The Board of Selectmen shall appoint or reappoint a Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) annually by July 1st. The Board of Selectmen may appoint a Deputy Code Enforcement Officer who shall serve at the will of the Board of Selectmen, and who may perform any of the duties of the Code Enforcement Officer.

It shall be the duty of the CEO to enforce the provisions of this chapter, the applicable sections and provisions of the current Alfred Subdivision Regulation, the Building Code,[1] any other local land use ordinances, and state statutes over which the Town has enforcement responsibility. If the CEO shall find that any provision is being violated, the CEO shall notify, in writing, the person responsible for such violations, indicating the nature of the violations and ordering the action necessary to correct it. The CEO shall order the discontinuance of illegal use of land, buildings or structures, or work being done, removal of illegal buildings or structures, and abatement of nuisance conditions, or must take any other action authorized by this chapter to insure compliance with, or to prevent violation of, its provisions. A copy of such notices shall be submitted to the municipal officers and be maintained as a permanent record.

The CEO shall conduct on-site inspections to insure compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards the CEO is authorized to enforce, and any conditions attached to permit approvals. The Code Enforcement Officer shall also investigate all complaints of alleged violations of this ordinance. The CEO may enter any property at reasonable hours and enter any structure with the consent of the property owner, occupant, or agent, to inspect the property or structure for compliance with all the regulations the CEO is authorized to enforce. If consent is denied, the CEO must obtain an administrative warrant before entering the property. The CEO may revoke a permit after proper notification if it was issued in error or if based on erroneous information.

The Code Enforcement Officer may attend any meetings of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals, and may present reports, photographs or other materials the Officer deems appropriate for assisting the Boards in their determination of whether or not any pending application meets all applicable standards.

The Code Enforcement Officer shall keep a complete record of all essential transactions of the office within any Shoreland Zone, including applications submitted, permits granted or denied, variances granted or denied, revocation actions, revocation of permits, appeals, court actions, violations investigated, violations found, and fees collected.

Transfers of property with existing, approved land use permits, when no change of use is proposed between categories in the Land Use Table in Article V, and when no expansions or exterior alterations are proposed.

Improvements made to existing buildings in order to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, provided that the activity is in conformance with federal, state, or local laws.

A permit is not required for the replacement of an existing road culvert as long as:

A permit is not required for an archaeological excavation as long as the excavation is conducted by an archaeologist listed on the State Historic Preservation Officer's Level 1 or Level 2 approved list, and unreasonable erosion and sedimentation is prevented by means of adequate and timely temporary and permanent stabilization measures.

Any permit required by this ordinance shall be in addition to any other permit required by other law or ordinance.

Every applicant for a land use permit shall submit a written application, including a scaled site plan, on forms provided by the CEO. Supplemental information in narrative, report, and/or development plan form, as appropriate, must also be submitted to the CEO, and must include the following information, if applicable:

The following additional information shall be submitted, if applicable, for structures, projects or uses within the Wellhead Protection Districts 1, 2 and 3:

Upon receipt of an application for a land use permit the CEO shall:

Within 14 days of receipt of the application the CEO must determine whether the application is complete. If the application is not complete, the CEO must notify the applicant in writing that it is not complete and must indicate what information is missing.

If, because of the technical nature of any application submission, the CEO cannot judge that the proposed land use or activity will conform to all applicable provisions of this chapter, or other applicable codes or ordinances of the Town, the CEO may, after notification to, and at the expense of, the applicant, employ one or more independent engineering . planning, or other technical consultants to ensure compliance with all requirements of this chapter, pursuant to the procedure set forth in § 160-156.

Once the CEO has determined that the application is complete, the CEO must determine whether the application is satisfactory.

An application is satisfactory if it clearly indicates that the proposed land use or activity will conform to all applicable provisions of this chapter, and other applicable codes or ordinances of the Town, and is accompanied by the required fee.

If the application is satisfactory, the CEO must, within 30 days of its receipt, issue the land use permit, notify in writing the Board of Selectmen, and file the application, including all narrative, reports, and development plan filed with the application, and a copy of the permit, in a permanent file in the Town office. If a permit is approved with conditions, the reasons for the conditions, as well as the conditions themselves, shall be stated in writing.

If the application is not satisfactory, the CEO must, within 30 days of determining that it is a complete application, deny the permit and state in writing the reasons for the denial.

The CEO must deny any land use permit if the CEO has knowledge that the proposed land use or activity would be located in an unapproved subdivision, and/or if the proposed land use or activity would be in violation of this chapter, or any other local ordinance or code, or regulation or statute administered by the Town.

The CEO shall forward all applications for new and renovated commercial structures to the Planning Board and to the Design Review Committee per Charter 160, Article XXIII, Design Review Committee, and will inform the applicant that he or she must meet before the DRC prior to the review for completeness by the Planning Board.

Once the Planning Board has received the application from the CEO, it must schedule review of the application at the next available Planning Board meeting. The next available meeting could be the next meeting or it could be a later meeting, depending on the length of the Planning Board review waiting list.

The Planning Board may, after notification to, and at the expense of, the applicant, employ one or more independent engineering, planning, or other technical consultants to ensure compliance with all requirements of this chapter, pursuant to the procedure set forth in § 160-156.

Seven days prior to the Planning Board meeting at which the application will be reviewed for completeness, the Planning Board must notify the CEO in writing, and the applicant by first class mail.

The Planning Board must also, seven days prior to the Planning Board meeting, post a notice at the Town Hall. The notice posted and the notice specified in Subsection B above must state the name of the applicant, the land use or activity proposed, the location of the proposed land use or activity, and the date, time, and location of the Planning Board meeting.

