Bucksport City Zoning Code
ARTICLE II
Administration and Enforcement
§ 100-7 Administration.
This chapter shall be administered by the Planning Board. The Code Enforcement Officer shall provide administrative support to the Planning Board and shall serve as the first contact for all applicants seeking land use approval from the Town.
The Planning Board shall review all land use applications subject to Planning Board approval in accordance with the applicable requirements of Article VI.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall review all land use applications subject to Code Enforcement Officer approval in accordance with the applicable requirements of Article VI.
Public notice must be given for any public hearing required by this chapter. The Code Enforcement Officer shall be responsible for complying with the following public hearing notice requirement:
Notice for any hearing pertaining to an application review must be posted at the Town office and must be published one time in a weekly or daily newspaper with general circulation in the Town. The date of the posting and publication of the notice may be no less than seven days before the date of the hearing.
Notice for any hearing pertaining to an application review must be given to the applicant, the municipal officers, the Town Manager, the Town Clerk, the Public Works, Wastewater Treatment and Public Safety Departments, and the public water service provider if public water will be utilized. The date of notification must be no less than seven days before the date of the hearing. For the purposes of documenting notification requirements, the date of notification is considered to be the date of posting at the Town office or the postmark date of a notice delivered by U.S. mail.
Notice for any hearing pertaining to contract zoning must be given in accordance with the notice requirements in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4352, Subdivision 8.
Notice for any hearing pertaining to the adoption or amendment of a zoning ordinance or zoning map must be given in accordance with the notice requirements in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4352, Subdivision 9.
The Town Clerk shall keep a certified copy of this chapter. Any member of the public may have access to this chapter and obtain copies for a reasonable fee. Notice of availability of this chapter must be posted at the Town office.
§ 100-8 Waivers and special exceptions.
The reviewing authority may grant a waiver of any specific requirement of this chapter, provided that:
No waiver has the effect of nullifying the intent and purpose of the Comprehensive Plan and this chapter;
Extraordinary and unnecessary hardships may result from strict compliance with the requirement or there are special circumstances of a particular plan; and
The health, safety and welfare of the public are protected.
The reviewing authority may set conditions to any granted waiver as necessary to protect the purposes of this chapter.
The permit for an approved land use must include a description of any granted waiver and its date of approval.
The Planning Board may grant a special exception to allow a one-family residential use in the RPO District, subject to compliance with the applicable standards in this chapter, except the shoreline setback requirements in § 100-61G, and subject to compliance with the following conditions:
There is no location on the property, other than a location within the RPO District, where the residential use can be located.
The proposed residential use will be located on an undeveloped property, except as provided for in § 100-8E(3) below.
If the proposed residential use is one or more accessory structures, the structures will be located on a property that is currently developed with a one-family dwelling permitted in accordance with the requirements of § 100-8E.
If the proposed residential use includes a principal structure, the structure will not be a mobile home.
The lot on which the proposed residential use will be located was established and recorded in the Hancock County Registry of Deeds before the adoption of the Resource Protection Shoreland Overlay District governing use of the property.
All proposed buildings, sewage disposal systems and other improvements will be on natural ground slopes of less than 20% and outside the floodway of the 100-year floodplain delineated on the Town of Bucksport Flood Insurance Rate Maps, as adopted.
All proposed buildings, including basements, that are located in a 100-year floodplain delineated on the Town of Bucksport Flood Insurance Rate Maps will be elevated at least one foot above the 100-year floodplain elevation and the development will be in compliance with Chapter 64, Floodplain Management.
The total ground-floor area of all principal and accessory structures, including any cantilevered or similar overhanging extensions, which are located in the RPO District on the property will be limited to a maximum of 1,500 square feet. This limitation may not be altered by variance.
All structures, except functionally water-dependent structures, will be set back from the shoreline to the greatest practical extent, but not less than 75 feet. In determining the greatest practical extent, consideration must be given to the depth of the lot, the slope of the land, the potential for soil erosion, the type and amount of vegetation to be removed, the proposed building site elevation in regard to the floodplain, and its proximity to moderate-value and high-value wetlands.
§ 100-9 Appeals.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II)]
An administrative appeal may be taken to the Bucksport Board of Appeals in accordance with the requirements of the Bucksport Town Code, Chapter 23, Article VI. An appeal application must be filed at the Town office within 30 days of the date of the decision, action, or nonaction of the Planning Board or Code Enforcement Officer that is being appealed.
A variance appeal may be taken to the Bucksport Board of Appeals in accordance with the requirements of the Bucksport Town Code, Chapter 23, Article VI. When a variance is required to meet an application review requirement, an appeal application must be filed at the Town office within 30 days of the date that the reviewing authority determines that a variance is required. Failure to file an appeal application within the required time period is cause for denial of the application subject to review.
In any shoreland district, a variance may only be granted from a dimensional requirement, including, but not limited to, lot width, structure height, percent of lot coverage and setback requirements.
A variance may not be granted for a use that is otherwise prohibited by this chapter, nor may a variance be granted that would modify or nullify any limitation or restriction identified in § 100-18, Tables of Land Uses.
Structures not in compliance.
Structures that do not comply with one or more dimensional standards may be permitted by the Code Enforcement Officer without a variance from the Board of Appeals, subject to the following conditions:
The permit must be issued to the property owner for the purpose of making a dwelling accessible to a person with a disability who resides in or regularly uses the dwelling; and
The structures making a dwelling accessible are limited to ramps and associated railings, walls or roof systems necessary for the safety or effectiveness of the access to or egress from the dwelling for the person with the disability.
A copy of the permit application, and all supporting information supplied by the applicant, must be forwarded by the municipal officials to the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection at least 20 days prior to action by the Code Enforcement Officer. Any comments received from the Commissioner prior to the action by the Code Enforcement Officer shall be made part of the record and shall be taken into consideration by the Code Enforcement Officer.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall state the reasons and basis for the decision, including a statement of the facts found and conclusions reached. The Code Enforcement Officer shall cause written notice of the decision to be mailed or hand-delivered to the applicant and to the Department of Environmental Protection within seven days of the decision.
The Code Enforcement Officer may impose conditions on the permit, including limiting the permit to the duration of the disability or to the time that the person with the disability lives in the dwelling.
§ 100-10 Enforcement.
The Code Enforcement Officer shall enforce the provisions of this chapter and shall conduct on-site inspections to verify compliance with all applicable rules, regulations, ordinances, laws and conditions attached to permit approvals. Upon identification of a violation of any provision of this chapter, the Code Enforcement Officer shall notify, in writing, the person responsible for such violation. The notice must indicate the nature of the violation and the action necessary to correct it, including discontinuance of the illegal use of land, buildings or structures, or work being done; removal of illegal buildings or structures; and abatement of nuisance conditions. A copy of all such notices must be maintained as a permanent record in the code enforcement office.
When the above action does not result in the correction or abatement of the violation or nuisance condition, the municipal officers, upon notice from the Code Enforcement Officer, shall determine the appropriate actions and proceedings that may be necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter in the name of the municipality.
The municipal officers, or their authorized agent, are hereby authorized to enter into administrative consent agreements for the purpose of eliminating violations of this chapter and recovering fines without court action. Such agreements may 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.
Any person, including but not limited to a landowner, a landowner's agent or a contractor, who violates any provision or requirement of this chapter has caused a nuisance and must be penalized in accordance with Title 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4452.