[Amended 10-15-2012; 3-3-2014; 11-17-2014; 9-14-2015]
This district is located south of the Stroudwater River, north of the electric transmission power line easement, and between Saco Street and Spring Street. Performance standards for uses in this district are designed to maintain compatibility between differing uses. All uses and activities must be conducted within the principal building. Such uses are capable of operating in a manner that controls the external effects of the manufacturing process, such as sound, odors, vibrations, emissions, dust, glare, or other nuisance characteristics, through prevention or mitigation devices, and of conducting operations, within the confines of buildings.
A. Permitted uses. The following uses are permitted in the Manufacturing District as a matter of right. For the purpose of the Manufacturing District, the following operations shall not be considered Light Manufacturing or Industry and are thereby prohibited: asphalt plants, commercial petroleum storage yards, extraction and processing of raw geologic materials, mining and drilling operations and refining of petroleum (or its products — including tar distillation).
[Amended 3-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-45; 8-2-2021 by Order No. 2021-73; 9-12-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-105]
Accessory Use |
Business Office |
Commercial Service Business |
Emergency Shelter - Accessory [Added 6-3-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-61] |
Emergency Shelter - Transitional Housing [Added 6-3-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-61] |
Greenhouse |
Industry |
Light Manufacturing |
Municipal Facility |
Neighborhood Grocery |
Private Indoor Recreation Facility |
Research and Development |
Solar Energy System, ACSES |
Solar Energy System, RSES |
Telecommunications Facility |
Utilities |
Vocational Education Facility |
Warehousing |
B. Conditional use. The following uses are permitted in the Manufacturing District as a conditional use under Article
IV:
[Amended 9-12-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-105; 6-3-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-61]
Child-Care Center |
Place of Worship |
Telecommunications Tower |
D. Performance standards. The following performance standards apply in the Manufacturing District:
(1) Minimum lot size: 20,000 square feet.
(2) Dimension requirements:
(a) Minimum lot frontage: 200 feet.
(c) Maximum height: 75 feet and up to five stories. Maximum height shall include mechanical equipment and architectural detail.
(3) Maximum footprint factor: 50%.
(4) Maximum gross density factor: 80%.
(6) Storage. Outdoor storage must be screened from view of public ways.
(7) Maximum permissible sound levels. The maximum permissible sound level of any continuous, regular, frequent, or other sound typically produced by the use shall not exceed the following: 70 dBa beyond the walls of the building between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and 60 dBa beyond the walls of the building between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Exemptions:
(a) Noises created by construction and maintenance activities between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. are exempt from the maximum permissible sound levels set forth in this section.
(b) The following uses and activities shall also be exempt from the requirements of this section:
[1] The noises of safety signals, warning devices, emergency pressure relief valves, and any other emergency devices.
[2] Traffic noise on public roads or noise created by airplanes and railroads.
[3] Noise created by refuse and solid waste collection, provided that the activity is conducted between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
[4] Emergency construction or repair work by utilities at any hour.
(8) Odors. Odors must not exceed existing levels at the zone lines. Wood pulping and similar processes are a prohibited use. Odors generated by the use must not leave the lot line.
(9) Hazardous matter. The emission of hazardous matter must be so controlled that no amount generated by the use is permitted beyond the building. Storage of hazardous matter is prohibited, except that used exclusively for ongoing production purposes.
(10) Vibrations. Vibrations inherently and recurrently generated shall be imperceptible with and without instruments beyond the required building setback lines.
(11) Glare. All outdoor lighting must be of the full cut off luminaire variety and the light source must not be visible at the lot line.
(12) Traffic impact. The traffic pattern from a change or expansion of use must be designed so as to maintain the existing traffic operations levels of service and pedestrian safety along the lot frontage and at the nearest intersection in both directions.
(13) Accessory use. Accessory uses shall be under the same ownership or control as the permitted primary use. No accessory use shall be established until the primary permitted use is established and operating. If the primary use ceases operations for 12 months, then the accessory retail use shall cease operations.
[Added 3-18-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-45]
(a) Limited retail uses. Retail may be allowed as an accessory use if the Code Enforcement Officer determines that the following conditions are met:
[1] The retail use would not exceed 15% of the gross floor area of any building. Any storage directly associated with the retail use shall be included in this allowable area.
[2] The proposed retail use would be located within the same building as the allowed primary use to which it is accessory.
E. Extractive industry. This subsection governs extractive industry in the Manufacturing District.
(1) Purpose. The purpose of this subsection is to incorporate as part of the City's Land Use Ordinance the performance and use standards agreed to by the City, Pike, and IDEXX, following the completion of applicable procedures, in accordance with Paragraph 38 of Pike Industries Inc. v. City of Westbrook, 2012 ME 78 (June 14, 2012). The performance standards apply to the operation of the thirty-two-acre existing hard rock quarry located at 645 Spring Street (the "Spring Street Quarry") delineated as Tax Map 5, Lot 11 and Tax Map 5B, Lot 3. The existing quarry is located easterly of Clarke Brook. The operations of the Spring Street Quarry include blasting, rock storage, rock crushing and the transport of the product.
