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Planning board asks attorney to draft shoreland exemption to enable Landing Trail in downtown revitalization area
Summary
The board voted 5–0 to request that the town attorney draft an amendment to allow a walking trail and limited structures within the 100‑foot shoreland protection area for the downtown revitalization plan; maintenance and detailed conditions will be reviewed later with a formal application.
Scott Landis, speaking for a citizen group working with a regional land trust, described the Landing Trail project and asked the planning board to request a code amendment allowing limited trail features and structures within the 100‑foot shoreland buffer of the Salmon Falls River in the designated downtown revitalization area.
Staff explained that although state law provides an exemption for certain revitalization projects, chapter 1000 of the town code has not been updated to include that exemption; a local amendment drafted by the town attorney is therefore needed before any application with structures within the 100‑foot zone could be considered. Board members emphasized that maintenance obligations and application‑specific criteria (bridges, boardwalks, maintenance agreements) would be reviewed later when the project application is submitted.
After discussion, the board moved and voted unanimously to ask the town attorney to draft language for a shoreland exemption limited to the revitalization area so the group may later submit a project application consistent with local and state rules.
Next steps: attorney drafting of the amendment, then a future application by the project team that will include maintenance and design specifics for the board’s review.
