The following comments are somewhat different than what I wrote only because I kept running into Lincoln's PLEASE TYPE A SHORTER COMMENT. so I broke up my long comment and edited it somewhat and sent it in several comments to get around the Please type a shorter comment . Please try to follow what I have tried to write. It's in sections. But remember that nothing works without enforcement.
"The double whammy in two days this next week calls out what many on the island have known for decades - that Southwest Harbor has the weakest zoning code and enforcement. Some have said the town essentially has no zoning. Indeed, most of the town outside of the downtown has no distinction between residential and commercial uses. “
Whomever wrote that doesn’t have a clue. That SWH has the weakest zoning code and enforcement? WOW, that’s quite an indictment of our LUO and shows remarkable cluelessness! It’s NOT ZONING so don’t call it that! We do have zones but they are regulated by the PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
Lincoln, I tried to drum that into you several times. Do you still not get it? Zones yes, but no zoning!
Now if enforcement is an issue then don’t blame it on the LUO. I’d love to know who said that SWH has essentially no zoning. Correct, we don’t have zoning, just zones, big difference!
There is no distinction between residential and commercial. That’s true and was a prime directive of 7 of us in 1986-87 when we didn’t lose sight of the history of SWH that was, and still is, a mix. We allowed the mix to continue.
So please don’t knock a very well written LUO that protects each and every owner of property in SWH if, and it’s a big IF, the regulations are followed.
Last thing if I may comment on the Zoom I listened to and watched last week.
The appeals board has the language of the LUO to do their jobs. It’s clear and straightforward. You are the local rule. So do it and don’t let lawyers run you ragged. Does 72 CPR meet the four provisions needed to get an appeal? You, the appeals board have to enforce the LUO’s language and the permitting process and follow those provisions. That second permit didn’t meet the LUO! I believe that you have no choice but to deny the permit in question. Simple home rule and knowing the LUO cold! And your own ordinance as well. Everything you need is there.
The following is copied from the article I am responding to.
CEO’s reply here. Moreover, the code officer has complained that the land-use ordinance is poorly written and handicaps him when he attempts to enforce it. He pointed out that the code does not define the word “use.” My reply is that I would suggest that maybe it’s poorly read? Sorry, but I am very protective of the LUO if I am to be honest.
If that’s not happening then it's not the LUO that's the problem, it’s the enforcement of the LUO by………..maybe a very overworked CEO. Is that the bigger issue? The CEO needs help?
One only has to look at what’s happened on Harbor Avenue to see what NOT following the LUO has created. The LUO works if one works it. Period. The Planning Board has the CEO’s back if he wants to use them. There is language in the LUO to that effect for the CEO.
I was the chair of the Planning Board when we developed the first LUO of SWH. I am bothered by what appears to be some, or a lot, of confusion and misunderstanding about SWH’s LUO and I need to speak up. There’s a history lesson here I feel obligated to share for those who don’t understand the LUO.
HISTORY: SWH, before the LUO, was a “build anything you want anywhere you want kinda town" and that had worked reasonably well for years for the then predominantly working class town.
A first try at a traditional zoning plan failed. The reason was that the locals didn’t like the idea that there were lots of “you can’t do this on your property”.
The day after the defeat the town manager said, “What did you learn? Do it again!”
We came up with a LUO that said you can do anything you want on your property but you have to meet performance standards to do it. That flew and was voted in at the 1988 town meeting.
Things changed over time as one would expect and the LUO was streamlined. BUT it didn’t lose that “anything, anywhere” mix that makes our LUO so viable for our town.
So just why am I informing you the reader all of this?
Well it’s because you need a history lesson, you need to know that the LUO is STILL a “build anything anywhere” town. Permits just have to simply meet the performance standards.
If SWH is to even remotely try to continue to be a “working” community that the LUO was designed to protect then the MIX needs to continue.
I think that the CEO hasn’t figured out that is what he is supposed to protect as well. Sorry to take a shot at him but maybe he needs to understand SWH’s history?
The following is copied from the article I am responding to.
CEO’s reply here. "Moreover, the code officer has complained that the land-use ordinance is poorly written and handicaps him when he attempts to enforce it. He pointed out that the code does not define the word “use.”
I would suggest that maybe it’s poorly read?
If that’s not happening then it's not the LUO that's the problem, it’s the enforcement of the LUO by………..maybe a very overworked CEO. Is that the bigger issue? The CEO needs help?
One only has to look at what’s happened on Harbor Avenue to see what NOT following the LUO has created. The LUO works if one works it. Period. The Planning Board has the CEO’s back if he wants to use them. There is language in the LUO to that effect for the CEO.
The performance standards continue to protect neighbors and neighborhoods from changing SWH into something we don't recognize. Why have you moved to SWH? Then don't mess with something that works well to keep SWH as a viable community.
What’s on 72 Clark Point Road is a non-conforming building.
I might not like what’s being built but if it meets the performance standards it HAS to be allowed. Period. The LUO shouldn’t ever be a popularity contest or a good ol’ boy system.
I believe Our LUO works if you know the history of SWH and why the LUO was developed the way it was. The codes are there. Use them!