(2) Performance and use standards. These performance and use standards are meant to control over any different, conflicting, or additional performance and use standards or other limitations contained in the Code of the City of Westbrook, including the provisions of Council Order 2010-14 (June 7, 2010) amending nonconforming use standards for extractive industry. The following performance and use standards, and no others, apply to the Spring Street Quarry:
(a) Hours of operation. The Code Enforcement Officer may approve operations outside these hours for emergencies, such as the need to repair a public utility or a public right-of-way as a result of a severe weather event.
[1] Trucking: 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays and 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon on Saturdays.
[2] Weekdays only for blasting and crushing. Blasting: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; crushing: 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. No operations on Sundays or federal holidays.
(b) Blasting. No more than eight production blasts may be conducted per calendar year. In addition to production blasts, safety blasts limited to no more than 1,000 pounds of explosive materials per blast may be conducted if necessary to maintain the safe operation of the quarry, but not for the purpose of producing rock for crushing or commercial sale. Except in the case of a safety emergency, safety blasts shall be conducted on one or more of the days when production blasts are conducted.
(c) Truck traffic. Trucking may not exceed an average of 45 daily truck departures and may not exceed a peak limit of 105 truck departures in any single day. The average daily truck departures will be determined by dividing the total number of annual truck departures by the total number of annual operating days, to be reconciled on an annual basis. A "truck departure" is defined as any instance in which a loaded truck, containing material for sale or commercial processing, other than a pickup truck or a service vehicle truck leaves the quarry. An "operating day" is defined as any day quarrying activities occur at the quarry. For the purposes of calculating the average daily truck departures, the total number of annual operating days is to be calculated as follows:
[1] From April 1 through December 1 of any year (the "operating season"), an "operating day" is defined as any day on which quarrying activities occur at the quarry;
[2] Saturdays on which the operator conducts quarrying activities will count as half of one operating day in calculating average daily truck traffic; and
[3] Outside of the operating season, only those days on which the operator has 10 or more truck departures will count as an operating day for the purposes of calculating the average daily truck departures.
(d) Insurance. Maintain a minimum of $10 million in insurance coverage in aggregate for blasting.
(e) Buffers, berms, and fencing. Maintain the existing visual buffer between the quarry and abutting properties and streets or a substantially equivalent visual buffer, as approved by the Code Enforcement Officer.
[1] In addition:
[a] Maintain a perimeter security fence around the quarry;
[b] Maintain a minimum ten-foot-high vegetative buffer facing County Road;
[c] Maintain the existing twenty-foot-wide vegetative buffer along the Central Maine Power right-of-way;
[d] Maintain berms with evergreen plantings, slatted fencing, and other approved buffers;
[e] Maintain the approved visual screening of the quarry operations from all public streets;
[f] Retain to the maximum extent possible the existing natural buffer between Spring Street and the quarry access road with a minimum width of 50 feet; and
[g] Maintain the twenty-five-foot-wide berm with evergreen plantings with a minimum height of 10 feet on the quarry side of the quarry access road.
[2] Any revisions to any of these conditions must be reviewed by the Code Enforcement Officer to determine that they are substantially equivalent to the approved conditions.
(f) Unitrode site. Not work the quarry below the water table except in accordance with the monitoring plan developed by Sevee and Maher Engineers, Inc., and approved in advance by the City Engineer after consultation with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's Mining Coordinator and Unitrode Project Coordinator.
(g) Blast monitoring. Use third-party blast planning and monitoring and provide annual reports to the City to document blasting within the preceding 12 months. Video record all blast activities and maintain such records for a period of one year. These records will be provided upon request to the City.
(h) Seismograph monitors. Provide off-site seismic monitors to all requesting property owners within 1/2 mile, to be monitored by a third party, to the extent such monitoring is not duplicative in the judgment of a third party providing such monitoring. Monitoring reports shall be kept for three years and shall be made available to the property owners and the City within 10 days of each blast.
(i) Preblast surveys. Provide one third-party preblast survey to each requesting home or business within 1/2 mile radius of the quarry. Copies of the surveys shall be kept until blasting at the quarry has been completed, plus one year.
(j) Weather conditions. Blast only during weather conditions which are favorable to mitigating off-site impacts, e.g., noise and dust.
(k) Inspection and repair. Develop, in conjunction with the City, a process through which an independent third party will inspect claims of property damage that are raised by neighboring property owners. If any damage is determined, based on the independent review, to have been proximately caused by blasting, provide reasonable compensation for necessary repairs, as recommended by an independent third party.
(l) Blast call list. Maintain and use a blast call list for any property owner within 1/2 mile of the quarry who requests inclusion on the blast call list. Property owners on the blast call list shall be notified not less than 24 hours before any scheduled production blast and telephoned or emailed, as the property owner has specified, not less than one hour before the actual production blast. In addition, production blasts shall be scheduled not less than two weeks in advance and notice of the blasts shall be provided on the City's website. Those property owners who prefer may request their notice to be sent by U.S. mail.
