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Sanford Planning Board approves stormwater settling basin for R. Pepin and Sons at 59 Shaw Road
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Summary
The Sanford Planning Board approved a minor site plan amendment from R. Pepin and Sons to build stormwater controls, including a settling basin and an outlet control to reduce suspended solids entering downstream waterways and nearby municipal wells; approval was conditional on plan revisions and combining lots by deed before construction.
The Sanford Planning Board voted to approve a minor site plan amendment from R. Pepin and Sons to construct stormwater improvements at its 59 Shaw Road shop, finding the proposal met applicable zoning standards and imposing conditions, including recording a deed to combine lots before a preconstruction meeting.
Engineer Austin Fagan of BH2M, representing R. Pepin and Sons, told the board the project would "capture that runoff, put it into a proposed settling basin to the south side of the driveway, then go into a . . . outlet control structure . . . wrapped in a geotextile fabric in order to get some of the suspended solids . . . to fall out before being sent downstream," and said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection reviewed and recommended the approach.
Planning staff told the board the property lies within a wellhead‑protection area that includes three municipal wells and that seasonal erosion had sent "a considerable amount of suspended solids leaving the site directly into [the] municipal water supply." Staff described the existing culvert under the driveway as a 36‑inch structure and called the proposed work "a major, major improvement" to a long‑standing problem.
The board considered findings of fact tied to chapter 280‑16‑7 (utilization, technical and financial capacity, access and circulation, utilities, landscaping and shoreland relationships) and voted to find the standards met for the applicable subsections. Planning staff presented a suggested motion to accept the site plan review committee's recommendation, grant the requested waivers, and find minor site plan application number 2026‑07‑MP satisfied chapter 280‑16‑7, subject to conditions. Conditions include providing revised plan sets (bound, digital and rolled copies) by 07/01/2026 unless other arrangements are made; providing a recorded deed combining lots (or equivalent cross‑easements) prior to scheduling the required preconstruction meeting; and addressing all items in the Sanford Water District memo dated 03/24/26, including required wellhead‑protection plan elements.
A motion to approve the application passed on a voice vote recorded as 4‑0. The planning director read the conditions into the record and noted the applicant had the option of cross‑easements or combining lots; the applicant indicated they intend to combine the lots but that the recording process may take time.
Next steps: the applicant must submit the required revised plan sets and recorded documentation to planning staff and satisfy the Sanford Water District's remaining conditions before the preconstruction meeting is scheduled.
