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Camden voters approve zoning changes, coastal armoring moratorium and budget items at June town meeting
Summary
Select Board staff reported certified election results showing about 3,172 registered voters turned out. Voters approved multiple zoning-code amendments, a 180‑day coastal shoreline armoring moratorium, acceptance of common‑lot deeds and authorization to purchase a replacement fire engine; staff will file amended code text with the DEP where required.
Town staff reported to the Select Board that the June annual town meeting and municipal election were certified and that an estimated 3,172 Camden registered voters turned out.
Holly read the results: Articles three through nine — a package of amendments to chapter 290 of the town zoning code including removal of certain parking minimums, an updated coastal-wetlands definition to conform with the Maine Shoreland Zoning Act, and new adaptive-reuse provisions for the downtown business district — were approved by voters and are now in effect. Planning and development staff will forward the amended code text to the town’s online code publisher and will file required materials with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Article 10 approved a 180‑day moratorium ordinance prohibiting hardening or armoring of coastal shorelines from its effective date (transcript cites an effective date of April 7, 2026); planning staff will use the moratorium period to work with committees and state/regional partners to draft proposed code amendments for a November vote.
Voters also approved acceptance of common-open-space deeds for the Greenfield subdivision parcel on Lyndon Lane and the Lupin Terrace common open space, and authorized lease agreements at the Camden Snow Bowl for Side Country Sports and Snow Dogs. Fiscal articles were approved, including authorization for non-property tax revenues to offset part of the FY26–27 tax commitment and voter approval to proceed with a replacement Engine 5 fire truck at a total cost reported in the packet as $1,140,000; staff will pursue combined financing with bond counsel and advisers.
Holly advised that the reading of the FY26–27 general fund total in the meeting packet sounded garbled in the transcript. The packet read a figure that was spoken as "13,371,000 and $65"; staff will confirm the exact full budget total in official documents and with the assessor prior to tax commitment. Assessing and finance staff will proceed with the FY27 tax commitment process when the assessor is prepared to commit taxes, typically in late July or early August.
Advisory ballot questions on law-enforcement options showed a strong majority favored maintaining a full-service town police department and having a town police chief as a town employee; voters did not favor evaluating contracting patrol services with an outside agency such as the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. The Select Board said it would consider these advisory results as it moves forward with the police chief hiring process.
Staff noted other implementation items including updating application checklists, establishing protocols for third-party technical review at applicants’ expense during site-plan review, and proceeding with infrastructure projects (John Street sidewalk contract signed; Park Street work completed by Maine Water; Rawson Avenue sidewalk finished).
