Planning Board refers sand-and-salt shed permitting to code enforcement to speed build

The Planning Board voted to suspend the conditional-use permit process and refer permitting for a prefabricated replacement salt-and-salt shed to the town’s code enforcement officer, a move proponents said will avoid construction delays.

A board member (speaker S2) told the board that “we approved it as a town, and the funding has already been allotted for the town,” arguing the prior town meeting approval and allocated funds made the longer planning-board CUP process unnecessary. Jim Seymour, a civil engineer and project manager working with the town of Denmark, said the building will be a prefab structure and that “the biggest engineering feat will be with the foundation.” Seymour said the project team is on standby once the board or staff select a formal building system.

During discussion, board members confirmed the replacement building will sit on the same property and that required setbacks are met, though the footprint has been shifted to the rear of the site to keep the structure out of public view. S2 moved to refer permitting directly to the code enforcement officer (referred to in the meeting as Lindsay); the motion was approved by voice vote with multiple board members saying “Aye.” Seymour said he hoped the building could be completed before the winter holidays and added, “I just need to pick a bill, and we’re ready to go.”

The vote sends permitting authority to the code enforcement officer for administrative review rather than proceeding through the planning-board conditional-use track, a step board members said is intended to speed construction given prior town approval and funding.