The board of appeals for the town is established pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2691.

(T.M. of 11-2-82; T.M. of 6-26-85; T.M. of 11-23-85; T.M. of 11-4-86; T.M. of 4-21-87; T.M. of 3-19-88; T.M. of 12-20-89, (§ 507.1))

Cross reference— Appeals regarding site review to the board of appeals, § 33-82.

(a)

The board of appeals shall consist of five members and two associate members appointed by the board of selectmen serving staggered terms of three years. The board shall elect annually a chairman and secretary from its membership. The secretary shall provide for the keeping and maintaining of a permanent record of all board meetings of the board of appeals and shall show the vote of each member upon each question. All records of the board of appeals shall be a public record. A quorum shall consist of three members. All decisions shall be by a simple majority vote, except as noted in section 45-49(a).

(b)

A municipal officer or spouse thereof shall not serve as a member.

(c)

Any question of whether a particular issue involves a conflict of interest sufficient to disqualify a member from voting thereon shall be decided by a majority vote of the members except the member who is being challenged.

(d)

A member of the board of appeals may be dismissed for cause by the board of selectmen before the expiration of his term.

(e)

The chairman shall designate the associate member to serve in the place of an absent member.

(T.M. of 11-2-82; T.M. of 6-26-85; T.M. of 11-23-85; T.M. of 11-4-86; T.M. of 4-21-87; T.M. of 3-19-88; T.M. of 12-20-89, (§ 507.2))

The board of appeals shall adopt rules necessary to conduct of its affairs and in keeping with the provisions of this chapter. Meetings shall be held at the call of the chairman and at such other times as the board may determine. The chairman, or in his absence, the acting chairman, may administer oaths and request the attendance of witnesses. All meetings shall be open to the public. The board shall keep minutes of its proceedings showing the vote of each member upon each question or of absence or failure to vote and shall keep records of its examinations and other official actions all of which shall be a public record and be immediately filed in the offices of the board.

(T.M. of 11-2-82; T.M. of 6-26-85; T.M. of 11-23-85; T.M. of 11-4-86; T.M. of 4-21-87; T.M. of 3-19-88; T.M. of 12-20-89, (§ 507.3))

(a)

Administrative appeals. The board of appeals shall hear and decide where an aggrieved person or party alleges error in any permit, order, requirement, determination, or other action by the planning board or code enforcement officer. The board of appeals may modify or reverse action of the planning board or code enforcement officer by a concurring vote of at least three members, only upon a finding that the decision is clearly contrary to specific provisions of this chapter.

(b)

Variance appeals. The board of appeals shall hear and decide cases involving the relaxation of regulations affecting height, area, size of structures, size of yards or open spaces, or other types of variance specifically provided by this chapter. A variance shall be as limited as possible to satisfy the reason for the variance. Where a party establishes that all of the defining factors and conditions for one of the following types of variances have been met, the board of appeals shall grant that variance.

(1)

A practical difficulty variance shall be granted only as provided in section 45-194.

(2)

A disability variance shall be granted only in accordance with the following rules:

a.

A disability variance shall only be granted for the installation of equipment or the construction of structures necessary for access to or egress from the dwelling (including railing, wall or roof systems necessary for the safety or effectiveness of the structure) by the person with the disability; or to allow an owner of a dwelling who resides in the dwelling and who is a person with a permanent disability to construct a place of storage and parking for a noncommercial vehicle owned by that person and no other purpose.

b.

The width and length of the place of storage and parking in subsection a. may not be larger than two times the width and length of the noncommercial vehicle. The owner shall submit proposed plans for the structure with the request for the variance.

c.

Any person with the permanent disability seeking a disability variance shall prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the person's disability is permanent. For purposes of this subsection, "disability" has the same meaning as a physical or mental disability under 5 M.R.S.A. § 4553-A. All medical records submitted to the board and any other documents submitted for the purpose of describing or verifying a person's disability are confidential.

d.

The board may impose conditions on a disability variance, including limiting the variance to the duration of the disability or to the time that the person with the disability lives in the dwelling.

(3)

A hardship variance shall be granted for any relaxation of dimensional standards not applicable to subsections (1) or (2) where a party establishes that the strict application of this chapter will cause undue hardship. The words "undue hardship" mean:

a.

That the land in question cannot yield a reasonable return unless a variance is granted;

b.

That the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general conditions in the neighborhood;

c.

That the granting of the variance will not alter the essential character of the locality; and

d.

That the hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner.

All of the above defining factors and conditions must be met for undue hardship to be demonstrated and for a hardship variance to be granted.

(4)

A hardship variance shall be granted for any establishment or change to a nonconforming use where a party establishes that the strict application of this chapter will cause undue hardship and all of the same defining standards as in paragraph (3) above are met, except that no variance may be granted for any establishment or change to a nonconforming use in a shoreland zoning district.

