Greenville Planning Board continues work on setbacks and dangerous building ordinances

GREENVILLE — The Greenville Planning Board is working to bring the town’s land use ordinance up to date by addressing a lack of guidelines and missing components in the document. This includes changes to property line setbacks and adding a dangerous building ordinance.

Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol told the planning board during a Feb. 5 meeting he continues to work on setbacks, or the minimum distance a structure can be from the property line, as well as land use violation penalties. He also said he adjusted the dangerous building ordinance to no longer pertain to vacant buildings that pose no hazard.

“We have a proposed addition to article 5 in the land use ordinance,” Planning Board Chair John Contreni said before reading the language aloud. “The proposed addition is reduced setbacks.”

The amendment says setbacks may be reduced with a variance from the code enforcement officer in the residential and village zoning districts under certain conditions and are limited to:

1. Properties that were created prior to the land use ordinance being established; 

2. Properties that are .4 acres or less; 

3. Setbacks can be reduced to 5 feet for accessory dwellings and/or accessory buildings; 

4. Setbacks can be reduced to 10 feet for primary dwellings; 

5. Setbacks can be reduced to zero for buildings that have a shared wall for example duplexes; 6. Reduced setback must demonstrate no harm to neighbors or public interest; and

7. These setbacks should not be confused with the minimum shoreland setbacks.”

The chair said he believes Greenville’s land use ordinance was established in 1989, but he will double check.

“The owner requesting the variance must demonstrate the need for it, they can’t do what they want to without that setback,” Sarol said, about another possible addition.

He said he will adjust the proposed amendment and bring it back to the planning board. At a later date the planning board will take a vote, and if passed the document will go to the Greenville Select Board for review and possible approval. From there a town meeting vote would be taken.

A proposed dangerous building ordinance was put together by former Code Enforcement Officer Jack Hart around a decade ago. Sarol said Hart used this when dealing with a dangerous structure on Lincoln Street, which eventually was torn down.

“This is basically the Maine statute,”  Sarol said, as dangerous buildings fall under the category of nuisances. “This details the steps that must be taken to deem a building dangerous.” 

He said at least two officials, such as the code enforcement officer, fire chief, and town manager, need to agree that the building is dangerous. 

“It must demonstrate some type of threat to the public or to property or something of that sort before you can call it a dangerous building,” Sarol said.

He said steps are included to notify property owners and give them time to remedy the problems and/or find solutions. Ways for the town to recoup costs, if necessary, are also included.

“I figured there’s no need to rewrite the ordinance when Maine already has something on the books and maybe we just put something in our ordinance that says when it comes to dangerous buildings we refer to the Maine statute,” Sarol said.

Contreni said his own preference would be to have something in town ordinance. “Something more than simply go to the Maine statutes because that puts our users at a disadvantage if they don’t have a computer or don’t know where to find the Maine statutes,” he said.

Sarol will keep working on the document and bring it to the planning board.