The following comments are somewhat different than what I wrote only because I kept running into Lincoln's PLEASE TYPE A SHORTER COMMENT. so I broke up my long comment and edited it somewhat and sent it in several comments to get around the Please type a shorter comment . Please try to follow what I have tried to write. It's in sections. But remember that nothing works without enforcement.
This is a quote from the article I just read.
"The double whammy in two days this next week calls out what many on the island have known for decades - that Southwest Harbor has the weakest zoning code and enforcement. Some have said the town essentially has no zoning. Indeed, most of the town outside of the downtown has no distinction between residential and commercial uses. “
Whomever wrote that doesn’t have a clue. That SWH has the weakest zoning code and enforcement? WOW, that’s quite an indictment of our LUO and shows remarkable cluelessness! It’s NOT ZONING so don’t call it that! We do have zones but they are regulated by the PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.
Lincoln, I tried to drum that into you several times. Do you still not get it? Zones yes, but no zoning!
Now if enforcement is an issue then don’t blame it on the LUO. I’d love to know who said that SWH has essentially no zoning. Correct, we don’t have zoning, just zones, big difference!
There is no distinction between residential and commercial. That’s true and was a prime directive of 7 of us in 1986-87 when we didn’t lose sight of the history of SWH that was, and still is, a mix. We allowed the mix to continue.
So please don’t knock a very well written LUO that protects each and every owner of property in SWH if, and it’s a big IF, the regulations are followed.
Last thing if I may comment on the Zoom I listened to and watched last week.
The appeals board has the language of the LUO to do their jobs. It’s clear and straightforward. You are the local rule. So do it and don’t let lawyers run you ragged. Does 72 CPR meet the four provisions needed to get an appeal? You, the appeals board have to enforce the LUO’s language and the permitting process and follow those provisions. That second permit didn’t meet the LUO! I believe that you have no choice but to deny the permit in question. Simple home rule and knowing the LUO cold! And your own ordinance as well. Everything you need is there.
With concern, Dalen Mills
The following is copied from the article I am responding to.
CEO’s reply here. Moreover, the code officer has complained that the land-use ordinance is poorly written and handicaps him when he attempts to enforce it. He pointed out that the code does not define the word “use.” My reply is that I would suggest that maybe it’s poorly read? Sorry, but I am very protective of the LUO if I am to be honest.
If that’s not happening then it's not the LUO that's the problem, it’s the enforcement of the LUO by………..maybe a very overworked CEO. Is that the bigger issue? The CEO needs help?
One only has to look at what’s happened on Harbor Avenue to see what NOT following the LUO has created. The LUO works if one works it. Period. The Planning Board has the CEO’s back if he wants to use them. There is language in the LUO to that effect for the CEO.
I was the chair of the Planning Board when we developed the first LUO of SWH. I am bothered by what appears to be some, or a lot, of confusion and misunderstanding about SWH’s LUO and I need to speak up. There’s a history lesson here I feel obligated to share for those who don’t understand the LUO.
HISTORY: SWH, before the LUO, was a “build anything you want anywhere you want kinda town" and that had worked reasonably well for years for the then predominantly working class town.
A first try at a traditional zoning plan failed. The reason was that the locals didn’t like the idea that there were lots of “you can’t do this on your property”.
The day after the defeat the town manager said, “What did you learn? Do it again!”
We came up with a LUO that said you can do anything you want on your property but you have to meet performance standards to do it. That flew and was voted in at the 1988 town meeting.
Things changed over time as one would expect and the LUO was streamlined. BUT it didn’t lose that “anything, anywhere” mix that makes our LUO so viable for our town.
So just why am I informing you the reader all of this?
Well it’s because you need a history lesson, you need to know that the LUO is STILL a “build anything anywhere” town. Permits just have to simply meet the performance standards.
If SWH is to even remotely try to continue to be a “working” community that the LUO was designed to protect then the MIX needs to continue.
I think that the CEO hasn’t figured out that is what he is supposed to protect as well. Sorry to take a shot at him but maybe he needs to understand SWH’s history?
The following is copied from the article I am responding to.
CEO’s reply here. "Moreover, the code officer has complained that the land-use ordinance is poorly written and handicaps him when he attempts to enforce it. He pointed out that the code does not define the word “use.”
I would suggest that maybe it’s poorly read?
If that’s not happening then it's not the LUO that's the problem, it’s the enforcement of the LUO by………..maybe a very overworked CEO. Is that the bigger issue? The CEO needs help?
One only has to look at what’s happened on Harbor Avenue to see what NOT following the LUO has created. The LUO works if one works it. Period. The Planning Board has the CEO’s back if he wants to use them. There is language in the LUO to that effect for the CEO.
The performance standards continue to protect neighbors and neighborhoods from changing SWH into something we don't recognize. Why have you moved to SWH? Then don't mess with something that works well to keep SWH as a viable community.
What’s on 72 Clark Point Road is a non-conforming building.
I might not like what’s being built but if it meets the performance standards it HAS to be allowed. Period. The LUO shouldn’t ever be a popularity contest or a good ol’ boy system.
I believe Our LUO works if you know the history of SWH and why the LUO was developed the way it was. The codes are there. Use them!