Greenville officials presented with fence, housing density ordinances

GREENVILLE — For months the Greenville Planning Board has been working on several ordinances to be decided by voters at the annual town meeting on Monday, June 3, including one for fences and another to update the land use ordinance to be in compliance with state regulations on housing density.

Both documents were formally presented to the select board during a May 1 meeting. Select board members will review each and potentially take any needed votes at the Wednesday, May 15 meeting.

Planning Board Chair John Contreni recommended the select board have a first reading of each document and potentially vote in two weeks rather than during the May 1 meeting. He said there are a lot of details to review, particularly with the fence ordinance.

“It wouldn’t be fair to the town to ask you to approve lots of changes tonight,” Contreni said.

He said the key change concerning housing density is a proposal to decrease the minimum lot size from 10,000 square feet to 7,500 in the residential, downtown 1 and 2, village, and village commercial districts.

“It would be possible to have a house on a lot of 7,500 square feet or if someone had a lot of 15,000 square feet they could put two houses on it if they subdivided their lot,” the planning board chair said.

“The rationale for this is in line with something else that we’re doing, a long-term project to comply with the state law LD 2003,” Contreni said.

Decreasing the minimum lot size to 7,500 square feet will enable the town to increase the density of homes on properties which will help with the density compliance requirements of LD 2003, “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions” signed by Gov. Janet Mills in April 2022.

Per guidance on the act from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, the law is designed to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to housing production in Maine, while preserving local ability to create land use plans and protect sensitive environmental resources. Greenville has until July 1 to implement LD 2003.

The act guidance has sections relevant to municipalities, identifying amended sections of state law. Amendments include allowing for additional density for affordable housing developments in certain areas; generally requiring that municipalities allow between two and four housing units per lot where housing is permitted; requiring that municipalities allow accessory dwelling units to be located on the same lot as a single-family home under certain conditions; and requiring that the state establish statewide and regional housing production goals and set forth ways in which local governments can coordinate with that goal.

“The purpose of that is to increase housing throughout Maine as a whole and one of the ways we thought we could do that was by decreasing the lot size from 10,000 square feet to 7,500 square feet,” he said. “The minimum in the state is 5,000 square feet so we’re still above the minimum by requiring 7,500 square feet and this would only be lots that are served by the sanitary sewer.” 

Contreni said homes with septic tanks would still need to meet larger lot size requirements.

The proposed fence ordinance is more complex, Contreni said as the community currently does not have something like this in its land use ordinance to help handle potential conflicts between neighbors concerning fence issues.

He said the planning board reviewed 10 ordinances from around the state to find components pertinent for Greenville.

“The purpose of it is to provide reasonable regulations for fence installation and maintenance while allowing property owners the ability to install fences for aesthetic screening, separating, or security purposes,” Contreni said. “The ordinance will also mitigate potential disputes between neighbors over fence issues.”

He said previously such issues have been brought to the planning board but the group was not able to do much with no fence ordinance in place.

The measure would provide general regulations such as fence permits needed to be issued by the code enforcement officer, prohibiting barbed wire and electric fences under many circumstances, and various maintenance definitions.

The document states the purpose of the ordinance is to provide regulations for fence installation and maintenance while allowing property owners the ability to install fences for aesthetic, screening, separating, or security purposes. The proposed ordinance is intended to advance public safety, maintain and protect property values, enhance the town’s appearance, and visually unify Greenville and its neighborhoods. The language says that fences are all held to a general standard, regardless of which zone district the barrier is in.

General regulations include permits written by the code enforcement officer are required for fence additions or alterations, property owners are responsible for knowing the exact property lines as determined by survey, fences cannot be in the right of way or on another’s property, the dividers cannot adversely affect traffic visibility on a street corner or a neighbor’s view while exiting a driveway. 

The ordinance says fences cannot be more than 8 feet high without special permission, these need to meet setback and right of way regulations, and cannot interfere with fire hydrants. Fences not currently in compliance cannot be moved or replaced without going through the permitting process.

“We wanted to cover all the bases, be as clear as possible, as transparent as possible to try to address issues throughout the entire town,” Contreni said.

Select Chair Geno Murray said the town will make sure both ordinances are on agenda for May 15.

“We need to familiarize ourselves with it and make a recommendation at the next meeting on what the disposition of it’s going to be as far as the next steps go,” he said.

Contreni said by making the land use ordinance be in compliance with LD 2003, other updates are not subject to a town meeting vote. He said the planning board still wants the public to know and is planning an information session — “LD 2003 and what it means to property owners in Greenville” — at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21 at the town office.

A representative from a state agency working on municipal LD 2003 compliance will be joining via Zoom.