No application may be reviewed for completeness at a Planning Board meeting if it has not been received by the Planning Board at least 14 days prior to that meeting.

The Planning Board has 35 days to determine if the application is complete. This time period may be extended by mutual agreement of a majority of the Board and the applicant.

If the application is not complete, the Planning Board may not review the application to determine if it is satisfactory and must notify the applicant in writing of the information that is missing.

If the Planning Board determines that the application is complete, it must schedule a public hearing, after which it will begin a review to determine if the application is satisfactory. The application is satisfactory if it clearly indicates that the proposed land use or activity will conform to the provisions of this chapter, and other applicable codes or ordinances of the Town, and is accompanied by the required fee.

Seven days prior to the date of the public hearing at which the Planning Board will begin review of the application to determine if the application is satisfactory the Board must notify by certified mail:

The Planning Board must use the following procedure when reviewing the application to determine whether it is satisfactory:

The Planning Board must deny any land use permit if it has knowledge that the proposed land use or activity would be located in an unapproved subdivision, and/or if the proposed land use or activity would be in violation of this chapter, or any local ordinance or code.

The Planning Board must notify in writing the CEO and the applicant of its decision within 10 days of making that decision.

Procedure. An applicant for a revision to a previously approved plan shall, at least 10 days prior to a scheduled meeting of the Board, request to be placed on the Board's agenda.

Submissions. The applicant shall submit a copy of the approved plan, as well as nine copies of the proposed revisions. The application shall also include supporting information as determined by the Planning Board to allow it to make a determination that the proposed revisions meet the standards of these regulations.

Fees. Fees for revisions shall be set by the municipal officers according to § 160-156.

A certificate of occupancy issued by the CEO is required in advance of the use or occupancy of:

No certificate of occupancy may be issued unless the proposed improvements to the lot and/or building have been completed or a performance guarantee covering the cost of their completion has been given to the Town according to the standards for performance guarantees in § 160-155, and the lot, building, or structure complies with all the provisions of this chapter, and any other local ordinance or code. A record of all certificates of occupancy must be kept on file in the office of the CEO, and a copy must be furnished, on request, to any person having a proprietary or tenancy interest in the structure or land involved. A duplicate copy must be filed in the office of the Tax Assessor and the certificate of occupancy must state specifically the uses which it permits.

Violations of this chapter include, but are not limited to:

Nuisances. Any violation of this ordinance shall be deemed to be a nuisance.

When any violation of any provision of this chapter is found to exist, and a notice of violation does not result in the correction or abatement of the violation or nuisance condition, the municipal officers, upon notice from the CEO, are hereby authorized and directed to institute any and all actions and proceedings, either legal or equitable, including seeking injunctions of violations and the imposition of fines, that may be appropriate or necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter in the name of the Town. The municipal officers, or their authorized agent, are hereby authorized to enter into administrative consent agreements for the purpose of eliminating violations of this ordinance and recovering fines without court action. Such agreements shall not allow an illegal structure or use to continue unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the illegal structure or use was constructed or conducted as a direct result of erroneous advice given by an authorized municipal official and there is no evidence that the owner acted in bad faith, or unless the removal of the structure or use will result in a threat or hazard to public health and safety or will result in substantial environmental damage.

The purpose of a performance guarantee is to assure that the land use or activity proposed by the applicant and approved by the review authority, including all of the improvements proposed in the application, whether in narrative, report, or development plan form, are completed as proposed.

At the time of approval of an application for a land use permit, the review authority may require the applicant to give to the Town a performance guarantee. If a performance guarantee is required, the review authority shall require the applicant to submit the proposed performance guarantee to the Board of Selectmen for review and approval of its form, content and amount. The Board of Selectmen may seek the advice of the Municipal Engineer and/or Town Attorney, in its review. The review authority shall not make a final decision on any application requiring a performance guarantee, until said guarantee is approved by the Board of Selectmen. Submission of an approved performance guarantee shall not be made as a condition of any approval.

The performance guarantee may be either a certified check payable to the Town, an irrevocable letter of credit from a lending institution, or a performance bond payable to the Town issued by a surety company. The performance guarantee must be in an amount adequate to cover the total costs of all required improvements, taking into account the time span of the guarantee and the effects of inflation upon costs.

During the construction period and prior to the release of any part of or the entire performance guarantee, the review authority shall employ an engineer, at the expense of the applicant, to inspect and certify that the improvements meet or exceed the design and construction requirements for that portion of the improvements for which the release is requested. The Review Authority shall follow the procedures set forth in § 148-27 of the Alfred Subdivision Regulations for scheduling such inspections, and obtaining funds from the applicant to reimburse the Town's consulting engineer. Any interest accumulated on an escrow account must be returned with any money owed by the Town to the developer after it has been determined that the proposed improvements meet all design and construction requirements.

If the review authority finds, upon inspection of the improvements performed before release of the guarantee, that any of the required improvements have not been constructed in accordance with plans and specifications filed by the applicant, the review authority must so report to the Board of Selectmen. The Town must then notify the applicant, and, if necessary, the bonding company or lending institution, and take all necessary steps to preserve the Town's rights under the guarantee.

The municipal officers must annually set the amount of all fees not otherwise specified in this chapter.

If the review authority requires the employment of one or more independent engineering, planning, or other technical consultants pursuant to the requirements of this chapter, an estimate of the cost of the services shall be obtained and presented to the applicant. The estimated costs of such studies shall be deposited with the Town Treasurer in a special escrow account prior to their undertaking. If the balance in the special escrow account is drawn down by 75%, the review authority shall notify the applicant and require that the balance be brought back up to the amount of the original deposit. Any balance in the special escrow account remaining after a final decision on the application shall be returned to the applicant.