As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
ACCESSORY BUILDING
A subordinate building incidental to and located on the same
lot with the main building, which is customarily a garage, workshop,
bunkhouse and the like. An accessory apartment shall not be considered
an accessory building.
ACCESSORY USE
A use which is incidental and subordinate to the principal
use. Accessory uses in the aggregate shall not subordinate the principal
use of the lot.
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
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 has
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.
AUTOMOBILE GRAVEYARD
A yard, field or other area used to store three or more unserviceable,
discarded, worn-out or junked motor vehicles as defined in 30A M.R.S.A.
§ 3752, as amended.
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
The State of Maine Department of Conservation's Bureau
of Forestry.
CAMPGROUND
Any premises established for overnight use for the purpose
of camping.
CANOPY
The more-or-less continuous cover formed by tree crowns in
a wooded area.
CAR WASH
A place where vehicles, of any size, are washed on a commercial
basis.
CEMETERIES
Areas used for the interring of the dead.
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.
COMMERCIAL WOOD PROCESSING
The processing of timber or logs, on a site other than the
logged site, into fuel wood, lumber or other products for resale.
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 distances from a straight line between the normal
high-water lines of the stream or tributary stream channel to the
bottom of the channel.
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
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.
DISRUPTION OF SHORELINE INTEGRITY
The alteration of the physical shape, properties, or condition
of a shoreline at any location by timber harvesting and related activities.
A shoreline where shoreline integrity has been disrupted is recognized
by compacted, scarified and/or rutted soil, an abnormal channel or
shoreline cross section, and in the case of flowing waters, a profile
and character altered from natural conditions.
DRIVEWAY
A vehicular accessway less than 500 feet in length which
serves two single-family dwellings or one two-family dwelling, or
less.
DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY
A building designed or used as the living quarters for more
than one family. This term excludes motels, rooming houses, mobile
homes and dwelling units with family apartments.
DWELLING UNIT
A room or group of rooms designed and equipped for use as
living quarters for only one family, including provisions for living,
sleeping, eating and cooking. Mobile homes shall be considered dwelling
units.
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, related by blood, adoption or marriage,
living and cooking together as a single housekeeping unit, exclusive
of household servants. Up to five unrelated people may use a house
as a family for the purposes of this chapter.
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.
FOOTPRINT
The entire area of ground covered by the structures on a
premises, including cantilevered or similar overhanging extensions,
as well as unenclosed structures, such as patios and decks.
FORESTED WETLAND
A freshwater wetland dominated by woody vegetation that is
six meters tall (approximately 20 feet) or taller.
FORESTRY MANAGEMENT
Timber cruising and other forest resource evaluation activities,
pesticide or fertilizer application, management planning activities,
timber stand improvement, pruning, weeding, regeneration of forest
stands, and other similar or associated activities.
FOREST STAND
A contiguous group of trees sufficiently uniform in age,
class, distribution, composition, and structure, and growing on a
site of sufficiently uniform quality, to be a distinguishable unit.
FOUNDATION
The supporting substructure of a building or other structure,
excluding wooden sills and post supports, but including basements,
slabs, or frostwalls or other base consisting of concrete, block,
brick or similar material.
FRESHWATER WETLAND
A.
Freshwater swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas, other than
forested wetlands, which are:
(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 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.
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,
inland waters and that cannot be located away from these waters. The
uses include, but are not limited to, recreational fishing and boating
facilities, waterfront shipyards and boat building facilities, marinas,
navigation aids, basins and channels, shoreline structures necessary
for erosion control purposes, and uses that primarily provide general
public access to inland waters. Recreational boat storage buildings
are not considered to be a functionally water-dependent use.
GRAVEL EXTRACTION
Surface excavation and removal of natural earth resources,
such as sand, gravel, clay, topsoil, etc., which are normally used
for purposes such as roads, foundations, construction materials and
building site preparation or improvement.
GREAT POND
Any inland body of water which, in a natural state, has a
surface area in excess of ten 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.
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 than 10 acres within the area affected by
a harvest.
HEAVY-DUTY REPAIR FACILITY
Mechanical repair of all types of vehicles, regardless of
weight; neither fuel sales nor body repair work occurs at such a facility.
HEIGHT OF A STRUCTURE
The vertical distance between the mean original (prior to
construction) 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.
HOME OCCUPATION
An occupational activity which is clearly accessory to the primary residential use of a building, as defined by Standish Land Use Code, §§
181-35.2.1 through
181-35.2.3, Home Occupation Levels.
INCREASE IN NONCONFORMITY OF A STRUCTURE
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. 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, fireplaces,
or tent platforms.
INDUSTRIAL
The assembling, fabrication, finishing, manufacturing, packaging
or processing of goods or the extraction of minerals.
INSTITUTIONAL
A nonprofit or quasi-public 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.
JUNKYARD
A yard, field or other area as defined in 30A M.R.S.A. § 3752,
as amended.
LAND MANAGEMENT ROAD
A route or track consisting of a bed of exposed mineral soil,
gravel, or other surfacing materials constructed for, or created by,
the passage of motorized vehicles and used primarily for timber harvesting
and related activities, including associated log yards, but not including
skid trails or skid roads.