(m) Access road and entrance. Maintain the existing paved access road below the grade of Spring Street and maintain the existing entrance onto Spring Street. Once the quarry has been in operation for at least six months, the quarry owner shall meet with the City and neighbors of the quarry in a public session to discuss the design of additional left-hand and right-hand turn lanes in Spring Street at its intersection with the new access road entrance to address traffic coming from or headed to County Road. No later than 12 months thereafter, the quarry owner shall commence construction of any required turn lanes and shall prosecute the same diligently to completion, provided the City shall use its reasonable, lawful authority, if necessary, to acquire any needed additional right-of-way width(s) and/or governmental approvals to accommodate the same; provided, further, the quarry owner shall reimburse the City for any reasonable expenses incurred and for the final fair market value of any real property interests it may have to acquire.
(n) Vibration. Utilize electronic (digital) detonators for all blasts to reduce the off-site effects of blasting activities; not exceed a maximum of 0.50 inch per second peak particle velocity for blast vibrations as measured by any seismograph located under the provisions of Subsection
E(2)(h) and 0.25 inch per second peak particle velocity for blast vibrations as measured at a baseline seismograph located at 2 Ledgeview Drive, Westbrook (City Tax Map 002-000-101); utilize laser profiling and borehole tracking as part of blast design and implementation to improve the effectiveness of drilling activities and to reduce the risk of fly rock from blasting activities; utilize a blast face profiler to reduce impacts of air blasts.
(o) Noise. Limit noise levels for all blasting so as not to exceed 129 dBA, measured in accordance with Maine Department of Environmental Protection regulations Chapter 375, Section 10C(4), for one blast per day; 126 dBA for two blasts per day; 124 dBA for three blasts per day; 123 dBA for four blasts per day; limit daily operational noise levels for extractive industry so as not to exceed 75 dBA as measured at the property lines of the parcels on which the quarry is located; use synthetic screens, urethane liners in crushers, or their substantial equivalents to reduce noise levels associated with crushing and screening; limit on-site speeds to no more than 10 miles per hour; to the extent permitted by state and federal laws and regulations, minimize the volume of sound resulting from required sensors on on-site equipment through the use of sonar and similar alarm systems.
(p) Dust. Not allow dust to migrate beyond the property line and take the following measures: enclose the producing areas of crushers so as to reduce the dust and noise generated by the crushing activity; pave the first 500 feet of any entrance from a publicly utilized right-of-way and install wheel washers in order to reduce off-site dust from vehicles leaving the unpaved area of the quarry; incorporate pre- and post-blast water mitigation to reduce the presence of dust created during blasting activities; utilize a vacuum sweeper and water truck, as needed, on all internal roads to reduce the presence of dust created during quarrying operations; utilize water fog nozzles as needed at all materials transfer points and stockpiles of quarried materials to reduce the level of dust created by quarrying operations; utilize two-sided truck trimming racks to ensure material is removed from the sides of trucks prior to the vehicles leaving the site; require load covers for trucks transporting material from the quarry operation.
(q) Spillage. Perform a daily inspection of truck routes to remove any spillage of gravel, crushed stone, product, or debris from trucks leaving the quarry from the entrance to Spring Street up to and including the intersection of Spring Street and County Road and the intersection of Eisenhower Drive and Spring Street and shall provide cell phone contact numbers to requesting residents and to City officials so that the quarry owner may promptly respond to any request to remove any spillage from trucks leaving the quarry. Respond with cleanup activities immediately upon notification.
(r) Community. Meet at least annually with a neighborhood working group constituted by the City, review relevant records with this group, and review and discuss compliance with the performance and use standards. The operator will send a responsible management representative and provide records reasonably related to compliance with the conditions. The operator will submit all of its business records as are reasonably related to compliance no less than quarterly to be kept on file at City Hall, provided that the operator may request that certain business records be kept confidential by the City to avoid compromising the operator's legitimate business interests. The initial meeting of the neighborhood working group shall be called by the City, but at that first meeting, the neighborhood working group shall assume control over all aspects of the group, both substantive and procedural, and shall open the group's membership to all persons or firms as it deems appropriate. The City and its officials thereafter shall serve only as a resource for the working group and, upon reasonable advance notice, shall provide for public meeting space for the group; provided, at a minimum, the City Council ward representative for this area of the City, or his/her designee, shall attend such meetings if so requested; provided further, subject to and consistent with Section 59 of the Consent Order, the working group may call for an audit if the group believes there is a substantial issue of noncompliance with the performance standards of this section.
(s) Compliance audits. The City may initiate an audit of extractive industry operations to determine compliance with the performance and use standards in this section to be performed by an independent third party engaged by the City. The auditor shall provide the operator with not less than two working days' advance notice of any site visit and shall conduct any such visit during normal business hours. Not more than one audit may be performed in any twelve-month period. The results of the audit shall be made available to the operator. These compliance audits shall be separate from and not a limitation upon inspections by the Code Enforcement Officer.
(t) The quarry owner shall comply with the reclamation plan submitted to the City. Any amendments to the reclamation plan shall receive the prior approval of the City Engineer pursuant to the then-current requirements of the Department of Environmental Protection.
F. Telecommunications facilities and towers. For provisions concerning telecommunications facilities, see §
335-2.30A. For provisions concerning telecommunications towers, see §
335-2.30B.