Wells boards forward wide-ranging land-use package to November special town meeting

The Planning Board and Select Board voted on Aug. 12 to forward a package of proposed land-use and subdivision ordinance changes to a November special-town-meeting ballot, after a joint public hearing and extended workshop that drew residents’ questions about housing, affordability and parking.

Town Planner Mike summarized the package, saying, “So some of the ordinance changes were spurred on by the public forum that was held back on April 16.” The proposals include higher open-space minimums for subdivisions (cluster subdivisions’ open-space minimum rising from 35% to 50%), a rule that no more than 50% of required open-space may be wetlands (now defined to include forested wetlands), and an increase in minimum cluster-lot size from 40,000 square feet to one acre.

The hearing drew several residents who urged the boards to consider affordability and local needs. “I was hoping that this moratorium would give an opportunity to really think about what we would like in terms of housing in our community,” said Niri Mara during public comment, asking whether removing two-family dwellings from the rural district would reduce affordable options. Joe Hardy commended the proposed changes overall but pressed for clearer steps to encourage workforce housing, calling the topic “a lot of people’s minds” in Wells.

Planners and board members answered detailed technical questions. Mike confirmed accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are currently allowed in most zones and said, “Currently, it’s 600 square foot,” when describing the town’s ADU-size limit. The boards discussed how proposed cluster-lot rules would allow duplexes on standard rural lots but eliminate two-family dwellings on cluster lots, and how the proposed 200-foot buffer along town streets would be owned by homeowners associations for future subdivisions.

Board members also debated parking policy at length. Members cited overcrowding in beach neighborhoods and the likely growth of ADUs under state law (LD 2003) as reasons to tighten requirements. After discussion the board moved language that, for new construction, sets a baseline parking rule of 2 spaces per dwelling unit plus one additional space for each bedroom in excess of two (the board discussed, and several members argued for, a one-to-one parking-per-bedroom approach for additional bedrooms).

Administratively, the package proposes modest procedural changes such as extending submission deadlines from 10 days to 14 days, requiring electronic submissions, and adding a new section to allow the planning office to issue subdivision-violation notices with appeal rights to the planning board.

Both boards repeatedly emphasized that many of the changes aim to limit the pace and pattern of development—reducing maximum density bonuses to 10% from historically higher levels and protecting certain recorded-plan setbacks—while leaving some existing affordable-housing incentives intact. The boards voted, typically by unanimous recorded tallies, to place the suite of ordinance amendments on the November special-town-meeting ballot for voter determination.

Next steps: the proposed ordinances will appear on the November special-town-meeting ballot for voter consideration; in the interim, boards said they will continue outreach and follow-up workshops to clarify language and public information.