Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, dwelling units, commercial structures, and other uses appropriate to lots having a minimum area of 65,340 square feet.
[Amended 2-15-2018]
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.
The addition of weeks or months to a use's operating season;
additional hours of operation; or the use of more floor area or ground
area devoted to a particular use.
That which is designed, built, or installed to serve a specific
function affording a convenience or service. Facilities may include
but are not limited to buildings and structures.
One or more persons, related by blood, adoption or marriage,
living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, or a number
of persons living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit
though not related by blood, adoption or marriage.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
Depositing or dumping any matter on or into the ground or
water.
The disposal of fallen trees and branches, the removal of
thickets of dead brush and small dead trees, the creation of fire
breaks, and other similar activities designed to reduce or eliminate
fire hazards. (See Note 14 in the Table of Land Uses.[1])
A freshwater wetland dominated by woody vegetation that is
six meters (approximately 19.7 feet) or taller.
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 land management roads.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
The supporting substructure of a building or other structure
including but not limited to basements, slabs, sills, posts or frost
walls.
Freshwater swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas other
than forested wetlands which are:
Of 10 or more contiguous acres, or of less than 10 contiguous
acres and adjacent to a surface water body, excluding any 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 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.
|
Note: Wetlands are classed as coastal, forested or nonforested
and each class may contain small stream channels or inclusions of
land that do not conform to the criteria of this definition.
|
The length of the boundary of a lot or parcel which abuts
a road, right-of-way, or private way.[2]
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, fish 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, industrial uses dependent
upon waterborne transportation or requiring large volumes of cooling
or processing water and which cannot reasonably be located or operated
at an inland site, and uses which primarily provide general public
access to marine or tidal waters.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
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 chapter, where the artificially formed
or increased inland body of water is completely surrounded by land
held by a single owner.
Any great pond classified GPA pursuant to 38 M.R.S.A. § 465-A.
This classification includes all natural great ponds.
The vertical distance between the mean original grade at
the downhill side of the structure and the highest point of the structure,
excluding chimneys, steeples, antennas, and similar appurtenances
which have no floor area.
See "motel, hotel and inn."
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 gravel pads, parking areas, fireplaces,
or tent platforms.
The assembling, fabrication, finishing, manufacturing, packaging
or processing of goods or the extraction of minerals.
A place where discarded items and other materials are stored
for recycling, reuse, repair and/or resale and that requires a municipal
license for its operation.
A place where refuse, garbage, debris or the like is buried
or covered with earth.
The square footage of each floor of the dwelling excluding
the areas of basements, garages, decks, and attics but including porches.
All contiguous land in the same ownership, provided that
lands located on opposite sides of a state, Town, or approved subdivision
road shall be considered each a separate lot unless such road was
established by the owner of land on both sides thereof.
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.
A business establishment having frontage on navigable water
and, as its principal use, providing for hire offshore 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.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
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 conversant with the property and
with prevailing general price levels.
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.
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 to
transport the product removed away from the extraction site.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
The closest distance between the side lot lines of a lot.
The development of a building or structure with a variety
of complementary and integrated uses, such as, but not limited to,
residential, office, or retail uses.
[Added 2-15-2018]
A detached residential dwelling unit designed for transportation,
after fabrication, on streets or highways on its own wheels, or on
a flatbed or other trailer, and arriving at the site where it is to
be occupied as a dwelling unit complete and ready for occupancy, except
for minor and incidental unpacking and assembly operations, such as
locating on jacks or other foundation or connection to utilities.
A commercial building or group of buildings catering for
a fee to transient guests that has sleeping rooms that do not contain
and shall not contain cooking facilities; that may or may not serve
meals to guests and to the general public; and that may or may not
have accessory public function rooms or recreational facilities.
See "dwelling, multiple-family."
A single lot of record which, at the effective date of adoption
or amendment of this chapter, does not meet the area, frontage, or
width requirements of the district in which it is located.
A structure or facility which does not meet any one or more
of the following dimensional requirements but which is allowed solely
because it was in lawful existence at the time this chapter or subsequent
amendments took effect: setback, height, or lot coverage.
Use of buildings, structures, premises, land or parts thereof
which is not permitted 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 chapter or subsequent amendments took effect.
A freshwater wetland that is not dominated by woody vegetation
that is six meters (approximately 19.7 feet) or taller.
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. In the case of wetlands
adjacent to great ponds, the normal high-water line is the upland
edge of the wetlands and not the edge of the open water, and in the
case of land adjacent to tidal waters, the normal high-water line
is the maximum spring tide level based upon data from tide tables
published by the National Ocean Service, i.e., 7.5 feet NGVD. (See
"coastal wetland.")
A building or buildings used to house persons requiring nursing
care or supervision and licensed by the State of Maine as a nursing
home, assisted living facility or other state-licensed facility similar
in nature or purpose.
An individual, corporation, governmental agency, municipality,
trust, estate, partnership, association, two or more individuals having
a joint or common interest, or other legal entity.
A man-made facility created for the collection of water covering
more than 2,000 square feet.
A building or dwelling being currently used by the owner
as his main place of dwelling or home. A homeowner may have only one
primary or legal residence.
[Added 8-12-2015]
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.
A use other than one which is wholly incidental or accessory
to another use on the same premises.
A process by which an applicant notifies the Codes Enforcement
Officer of the details of a proposed permitted use and receives verbal
approval for that use from the Codes Enforcement Officer when such
proposed use does not require a fee or permit. The purpose of prior
approval is to assist the applicant to avoid inadvertent violation
of this chapter.
