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Wells boards back 5-year reset to floodplain rules after public pushback and FEMA concerns
Summary
After weeks of planning-board work and public comment from coastal property owners, the selectboard and planning board unanimously forwarded and approved changes to the town's floodplain ordinance that would reset the substantial-improvement calculation to five years and clarify exemptions for routine maintenance; members said final language will be refined with FEMA and the state floodplain office.
Mike, a town staff member leading the review, told the joint hearing the most consequential proposed change would alter the town's definition of "substantial improvement" from a lifetime accumulation to a five-year reset, which would limit how expenditures on a structure are aggregated for floodplain-triggered elevation or floodproofing requirements.
The change, he said, aims to make compliance less punitive for long-term coastal owners. "The change to substantial improvement ... would change that to a five-year period," Mike said, noting the planning board had worked on the revisions since mid-2023 and that the planning board left a narrowed 5-year option on the table as a potentially FEMA-compliant amendment.
Public commenters pressed for the reset and clearer valuation methods. "The ordinance put before the voters then was not thoroughly vetted as to the substantive changes that impacted coastal property owners," said Bob Foley, president of Save Our Shores Maine, who urged the town to place the amendment on the June ballot and to work with state and federal officials afterward if needed.
Kristin Yusenka, attorney for the Elizabeth Grace Realty Trust and the Jutras family, likewise supported the amendments and urged the code to require licensed appraisals or an insurance-certificate valuation for building value calculations. "The proposed amendments to this ordinance solve these issues and provide clear guidance for the homeowners and the town with respect to applying the ordinance," Yusenka said.
Board members discussed at length how to define the "market value of the structure." Some favored keeping FEMA terminology but parenthetically inserting precise town language such as "replacement cost new" or "actual cash value (replacement cost new)" to clarify the town's intent while following FEMA keywords. Mike cautioned that final wording should be vetted with FEMA and the state floodplain coordinator; the state office provided a red-lined letter with specific concerns.
The boards agreed to move the principal 5-year reset amendment forward for the town meeting vote while tabling or refining some of the market-value language and other technical edits for later review with FEMA. The planning board moved and the selectboard voted 5-0 to approve and forward the amended Chapter 116 floodplain management language as discussed, while noting that additional revisions could follow pending FEMA guidance.
Next steps: the boards plan to coordinate with the state floodplain office and FEMA when federal staff are available, and to reconvene a working group or committee to pursue technical clarifications before any further ballot submissions or implementation.
