Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning board approves GRE LLC bus garage at 145 River Road after waiver of shrub requirement
Summary
The Lewiston Planning Board approved GRE LLC’s application for a 5,600 sq ft bus garage at 145 River Road after voting to waive a shrubs-every-5-feet landscaping requirement for the parcel because it faces industrial uses; the approval includes standard conditions before occupancy.
The Lewiston Planning Board on Sept. 25 approved a development review application from GRE LLC to build a 5,600-square-foot bus garage and accessory office at 145 River Road, after first adopting a waiver for a portion of the city’s landscaping requirement.
City land use planner Craig Tibo told the board the project meets police, fire and public works comments but that staff flagged landscaping along River Road—specifically the ordinance requirement for street trees every 25–50 feet and shrubs every five feet—as outstanding. Applicant representative Mike said the site has about 165 feet of frontage, existing vegetation and a 5-foot privacy fence; the proposed garage and parking for about 10 buses and additional employee spaces would sit behind the fence and largely out of view from River Road.
Board members questioned the applicant about removed or dead trees, the distance between the fence and the road (roughly 10–15 feet), and whether existing vegetation could meet the standard when spaced differently. Several members said the missing element was shrubs every five feet rather than street trees. Staff said the written standard reads as shrubs every five feet but acknowledged prior inconsistent administration of the shrub element in industrial areas.
After a failed motion to find the existing vegetation sufficient, the board voted to apply the waiver described in Article 13, Section 3G(7) of the zoning code, finding that the parcel’s location within a predominantly industrial district facing industrial uses made the shrubs-every-5-feet requirement an unnecessary hardship in this instance and asking staff to review how that requirement is applied in industrial zones.
Following the waiver vote the board approved the application, subject to standard conditions including engineer certification that improvements are complete prior to issuance of a certificate of occupancy. The approval passed on a roll call with one abstention.
The board recorded that staff will follow up on citywide implementation of the shrub requirement in industrial areas so that future applications are considered under a consistent policy.
