By Wayne E. Rivet
Employees author
Stark Storage has seen the sunshine, at the least for now.
After a gathering final week, the Bridgton Choose Board unanimously voted to file a lawsuit in opposition to the storage firm, which had violated a situation of approval by putting in a business signal that makes use of inner lighting as a substitute of the accepted exterior lighting.
On March 16, 2021, the Bridgton Planning Board accepted the development of the storage facility at 116 North Excessive Road, throughout from Mountain Street, with some situations hooked up, together with using exterior lights to light up the street signal.
Town put the brakes on in search of authorized motion Monday when Stark agreed to take away the bulbs from the signal inside a number of days, based on Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Day.
Stark, who’s represented by Dustin Roma of DM Roma Consulting Engineers of Windham, plans to return to the planning board to request the sunshine situations be lifted.
They’re previous the timeframe to enchantment the unique Planning Board software approval, Day mentioned, however they might enter a brand new 30-day enchantment interval with the modification (request).
The storage facility is owned by Keith Harnum of Salisbury, Mass., based on the Planning Board’s Findings of Reality and Conclusions of Regulation.
Roma spoke briefly to the Choose Committee final Tuesday after officers voted to hunt authorized options to the lighting challenge. He famous that the present signal is similar to 1 on the Windham warehouse. Roma identified that the signal put in right here is permitted within the mixed-use hall district, and the enterprise objected to the planning board’s resolution to require an externally illuminated signal.
The Board positioned this situation on the approval of an externally illuminated signal so as to protect the character of the wooded and pure darkish hall, and to not detract from neighboring properties and the world. At the moment, there are not any internally illuminated indicators on this mixed-use district hall, and including one was deemed intrusive, based on the Planning Board’s Funding of Information.
Planners additionally famous that the applicant, Stark Storage, had beforehand voluntarily agreed to make use of an externally illuminated signal on February 4, 2021, and subsequently reversed it in an e mail on February 13, citing upkeep considerations.
Planners claimed on February 24 that upkeep could possibly be largely averted by sure design options, equivalent to how the lighting is mounted.
Close by enterprise indicators (Sportshaus and the brand new Nice Mountain Ski Resort) use exterior lighting.
On this case, we don’t perceive how any of our neighbors are allowed to construct the precise signal we’ve got put up. The one place prohibited for an internally illuminated signal is the village, Roma mentioned. The one clarification we’ve got gotten from the code workplace is that it’s due to the situation set by the planning board. We perceive that these situations had been placed on the plan, however we do not really feel that the planning board has the power to simply single us out as one property proprietor and say you’ll be able to’t have an inner lighted signal. I simply need you to grasp that we did not simply do that out of full spite. We introduced our case and thus far nobody has instructed us that they didn’t adjust to the order. It was only a situation that the Planning Board imposed, which ought to by no means have been placed on the plan. That is how we bought to the place we’re.
Bridgton City Supervisor Robert Peabody instructed Roma that choose board members wouldn’t touch upon his remarks attributable to pending litigation.
Honest sufficient, Roma replied.
Nonetheless, native developer Mark Lopez weighed in on the matter. Noting that he’s very acquainted with the applying course of, since he additionally proposed to construct a storage facility within the open space subsequent to the Sportshaus, Lopez mentioned that I had the identical situation on my plan. The signal needed to be illuminated from the skin. Sir. Roma is aware of effectively that you need to meet the situations; you’ll be able to’t simply say effectively we do not need to do it as a result of it is not in your signal ordinance; it is a part of going by the method; you’ll be able to negotiate with the Planning Board; they make some concessions.
Lopez added that if Stark Storage did not just like the state of the planning board, they’d an choice to enchantment at that time, not go in and put the join, ignore the discover from the code officer, after which come right here and say we did not do it as a result of it’s not said within the signal order. They know higher, in the event that they did not just like the situations they need to have come again with an enchantment.
In different chosen board issues:
DEP grants have landed Bridgton will obtain $150,000 for a Wildwood Street venture by the Maine Division of Environmental Safety’s Stream Crossing Grant Program.
This system supplies grants that match native funds for upgrading culverts at watercourse crossings on municipal roads. Tasks funded by this program will profit public infrastructure and security by changing failing culverts which can be susceptible to full washout or collapse; cut back flooding and improve resiliency with the set up or bigger, greater capability and longer length crossings, profit fish and wildlife by opening and reconnecting stream habitat fragmented by undersized and impassable culverts, and signify an economical and environment friendly funding primarily based on planning, detailing, and native matching funds dedicated to the venture.
Funding for this spherical of grants contains $3 million from the Maine Jobs and Restoration Plan, with further allocations from beforehand returned grant funds. The Maine Division of Environmental Safety (DEP) obtained 45 functions for evaluation totaling over $6.5 million in funding requests. 32 stream crossing initiatives funded this spherical will end in new or improved upstream fish passage to 60 miles of stream habitat and end in decreased flooding and improved resilience of native transportation infrastructure.
Bridgton had utilized for a grant to enhance the stream crossing final 12 months, but it surely turned out to be unsuccessful.
We had been excessive on the record however did not make the reduce, City Supervisor Bob Peabody mentioned.
This time Bridgton made the reduce. Peabody famous the efforts of Govt Assistant Nikki Hodgkins, who led the applying course of and served as a degree particular person, together with Public Companies Director David Madsen, Wastewater Mission Engineer Brent Bridges and Jeff Stearns of the Woods Pond Affiliation.
The board voted to simply accept the award. Town will take matching funds of $105,000 out of the Capital Tasks Reserve, which had a steadiness of $409,500. Peabody mentioned $44,000 will likely be taken from that account as a part of funding for crosswalk initiatives.
We sometimes do not price range for grants with out understanding if we might get it or not, which is why we’ve got reserve funds to benefit from alternatives like this, Peabody mentioned. The method doesn’t supply full funding of a venture. We acknowledge that the world isn’t densely populated, but it surely does have an effect on Woods Pond.
June 13 ensures articles will embrace: Amendments fireplace safety and life security ordinance; Repeal of Ordinance Adopting Worldwide Constructing Code One- or Two-Occupant Dwellings (Outmoded by New Constructing Code, Adopted All through Maine; Code Irrelevant and Out of date Now); and Repeal the order on phosphate detergents.
Choose board members had been requested in the event that they would come with their suggestions to voters relating to the three articles.
Chairwoman Carmen Lone mentioned lately, when she didn’t know the background of some articles, she went with the committee’s suggestions.
The board members voted unanimously to suggest adoption of the articles of affiliation.
