Hammond Lumber can start pre-construction process on Greenville storage building

GREENVILLE — A month and a half before a Greenville town meeting vote concerning several proposed zoning changes to allow some properties to be used for different purposes than are currently permitted, Hammond Lumber was given the go-ahead to start pre-construction preparations.

The Greenville Planning Board had no objections to the request during an April 16 meeting, knowing any actual construction could not start until after a successful vote on the evening of Monday, June 2. 

The proposed changes to the land use ordinance include some parcels going from the commercial industrial zone to the adjacent village zone and reclassifying a portion of the Hammond Lumber property to allow for the construction of a large storage building. This would involve a zone change of land from downtown 2 to village commercial.

Hammond Lumber would like to construct a large storage building to keep items out of the weather. Reclassifying part of the property from the downtown 2 to village commercial zone would allow the business to build a structure over 5,000 square feet while still maintaining some open space.

“So far this body has endorsed the two zoning changes,” Planning Board Chair John Contreni said. 

Hammond Lumber requested that it be able to start the process, knowing the building project would be dependent on the June 2 vote. If approved by residents on that date, then construction could start soon after.

The company would come to the planning board with its plans at a May meeting to get conditional approval.

“It’ll probably take that long just to get going with the surveys and all the other things they are going to need,” Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol said. 

The concern is what happens if this does not start until June 2. “Then you’re into August before [Hammond Lumber] can start actually building and then at that point you might not get it done,” Sarol said.

In other business, the planning board continued discussion on another proposed amendment to the land use ordinance that would change how far away a structure must be from the property lines in certain sections of town provided specific criteria have been met. Under this change the setback for primary dwellings would be 5 feet instead of 15.

A setback variance has been developed by Sarol to be in place should this proposed amendment be approved at town meeting. The code enforcement officer has presented a draft of the form to the planning board. 

A survey could be required for the setback application if this has not been done in the last decade, Contreni suggested.

“A lot of these properties are historic and old, the way you describe them,” he said, saying the property boundaries may be decades old. 

“I think that would be prudent given the antiquity of these lots,” Contreni said.

Sarol will revise the ordinance and bring it back.

The proposed property and building safety maintenance ordinance was sent to Fire Chief Sawyer Murray and he returned it with some comments.

“I feel it covers the most important topics I get complaints on,” Murray wrote.

Dangerous unoccupied buildings, and then nuisance buildings and/or issues pertaining to the way a structure looks and smells, are the top two topics Murray identified. 

“This will be a huge step forward for our community, thanks for the solid work by your team,” he wrote.

A couple of minor wording edits were mentioned and Contreni will make the revisions. 

When asked when the ordinance can be enforced, he said, “As soon as it’s approved by the town at the town meeting on June 2.”

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection called Sarol about the possibility of an outdoor wood lot boiler on Pleasant Street being too close to a neighboring property, and he will look into the matter.

Depending on the size of the wood boiler, it needs to be a certain length away from the line, per Maine DEP regulations.