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 boat basin offering dockage and ancillary services, such
as boat sales, boat repair, indoor and outdoor storage of boats and
marine equipment, bait and tackle shop and marine fuel service facilities.
MARKET VALUE
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.
MECHANICAL REPAIR GARAGE
Mechanical repair of vehicles with a gross vehicular weight
(GWV) less than 14,000 pounds; neither fuel sales nor body repair
work occurs at such a facility.
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.
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.
MOTOR VEHICLE SALES
The use of any building, land area, or other premises for
the display and sale of new or used automobiles, trucks, vans, trailers
or recreational vehicles.
NATIVE
Indigenous to the local forests.
NONCONFORMING BUILDING, LOT OR STRUCTURE
A building, lot or structure, the size, dimension or location
of which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment of these zoning
provisions but which fails to conform to the requirements of the zoning
district in which it is located by reason of such adoption or amendment.
NONCONFORMING CONDITION
A nonconforming lot, structure or use which is allowed solely
because it was in lawful existence at the time this chapter or subsequent
amendment took effect.
NONCONFORMING USE
A land use which was lawful prior to the adoption or amendment
of these zoning provisions but which fails to conform to the requirements
of the zoning district in which it is located by reason of such adoption
or amendment.
NORMAL HIGH-WATER LINE
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 non-forested 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. For a determination
of normal high-water line on Sebago Lake, the elevation of 266.5 feet
(above mean sea level) may be used. In the case of wetlands adjacent
to rivers and great ponds, the normal high-water line is the upland
edge of the wetland and not the edge of the open water.
OUTLET STREAM
Any perennial or intermittent stream, as shown on the most
recent, highest resolution version of the national hydrography dataset
available from the United States Geological Survey on the website
of the United States Geological Survey or the national map, that flows
from a freshwater 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.
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
The primary use to which the premises is devoted and the
main purpose for which the premises exists.
PUBLIC FACILITY
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.
RECENT FLOODPLAIN SOILS
The following soil series as described and identified by
the National Cooperative Soil Survey:
Fryeburg
|
Haley
|
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 vehicular attachment, designed for temporary
sleeping or living quarters for one or more persons, which is not
a dwelling and which may include a pickup camper, travel trailer,
tent trailer and motor home.
REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
A system intended to replace an existing system which is
either malfunctioning or being upgraded with no significant change
of design flow or use of the structure.
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.
RESIDUAL STAND
A stand of trees remaining in the forest following timber
harvesting and related activities
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.
ROAD
Any right-of-way (ROW) intended to be used for the passage
of persons or vehicles, excluding a driveway, as defined.
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; or within
250 feet, horizontal distance, of the upland edge of a freshwater
wetland; or within 75 feet, horizontal distance, of the normal high-water
line of a stream.
SKID ROAD OR SKID TRAIL
A route repeatedly used by forwarding machinery or animals
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.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, GROUND-MOUNTED
A solar energy system that is structurally mounted to the
ground and is not roof-mounted; may be of any size (small-scale, medium-scale
or large-scale).
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, LARGE-SCALE
A solar energy system that occupies 17,000 square feet or
more of surface area; surface area shall be measured by the total
surface area of the solar collector at maximum tilt that occupies
a given space.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, MEDIUM-SCALE
A solar energy system that occupies between 2,000 and 16,999
square feet of surface area; surface area shall be measured by the
total surface area of the solar collector at maximum tilt that occupies
a given space.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, ROOF-MOUNTED
A solar energy system that is mounted on or integrated into
the roof of a building or structure; may be of any size (small-scale,
medium-scale or large-scale).
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM, SMALL-SCALE
A solar energy system that occupies up to 1,999 square feet
of surface area; surface area shall be measured by the total surface
area of the solar collector at maximum tilt that occupies a given
space.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM
A solar energy system whose primary purpose is to harvest
energy by transforming solar energy into another form of energy or
transferring heat from a collector to another medium using mechanical,
electrical, or chemical means.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
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, highest resolution version of the national hydrography dataset
available from the United States Geological Survey on the website
of the United States Geological Survey or the national map to the
point where the stream becomes a river or where the stream meets the
shoreland zone of another water body or wetland. When a stream meets
the shoreland zone of a water body or wetland and a channel forms
downstream of the water body or wetland as an outlet, that channel
is also a stream.
STRUCTURE
Anything built, constructed or erected for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, goods or property of any kind and anything constructed or erected on or in the ground, 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 and satellite dishes. As used in this definition, "service drop" has the same meaning as in this §
237-17.
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.
TILT
The angle of the solar panels and/or solar collector relative
to horizontal of a solar energy system.
[Added 2-11-2020 by Order
No. 117-19]
TIMBER HARVESTING
The cutting and removal of timber for the primary purpose
of selling or processing forest products. "Timber harvesting" does
not include cutting or removal of vegetation within the Shoreland
Zone when associated with any other land use activities.
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.
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.
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.
WATER CROSSING
Any project extending from one bank to the opposite bank
of a river, 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.
WINDFIRM
The ability of a forest stand to withstand strong winds and
resist windthrow, wind rocking, and major breakage.