Camden City Zoning Code
ARTICLE XIV
Regulation of Private Ways
§ 290-14.1 Purpose and applicability.
The purpose of the regulation of private ways is to control the development, construction or use of private ways providing vehicular access to a lot or a principal use in such a manner as to avoid safety hazards and undue burdens on municipal services, including emergency vehicle accessibility. In order to accomplish that purpose, this article shall apply to the following activities:
A.
The development, construction, or use of a private way constructed after June 9, 1998, which has a length of more than 500 feet, for the purpose of vehicular access to a lot of land or a principal use on a lot or to meet the frontage requirements in this chapter; and
B.
The extension of or addition to a private way constructed on or before June 9, 1998, which provides vehicular access to serve additional lots or additional principal uses which were not served by the existing private way, in combination with an existing private way, which is more than 500 feet in length (such length shall be measured from the terminus of the portion of an existing private way which meets the approval criteria set forth in this chapter in Article XIV, § 290-14.4, or, in the event that no portion of the existing private way meets those approval criteria, then such length shall be measured from a Town road or approved subdivision right-of-way which does meet the approval criteria set forth in that section of this chapter).
§ 290-14.2 Application.
For private ways within the scope of § 290-14.1A and B above, no private way shall be developed, constructed, or used after June 9, 1998, and no private way constructed prior to June 9, 1998, shall be extended to serve additional lots or principal uses until a permit for that private way has been approved by the Planning Board and the permit issued for that purpose.
A.
A complete application for approval of a private way shall be submitted at least 15 days prior to the Planning Board meeting at which the applicant wishes to be heard. Within 30 days after the date on which the application for approval of a private way first appears on the Planning Board agenda, the Planning Board shall act to approve, approve with conditions, or disapprove the application for the permit. During this thirty-day period, the Board may schedule an on-site visit.
B.
An application for a permit for a private way shall contain, at least, the following information:
(1)
Applicant's name and address;
(2)
Name and addresses of all abutting lot owners served by the private way;
(3)
A plan prepared by a registered land surveyor, which shall delineate the existing and the proposed private way and each of the lots to be served by the private way, and that plan shall be labeled "Plan of a Private Way";
(a)
The plan shall bear a note that the Town of Camden shall not be responsible for the maintenance, repair, plowing or sanding of the private way and that further lot divisions utilizing the private way are prohibited without the prior approval of the Planning Board.
(b)
The plan shall show the intersection of the private way with any public way or Town road and the sight distances from that intersection on both approaches to the private way from the public way or Town road.
(4)
A maintenance agreement shall be submitted with the application, and that maintenance agreement shall specify, in writing, the rights and responsibilities of each lot owner with respect to maintenance, repair, plowing and sanding of the private way, except as stated otherwise in § 290-14.4I of this article;
(5)
A stormwater drainage and erosion control plan prepared by an engineer or landscape architect registered in the State of Maine, showing:
(a)
The proposed method of handling stormwater runoff;
(b)
The direction or flow of run off through the use of arrows; and
(c)
The location of drainage ditches, swales, retention basins, and other features designed to regulate or control drainage.
(6)
The applicant shall submit such further information as the Planning Board may require in circumstances in which the Planning Board determines that, due to the scale, nature of the proposed private way, or the impact of the private way on safety considerations, such information is necessary to ensure compliance with the intent and purposes of this article of this chapter.
§ 290-14.3 Waiver of submission requirements.
The Planning Board may modify or waive any of the submission requirements or application requirements when it determines that, because of the size of the project or circumstances of the proposed private way, such requirements would not be applicable or would be an unnecessary burden on the applicant and that such modification or waiver would not adversely affect the safety of the private way, or unduly increase the burden on municipal services, or defeat the purposes of this article.
§ 290-14.4 Approval criteria.
The following criteria shall be used by the Planning Board in approving applications for a private way and shall serve as minimum requirements for the approval of the issuance of such a permit for a private way. In all instances, the burden of proof shall be on the applicant to demonstrate that the criteria have been met. The Planning Board shall issue a permit for the private way when all of the following criteria are met:
A.
