By Emily Patrick
At the first Planning Board meeting of 2025, present were Greenville’s Planning Board members, two town residents, Town Manager Mike Roy, Code Enforcement Officer Ronald Sarol, and myself- representing the Moosehead Lakeshore Journal.
Chair John Contreni opened the meeting and the board members promptly and unanimously approved two previous meetings’ minutes.
CEO Ron Sarol gave his report. He’s been working on 911 addressing and other routine tasks. He has also been researching other towns’ Land Use Ordinances to craft several revisions or additions to our town’s ordinances. Only two permits have been approved in the past month: one was for tree cutting and one was for a shed at Kineo View Hotel. Sarol says it’s been a “pretty slow” month for permits. The Town made $18,000 in 2024 for permit fees from a total of 110 permits. This number is surprisingly down from 153 in the previous year, but this can be explained by more vendor permits being issued the previous year. Chair John Contreni requested the permit report be listed on the website and the CEO said he will upload it to the site soon.
Though there were no action items this evening, the Planning Board had plenty to discuss. Ron brought up potential amendments to our Land Use Ordinance Setback Requirements. From looking at other towns’ ordinances regarding setback variances, Sarol suggested the following guidelines for Greenville: Reduced setbacks to apply in the Village and Residential Zones only. This applies to properties created prior to the Land Use Ordinance being established. It only applies to properties one-quarter acre or less. Setbacks can be reduced to 5’ with a variance from code enforcement officer for certain structures (garages, sheds). They can be reduced by CEO to 10’ for primary dwellings, and 0’ for dwellings that have a shared wall (i.e., duplexes). Reduced setbacks must demonstrate no harm to neighbors or public interest.
One resident, attending the meeting by Zoom, asked Ron about the need for this ordinance. He said there are many lots in Town, including on Maple Street, that were created so long ago and are so small by today’s standards that they are difficult to build on with our current 15’ setback ordinance. This proposed revision will have to go before the Town and the Selectmen. Another resident asked how many lots in Town this may impact, and though Ron didn’t have a number, he said many lots subdivided closer to the incorporation of Town, like those in the old Mill area, meet this requirement. The Planning Board expressed no changes or concerns, and asked Ron to finalize this proposed revision to bring before the Selectboard.
The Board moved on to two documents brought up last month. The first was a proposed ordinance from Dover-Foxcroft regarding abandoned and vacant properties to serve as a guideline for a new Greenville ordinance. Board member David Case had several questions. He was wondering if pre-existing abandoned properties will be “grandfathered in” to the ordinance, because if not, it will do nothing for abandoned properties we currently have.
Ron says this is intended for homes that are in disrepair and potentially can cause harm or danger to others. He further explains this came up because of numerous phone calls from concerned citizens that kids were going into abandoned buildings and could get hurt. Brent Ireland expressed concern this would force property owners of vacant buildings to do something with buildings they have no use for. Other board members expressed it was more geared towards vacant buildings that are in disrepair and to find out who owns these abandoned properties to make sure they are up to code. Case worries this new ordinance will get some pushback from people who have to get permits, perform maintenance, etc., when they never had to in the past. Contreni said it may entice owners to sell properties they have no need for and this could be a good thing, as there is a shortage of long-term housing in Greenville. Case suggested a census to see where we are at.
Mike Roy suggested a definition of vacant. Lurline Arco asked if Ron had a number of vacant properties that taxes weren’t being paid on. He suggested that was a question for the Town Clerk. In the end, Ron is going to continue researching and crafting an ordinance that works for our Town.
The final document Ron asked the Planning Board to look at involves enforcement of Town ordinances. The model provided to the planning board came from Maine State Statutes. Ron says there needs to be some sort of fee schedule or recourse for noncompliance. Currently the Town has none. In the past, Ron contacts the homeowners and sends out certified letters notifying the homeowner of the violation, but we have no set procedure for violations at this time. Typically, citizens will comply, but sometimes, they don’t, and our officials now see the need for some way to enforce our ordinances that has some “teeth.”
The Town still needs to decide a timeline for compliance, next steps to take, how much to charge in fines for what violations. John Contreni pointed out we don’t have anything in our Land Use Ordinance about enforcement, which is ironic because we have a Code Enforcement Officer. The unanimous consensus of the Planning Board was for Ron to continue to craft this ordinance, and Case compared Sarol to a Police Officer with no badge. This enforcement ordinance should be crafted before the Annual Town Meeting when it could be adopted.
Members did inquire about the now-vacant building that was the home of Gabriel’s Bookstore for many years. Ron said there has been no sale yet. After no new business was reported and the agenda for the next meeting was discussed (including the new Spruce Street Development), the meeting was adjourned.