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Planning Board reviews memo on adding board recommendations to ballots and raises floodplain ordinance concerns
Summary
The Wells Planning Board reviewed a draft memo proposing that the planning board’s recommendations accompany town ballot questions on land-use matters and discussed reported problems and potential clarifications in the town’s recent floodplain ordinance.
At its June meeting the Wells Planning Board reviewed a draft memo staff prepared asking the Board of Selectmen to place planning-board recommendations on town ballot question materials (similar to how the budget committee’s recommendation is presented) and discussed concerns and clarifications needed in the town’s recently adopted floodplain ordinance.
Staff said the draft memo copies the language used for budget-committee ballot presentation and suggested sending the memo to the Board of Selectmen and the town attorney to determine whether the change should be pursued as a charter revision, an ordinance amendment, or a policy decision by the selectmen. The memo asks the selectmen to authorize coordination with the town attorney to pursue the preferred route.
Separately, Planning Board member Steve raised multiple concerns about the town’s floodplain management ordinance (Chapter 116 in the transcript). He said the rule limiting repairs or additions to a percentage of a structure’s value now uses a “depreciated” structure valuation and that the 50 percent threshold “continues for the life of the structure,” rather than resetting periodically. He said that practice can leave long-term homeowners unable to afford repairs, and that it differs from prior local practice and creates an apparent inconsistency between tax-card valuations and the depreciated values the code office uses when processing building permits.
Steve also flagged possible conflicts between the ordinance’s language on mechanical- and meter-elevation and the state electrical inspector standards (CMP/state electrical practice). Staff and board members agreed further review was warranted; staff said some of the floodplain changes stem from FEMA template language and that any town requirement stricter than FEMA’s model should be identified separately and submitted to FEMA for approval.
Board members discussed next steps including holding a public hearing and forwarding ordinance-change suggestions to the selectmen. No ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; the conversation was recorded as discussion and direction to staff to research legal and procedural options and coordinate with the town attorney.