A turnout to provide space for two vehicles to pass, measuring a minimum of 10 feet wide by 50 feet long, shall be provided for every 500 feet of a private way. For a diagram of § 290-14.4A, see Schedule A attached to this chapter and incorporated by reference herein.
B.
The private way shall establish and maintain a minimum of 14 feet of vertical clearance.
C.
The private way shall be designed so that the private way shall not be subject to seasonal flooding or washout and the Planning Board may require, as a condition of approval, drainage ditches and culverts to meet these criteria.
D.
The intersection of a private way with a public way or Town road shall not present a safety hazard, and there shall be sufficient sight distance from that intersection in both directions along the public way or Town road.
E.
The intersection of the private way with driveways and the steepness of the private way shall not cause a hazard to pedestrian or vehicular traffic.
F.
The maintenance agreement submitted by the applicant shall adequately specify the rights and responsibilities of each lot owner with respect to maintenance, repair, plowing and sanding of the private way so that the private way is properly maintained and repaired.
G.
Dead ends in a private way of more than 500 feet in length shall have a solid, paved circle with a minimum radius of 40 feet, or a turnaround that is a minimum of 20 feet wide and 40 feet deep and located at least 40 feet and no more than 60 feet from the dead end. For a diagram in connection with this approval criteria, see Schedule A attached to this chapter and incorporated by reference into this chapter.
H.
The proposed private way, as depicted on the survey plan, shall provide for safe access to and egress from driveways to the private way and from the private way to the public way or Town road and shall meet the following minimum construction standards:
(1)
Minimum roadway width: 10 feet.
(2)
Minimum width of right-of-way: 30 feet.
(3)
Minimum subbase (six-inch minus): 12 inches.
(4)
Minimum wearing surface (one-inch minus): two inches.
(5)
Maximum grade: 10%.
(6)
Minimum grade: 0.5%.
I.
For an application for the extension or addition to an existing private way constructed on or before June 9, 1998, the Board shall not require that the existing portion of the private way meet the approval criteria set forth above or that the applicant submit a maintenance agreement for lot owners served prior to that date by the existing private way, but the Board can disapprove a permit for such extension or addition to that, private way on grounds that the existing portion of the private way does not meet the criteria above, or the Board may add as a condition of the Board's approval a requirement of compliance of that existing private way with the criteria set forth above.
§ 290-14.5 Expiration of approval.
The approval of the issuance of a permit for the construction and use of a private way within the provisions of this article of this chapter shall expire after a period of 24 months after the date of approval if the private way has not been completed and the use of that private way commenced.
§ 290-14.6 Recording plan.
The survey plan delineating the proposed private way, including any conditions required for approval by the Planning Board, shall be recorded in the Knox County Registry of Deeds within 90 days of the date of approval by the Planning Board. If the survey plan is not recorded within this time period, the approval shall be null and void.
§ 290-14.7 Appeal.
A.
An appeal from a decision of the Planning Board concerning a permit for a private way may be filed by an aggrieved party with the Zoning Board of Appeals. Such an appeal shall be filed no more than 15 days after the date of the mailing of the written decision of the Planning Board to the applicant. The Zoning Board of Appeals shall have no authority to decide any appeal that is not filed within that fifteen-day period.
B.
A decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals concerning an appeal of a decision of the Planning Board shall be appealable to Superior Court within 45 days after that decision as provided by Title 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2691, as the same shall be amended from time to time.
§ 290-14.8 Definition of private way.
For purposes of Article XIV only, a "private way" shall mean a right-of-way used for vehicular access from a public way or a Town road to a lot or a principal use on a lot in the event that the right-of -way used for that vehicular access is more than 500 feet in length, or for an extension of existing private way with a length of more than 500 feet, with the length measured as set forth in Article XIV, § 290-14.1B. Private ways constructed and used after June 9, 1998, shall meet the requirements of Article XIV (as amended) of this chapter.