Lewiston Planning Board approves shoreland permit for 3 Loom Drive

The Lewiston Planning Board voted unanimously to approve a shoreland zoning permit allowing the demolition and replacement of a residence at 3 Loom Drive.

Staff said the project requires board approval because it is a complete tear-down and rebuild within 100 feet of a lake, which places it under the shoreland zoning ordinance rather than code enforcement. "I believe this is the first time the board has had a Shoreland zoning permit that's come before you," Deputy Director Shelly Norton told the board, and she summarized staff recommendations for conditions of approval.

The property is 0.19 acres and currently developed with a house, shed, driveway, walkways and lawn. The applicant proposes to remove the shed and house and replace them with an elevated modular home raised a couple of feet to get the structure out of the flood plain. Staff reported the replacement would expand the footprint slightly but keep impervious surface at about 20 percent (staff said the existing is about 19 percent), meet applicable height and footprint limits, and require revegetation where shrubs are removed. The site is in the shoreland zone, the No Name Pond overlay, and in the flood plain.

Staff also asked the board to find that the new location is "set back to the greatest practicable extent" under Article 12, Section 2, Subsection C(3) of the shoreland zoning ordinance because surrounding lot size and configuration prevent meeting standard lake- or road-setbacks. Norton said the proposal would place the building roughly 46 feet from the lake (currently about 44 feet) while retaining a nonconforming 19-foot setback from Loom Drive (the required road setback is 25 feet).

The board made three separate findings by roll call: (1) that the application is complete, (2) that the proposed replacement is set back to the greatest practicable extent, and (3) that the application meets Shoreland Area Standards and should be approved. Approval carried with conditions recommended by staff: record the expansion of the nonconforming house at the registry of deeds within 90 days and provide proof prior to a building permit; require review by Public Works and the plumbing inspector of any increased wastewater needs to confirm the shared municipal sewer system has capacity; and meet all other shoreland ordinance requirements at the time of building permit.

Planning Board Chair Shanna Cox called the final vote after the motions and roll-call confirmations and offered the applicant well wishes: "Good luck. May your building process go well and smoothly." The roll-call vote recorded affirmative votes by all members present.