New Greenville code enforcement officer on the job

GREENVILLE — Greenville’s new Code Enforcement Officer Tim Post has now been in the position on his own for several weeks following last month’s departure of Ron Sarol, as Post reported to the planning board during a Jan. 7 meeting.

“Everytime somebody comes in with a question I am learning something new so that’s helpful,” he said.

Post has been working to update 911 addresses and the code enforcement officer’s land use ordinance notebook in the office, which is several years out of date 

“So being new I said if I’m going to use it as a reference, I better update it,” Post said.

He has been training online for the CEO test, with the first sections scheduled for early February on shoreland zoning and legal issues and then on subdivisions.

Post has approved two recent permits, for a sign for a forthcoming real estate office at 35 Pritham Ave. and a demotion permit for a trailer on Cemetery Lane. Seven other permits are pending

Last year Greenville code enforcement officers issued 125 permits, a total similar to the previous three years.

For 2026 Post plans to have a more detailed end of year report, breaking down the permits into more detail such as what the building permits are for — single-family homes, garages, etc.

“Our high point picks up in May and sort of ends in October,” Planning Board Chair John Contreni said.

In other business, Contreni requested discussion on LD 1829 “An Act to Build Housing for Maine Families and Attract Workers to Maine Businesses by Amending the Laws Governing Housing Density” be added to the agenda. 

“It requires towns, all municipalities, to go through their land use ordinances to come into compliance with this piece of legislation from the state of Maine,” he said, saying this was signed by Gov. Janet Mills last year.

Communities have until July 1, 2027 to get into compliance with LD 1829.

Contreni would like to follow up with a suggestion from a previous meeting to hire a professional to help Greenville update its land use ordinance. Post and Town Manager Mike Roy will find a consultant and bring a recommendation to the planning board.

The bill says subdivisions consist of five units instead of three and specifies some of the training that planning board officials need to have.

Planning board member David Case mentioned a report specifying Greenville’s fence ordinance has some holes that could cause problems in the future.

“I think, personally, we should have an attorney review the ordinance to make sure it’s up to snuff,” Case said.

“I want to keep on top of that because it could create problems in the future,” he said.

Town attorney Katahdin Law reviewed the ordinance and concurred, Roy said.

Counsel will provide specifics to the planning board and how these can be remedied.

A proposed revision to the land use ordinance consisting of a new definition pertaining to motorsports businesses has been approved by the select board, Contreni said. The revision is scheduled to be voted on at the annual town meeting in June.

A motorsports sales, service and repair establishment is a commercial use involving the retail sale, servicing, maintenance and mechanical repair of recreational and utility vehicles powered by internal combustion or electric engines. This use includes but is not limited to boats and electrical watercraft, snowmobile, all terrain vehicles, utility vehicles, small engine recreational vehicles, for example dirt bikes, go karts, and lawn and garden equipment, for example mowers, chainsaws and trimmers.

Such a business would not be permitted in the residential, downtown district 1 and 2, rural, airport and resource protection districts. These would be available for conditional use in village, village commercial, commercial industrial, rural development 1 and 2 districts, meaning the owner needs to come before the planning board to get a permit. 

At the start of the meeting Contreni wished everyone a Happy New Year.

“We had a very successful and busy 2025 and I’m looking forward to doing even more good work in our new year 2026,” he said.