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State shoreland reviewer told planning board shoreland districts must stop at 250‑foot shoreline line
Summary
Planning board members said a state reviewer told them the town's shoreland districts and zoning maps currently extend inland incorrectly; the board agreed to redraw a non‑shoreland zone, update maps at town meeting, and invite state staff back for a targeted Q&A next week.
April and other board members summarized a recent review by Colin Clark, a state shoreland zoning reviewer, who identified misalignment between Westport Island’s shoreland district boundaries and the town’s inland/building‑code provisions. According to members, Colin told the board shoreland districts should end at the 250‑foot shoreline zone and that some of the town’s zoning tables and the building‑code ordinance had inappropriately copied shoreland districts inland.
"He said, 'What's all this tan?' and I said, 'This is our limited residential commercial district.' And he's like, 'What do you mean?'" April recounted. Members concluded the town must draw and name a non‑shoreland zone that parallels the shoreland zone and place inland districts inside it. That change will likely require updating the official zoning map, a town‑meeting vote.
The board discussed mandatory versus optional statutory provisions. April said certain protections (floodplain inclusion, areas of steep slope, some wetlands, and coastal bluff protections) are part of shoreland/shoreline requirements that the town’s ordinances may not currently reflect. She said adding these elements would trigger owner notifications and mapping work. "We have to update our map and that is a town meeting vote," she said.
Members agreed on short‑term priorities: correct mapping and the shoreland/non‑shoreland distinction to comply with state guidance; prepare a limited set of ordinance amendments for the next cycle; and invite Ross (D staff) back for a focused session to answer specific statutory and mapping questions. The board also discussed CFMA (commercial fishing/maritime activity) district issues, noting local ordinance language lacks some statutory criteria and that MMA consultation is underway for legal guidance on eligibility rules.
No binding votes were taken on ordinance text tonight; the board asked staff and members to draft map updates and targeted questions for the state reviewer ahead of the next meeting.