A road that is wholly owned by one or more of the abutting
property owners, that serves five or more lots that are not owned
by persons related by blood, marriage or adoption, and that are not
in a subdivision.
The land area located within 250 feet, horizontal distance,
of the normal high-water line of any great pond or saltwater body;
within 250 feet of the upland edge of a coastal or nonforested wetland;
or within 75 feet of the normal high-water line of a stream.
Any facility, including but not limited to buildings, property,
recreation areas, and roads, which is owned, leased, or otherwise
operated or funded by a governmental body or public entity.
The following soil series as described and identified by
the National Cooperative Soil Survey:
|
Alluvial
|
Cornish
|
Charles
| |
|
Fryeburg
|
Hadley
|
Limerick
| |
|
Lovewell
|
Medomak
|
Ondawa
| |
|
Podunk
|
Rumney
|
Saco
| |
|
Suncook
|
Sunday
|
Winooski
|
A place designed and equipped for the conduct of sports,
leisure time activities, and other customary and usual recreational
activities, excluding boat launching facilities.
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 pickup 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 Bureau of Motor
Vehicles.
A system intended to replace:
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.
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; includes all ways maintained
by the state or Town, commonly referred to as state roads or Town
roads; a way built to Town specifications, whether or not approved
by the Planning Board. "Road" does not include other rights-of-way,
driveways, or abandoned public or private ways not in use on the effective
date of this chapter.
A building of residential character in which three or more
rooms are rented to guests usually staying more than two weeks for
the purpose of lodging and/or taking meals. The renting of one or
two bedrooms in a dwelling otherwise used as living quarters for one
family shall not be considered a rooming house.
Areas along coastal waters (most often along coastal bays)
which support salt tolerant species, and where at average high tide
during the growing season, the soil is regularly inundated by tidal
waters. The predominant species is salt marsh cordgrass (Spartina
alterniflora). More open areas often support widgeon grass, eelgrass,
and Sago pondweed.
Areas which 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.
Any utility line extension which does not cross or run beneath
any portion of a water body, provided that:
The nearest horizontal distance from the normal high-water
line and/or lot line to the nearest part of a structure, road, parking
space or other regulated object or area.
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 normal high-water elevation.
Any structure, display, logo, device, or representation which
is designed or used to advertise or call attention to any thing, person,
business, activity, or place and is visible from any public way. It
does not include the flag, pennant, or other insignia of any nation,
state, or Town. Whichever dimensions of a sign are specified, they
shall include frames.
A free-flowing body of water from the outlet of a great pond
or any perennial stream as depicted on the most recent edition of
a United States Geological Survey 7.5-minute series topographic map
or, if not available, a fifteen-minute series topographic map to the
point where the body of water flows to another water body or wetland
within the Protection Sector.
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.
[Added 6-6-2012]
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. The term includes
structures temporarily or permanently located, such as decks and satellite
dishes.
As defined in 30 M.R.S.A. § 4401, but generally
is the division of a tract or parcel of land into three or more lots
within any five-year period, whether accomplished by sale, lease,
development, building, or otherwise, except when the division is accomplished
by inheritance, or order of the court, or a gift to a relative, unless
the intent of such gift is to avoid the objectives of this chapter.
[Amended 6-6-2012]
A road that is not a state or Town road that serves as access
to, within, or through a subdivision.
Completion of 30% of a permitted structure or use measured
as a percentage of estimated total cost.
A collection of treatment tank(s), disposal area(s), holding
tank(s) and pond(s), surface spray system(s), cesspools, well(s),
surface ditch(es), alternative toilet(s), or other devices and associated
piping designed to function as a unit for the purpose of disposing
of wastes or wastewater on or beneath the surface of the earth. The
term shall not include any wastewater discharge system licensed under
38 M.R.S.A. § 414, any surface wastewater disposal system
licensed under 38 M.R.S.A. § 413, Subsection 1-A, or any
public sewer. The term shall not include a wastewater disposal system
designed to treat wastewater which is in whole or in part hazardous
waste as defined in 38 M.R.S.A. Chapter 13, Subchapter 1.
A change in elevation where the referenced percent grade
is substantially maintained or exceeded throughout the measured area.
The cutting and removal of trees from their growing site,
and the attendant operation of cutting and skidding machinery but
not the construction or creation of roads. "Timber harvesting" does
not include the clearing of land for approved construction.
The boundary between upland and wetlands.
All live trees, shrubs, ground cover, and other plants, including,
without limitation, trees both over and under four inches in diameter,
measured at 4 1/2 above ground level.
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.
Any great pond, stream or tidal area.
Any project extending from one bank to the opposite bank
of a river or stream, whether under, through, or over the watercourse.
Such projects include but may not be limited to roads, fords, bridges,
culverts, waterlines, sewer lines, and cables as well as maintenance
work on these crossings.
A freshwater, forested or nonforested or coastal wetland
(See "freshwater wetland," "forested wetland" and "coastal wetland.")
Wetlands contiguous with or adjacent to a great pond and
which during normal high water are connected by surface water to the
great pond. Also included are wetlands which are separated from the
great pond by a berm, causeway, or similar feature less than 100 feet
in width and which have a surface elevation at or below the normal
high-water line of the great pond. Wetlands associated with great
ponds are considered to be part of that great pond.