(T.M. of 11-2-82; T.M. of 6-26-85; T.M. of 11-23-85; T.M. of 11-4-86; T.M. of 4-21-87; T.M. of 3-19-88; T.M. of 12-20-89, (§ 507.4); T.M. of 12-15-93; T.M. of 6-8-2021(6), art. 32)

(a)

In all cases, a person or party aggrieved by a decision of the code enforcement officer or by a decision of the planning board shall file his appeal within 30 days after a decision is made. When computing the 30 days, the day of the decision shall not be counted. All Saturdays, Sundays and holidays within the period shall be counted. The last day of the period so computed shall be included unless it falls on a day that the town hall is closed for business, in which event the time period will run until the end of the next day that the town hall is open for business. The appeal shall be filed with the board of appeals on forms approved by the board, and the aggrieved person or party shall specifically set forth on the form the grounds for the appeal. The aggrieved shall bear the burden of expense incurred in providing the board of appeals with information as is reasonable for it to arrive at a decision. The town clerk is responsible for receiving, dating and distributing appeal forms.

(b)

An aggrieved person or party is:

(1)

An owner of land whose property is directly or indirectly affected by the granting or denial of a permit or administrative appeal under this chapter.

(2)

A person whose land abuts land for which a permit or appeal has been granted.

(3)

A group of five or more residents or taxpayers of the town who represent an interest adverse to the granting or denial of such permit or appeal.

Municipal officials, and members of committees, boards, and commissions shall be granted the same rights as residents or taxpayers when filing appeals.

(c)

Following the filing of an appeal with the board of appeals, and before taking action on any appeal, the board of appeals shall hold a public hearing on the appeal during their next regularly scheduled meeting or sooner at their discretion, provided sufficient time exists from the date of filing to the regularly scheduled meeting, to meet the notification requirements of subsection (a) and administration of the same. The board of appeals shall notify the code enforcement officer and the planning board, at least ten days in advance of the time and place of the hearing, and shall publish notice of the hearing at least ten days in advance in a newspaper of general circulation in the area.

(d)

The board of appeals shall notify by mail the appellant and property owners abutting the property involved at least ten days in advance of the hearing, of the nature of the appeal and of the time and place of the public hearing. Abutting property shall include properties directly across a street or waterbody from the property for which the appeal is made. A fee in the amount established by the fee schedule set in section 1-25 shall be submitted by the appellant with the application.

(e)

The owners of property shall be those against whom taxes are assessed. Failure of any property owner to receive a notice of public hearing shall not necessitate another hearing or invalidate any action by the board of appeals.

(f)

At any hearing, a party may be represented by an agent or attorney. The board of appeals shall not continue hearings to other times except for good cause. A continuation of a hearing to a time and place certain, announced at the meeting, does not require a renotification of the abutters, officials, agencies, interested parties, etc.

(g)

The code enforcement officer or his designated assistant shall attend all hearings and may present to the board of appeals all plans, photographs, or other material he deems appropriate for an understanding of the appeal.

(h)

Within 30 days of the close of the public hearing, the board of appeals shall make a decision on an appeal. Within seven days of its decision it shall notify, in writing, the appellant, the code enforcement officer, the planning board, and municipal officers of its decision and its reasons for the decision.

(i)

Upon notification of the granting of an appeal by the board of appeals, the code enforcement officer shall immediately issue a building permit in accordance with the conditions of approval, if any.

(j)

A variance under the provisions of this chapter secured by vote of the board of appeals shall expire if the work or change involved is not commenced within one year of the date on which the appeal is granted, and if the work or change is not substantially completed within two years.

(k)

Except where noted, the board of appeals shall act by affirmative vote of those present to reverse or modify any order, requirement, decision or determination of the code enforcement officer or planning board, or to decide other matters on which it is required to pass under this chapter or other ordinances. The failure of the board of appeals to reach a decision within 60 days of the filing of the appeal constitutes a denial of the appeal, unless the board has already scheduled a meeting on the appeal, under which circumstance the 60 days begins on the date of the first meeting on the appeal. Appeals from the decision of the board of appeals may be taken to the superior court as provided in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2691(3)(G).

(l)

Reconsideration. Reconsideration of board of appeals action is administered in accordance with 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2691(3)(f). (Requests must be received within ten days of the original decision and if reconsideration is accepted, the board of appeals action must be completed within 45 days of the original decision.)

(T.M. of 11-2-1982; T.M. of 6-26-1985; T.M. of 11-23-1985; T.M. of 11-4-1986; T.M. of 4-21-1987; T.M. of 3-19-1988; T.M. of 12-20-1989, (§ 507.5); T.M. of 3-27-1999, (art. 3, § 1); T.M. of 3-23-2002, (art. 50); T.M. of 11-4-2003; T.M. of 11-8-2005; T.M. of 6-8-2021(6), art. 32)

State Law reference— Procedure for board of appeal reconsideration, 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2691(3)(F); variance, 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4353.