Planning Board

The Planning Board is made up of five members and up to two alternates. Members and alternates are appointed to staggered three year terms by the Board of Selectmen. The Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected annually, by sitting members of the board, at the first regularly scheduled meeting following the Towns annual meeting.

The Board has regularly scheduled meetings commencing at 7 PM on the second Thursday of every month. Public postings of the agendas of the meetings are made at least seven days prior to each scheduled meeting. In order to be placed on the monthly agenda all applications and associated submissions require filing in the Town Office at least three (3) weeks before the next scheduled meeting.

Monthly Planning Board meetings are open to the public. The Planning Board promotes strict adherence to the Maine right to know statutes thus reserving discussion of all matters that come before it to scheduled meetings.

The Planning Board sits as a quasi-judicial body that reviews all Shoreland Zoning and Subdivision Permit Applications. However, the Board does not have the authority to provide an applicant with a variance to an ordinance. Variances are the province of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Nevertheless an applicant must apply for Planning Board approval for a variance and have the application denied, before proceeding to the Board of Appeals.

Enforcement of Town ordinances does not rest with the Planning Board but with the Code Enforcement Officer though the Planning Board may be called on to work with the CEO and the Selectmen when they determine that a situation warrants such involvement.

Application Fee for a Shoreland Zoning Permit Application is $25.

An After-the-Fact Permit Fee is $1,500, along with the requirement of attending a certification class in Erosion Control Practices.