Belgrade planning board approves nine waivers, clears three‑lot Dion subdivision to move forward

The Belgrade Planning Board voted July 16 to approve nine waiver requests and to deem preliminary a three‑lot subdivision application for property at 970 Manchester Road (Map 2 Lot 4A), clearing the way for final review.

Sarah, chair of the planning board, read findings of fact and conclusions of law and led the board through each statutory criterion. A board member moved to approve the nine waiver requests on the basis that the items were either not applicable or warranted by the site conditions; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The board then voted that the preliminary application was complete.

An abutter submitted an email raising concerns about driveway access and asserting there would be three new houses; a participant who spoke during the meeting clarified the record, saying there would be a single additional home and that existing driveways are already on private property. "There's just one house," the participant said, adding that the parcel is large and not a traditional subdivision that would create a new public road.

The board examined state and local review criteria cited in the record, including references to Title 38 and the town ordinance performance standards. For each standard — including water availability, floodplain mapping, erosion and sedimentation, traffic impacts, and protection of shoreland and wetlands — the board determined the application met the standard based on the materials and testimony in the record (the board repeatedly referenced the application record and supporting documents).

Board members also asked whether the Department of Transportation had issued access permits for existing driveways; the applicant and others said the driveways predated current ownership for the lots in question and that the new lot configuration would not require a new state highway entrance. The board recorded that driveway access was not a disqualifying factor for the waiver approvals given the facts presented.

Next steps: the applicant will proceed toward final plan review and the board clerk will attach the approved waiver documentation to the project file and to the record for subsequent public filing.