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Eliot Planning Board begins drafting November ordinance changes on ADUs, farms and wastewater rules
Summary
The Planning Board reviewed first-draft language for November 2026 ordinance amendments including ADU definitions and limits (one ADU per lot, exception for up to two ADUs on qualifying farms), changes to unit-conversion rules in commercial/industrial zones, and a proposed engineered wastewater requirement for high-capacity or failing systems.
At its May 19 meeting the Eliot Planning Board reviewed a preliminary draft of November 2026 zoning amendments focusing on housing and public-hearing timing. The draft would define an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) and propose one ADU per lot for single-family and multi-unit properties while allowing up to two ADUs for farms that can demonstrate a primary agricultural use and continuous operation criteria. Board members asked staff to send proposed language to the Assessor and the Agriculture & Food Security Commission for input and to tighten definitions to reduce potential misuse for short-term rentals.
Board members also discussed structural-unit conversion rules (e.g., converting institutional or commercial structures into multiple dwelling units), floor restrictions for residential uses in commercial/industrial zones, and a first draft of an ordinance provision to require advanced pretreatment and recorded maintenance plans for engineered subsurface wastewater systems. Chair Christine Bennett said the wastewater draft aims to prevent repeat failures similar to recent local incidents and would require maintenance schedules to be recorded at the York County Registry of Deeds for larger or engineered systems.
