CAMDEN — The Camden Select Board tonight, Aug. 18, will hold a public hearing to discuss a slew of proposed Harbor Ordinance amendments, and while some might think they don't have a dog in the race because they don't own property on the harbor, or because they have no interest in building a private harbor pier, those same people, and the community-at-large, could be affected if new private piers are banned or more piers are allowed to be built.

At the Select Board's regular meeting Aug. 4 to discuss holding a public hearing, members of the board voiced concerns that the proposed elimination of piers in the harbor was stripping away private land owners' rights, while at the same time allowing the town the right to build a 320-foot-long pier at some point in the future.

"I don't fully understand why we would do that," said Select Board member Don White. "First we don't want any piers, but then we say the town might put a pier 320 feet out there."

The Select Board was also concerned that the language of the amendments was confusing, which would ensure a "no" vote rather an apprised vote, and that eliminating all but a potential municipal pier could stymie future commercial and business growth opportunities.

The Harbor Committee has proposed several amendments regarding piers, including prohibiting new piers in the outer harbor; eliminating provisions for consolidated piers and clarifying requirements for other piers including municipal piers; and clarifying certain definitions.

If the Harbor Ordinance is amended, the Planning Board has proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, which will appear on the November ballot as well, relating to piers to conform to the changes proposed the Harbor Committee.

Following tonight's public hearing, the Select Board will vote on whether to move the amendments to a public vote in November.

Speaking for the Harbor Committee, chairman Gene McKeever said Aug. 4 that in doing its work on the amendments, they focused on what was going to be for the good of the entire population, not just a select few private waterfront property owners. He also said that the committee didn't think that "a bunch of private piers sticking out into our harbor" was good for the general public.

"Lets look at it a little bit different way," said McKeever. "When people first started coming to Camden, do you think they came in and said, 'Wow this is a really pretty harbor. It would look prettier with a bunch of piers sticking out into it.' That's the sort of logic that we have been using. We are looking for the good of the entire population, of the state of Maine and those from foreign countries that get to look at our harbor."

The town currently does not allow piers in Sherman's Cove, from Marine Avenue to Sherman's Point due to it being a conservation area but also a lack of water at low tide. McKeever said nobody has been complaining about the prohibition because there is hardly any water at low tide where anybody could possibly have built a pier.

McKeever said that the Harbor Committee was also concerned about boater safety, including paddleboarders, kayakers and canoers. The addition of more piers in the harbor, even if they were just for walking on, would create hazards to maneuver around, especially when it's necessary to move to avoid larger boats.

He said that he wanted to leave the option for the town to build a municipal pier in the ordinance, because at some point a business opportunity might come along. He also said that a pier could be constructed to act as a wave attenuator.

"We don't know what kind of commerce is going to come into our town, and we are leaving that door open just in case there is another ferry service that comes, in case fishing develops, in case we get wave attenuation out there that makes this a really nice hurricane hole, so we leave the municipal pier open in our proposed revision," said McKeever.

Select Board member Martin Cates said that while he understood the need for safety, "protecting me from myself does not fly with me."

He said that one property owner currently has the ability to build a pier within the ordinance, and that the ordinance was drafted "by people who in theory knew what they were doing."

"And because you don't think it [pier] looks good, another person may think it looks absolutely wonderful, stimulating and a part of the good healthy economy. And there are how many moorings [367] in the harbor? There's a lot of them, a lot of boats too, which creates unsafe conditions at anybody's given time. And I'm just sorry guys, I don't see it," said Cates.

Also speaking against the proposed elimination of piers in the harbor was developer Stuart Smith. He echoed Cates' words, saying he did not see the need for the restriction on private property rights.

"We've heard that it's not an impact on boating traffic, on safety, certainly not driving kayakers to the middle of the harbor. Our kayakers love to paddle underneath and around piers," said Smith. "This is strictly a personal taste issue, of 'we don't like the looks of piers, we don't like that private landowners have the right to build the piers and we think the town ought to vote against it.' That's all I'm really hearing here. And I strongly disagree with that."

The public hearing for the Harbor Ordinance amendments has been at least 13 months in the making. The Camden Harbor Committee first met with the Camden Planning Board in February 2014, seeking the board's opinion and help in clarifying the changes the committee wanted to make.

The request for public hearings on the proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance and Harbor Ordinance has been recommended by both the Harbor Committee and Planning Board.

Planning Board Chairman Lowrie Sargent told the Select Board Aug. 4 that the two groups met four or five times, and recognized there were two different tasks being done, but that they needed to be done in coordination with the Planning Board and the Zoning Ordinance.

"It didn't make any sense for the Zoning Ordinance to allow additional piers in the outer harbor and for the Harbor Ordinance to not allow any piers in the outer harbor, and we told them up front that we will listen and make suggestions, but we may not agree with you when we're done," said Sargent. "By the time we were done, we agreed with their positions."

McKeever told the Select Board Aug. 4 that not only did the Harbor Committee receive the Planning Board's recommendation, the amendment are in line with Camden's Comprehensive Plan and fit into Maine Statute Title 38.

Also discussed Aug. 4 was the language of the wording that would be on the ballot, if it was placed there by the Select Board, and how the Harbor Committee was going to educate the public about the breadth and depth of the proposed changes.

McKeever told the board that as a volunteer on the Harbor Committee, his job was to work on harbor tasks, not ballot wording.

"But I would be more than happy to sit with a town official whose job it is to word ballot questions and help them," said McKeever.

"My purpose here is so that you [the Select Board] understand, and I tried to break that down any which way I can. And when you look at the copy you've got, you see it's red, blue and green, and it's explained what those colors mean and we explain what will be stricken, what will be changed and what will be added. We can't make it any clearer to you folks," said McKeever.

Another Harbor Committee member, Ben Ellison, told the Select Board that for decades, the Harbor Ordinance has given the town the right to build a large pier anywhere in the outer harbor.

"Even as restrictions were added to private piers, that language on municipal piers remained. And it's not right to look at it as though, 'Oh, you're taking away the right of a private person to build a 100-foot pier and giving the town the right to build a 300-foot pier.' It's a huge difference," said Ellison.

He said one of the proposed amendments is to say that IF the town ever decided to build a municipal pier, the only conceivable location is at Steamboat Landing.

Stephen Gold, a member of the Harbor Committee, said that in his experience, the specific language of a zoning ordinance is rarely understood, and that it's partly the responsibility of the committee presenting, in the form of a public hearing, to explain that language in common terms.

He said it is also the voter's responsibility to visit the town office and read the specific changes that are posted there, and to attend public hearings when they have concerns and questions.

The second point I would like to bring out for Martin [Cates] is that I consider this business of property rights sort of moot because our current ordinance already takes property rights by the 300-foot offset. Some of the piers that exist in the outer harbor now eliminate the possibility of abutters having piers because they can't construct a pier within the 300-foot offset. So, as much as I hate to suggest this, if you really cared about that, you ought to take out the 300-foot offset business and then we could pepper the harbor with piers," said Gold.

Cates asked McKeever if the Harbor Committee had made contact with the property owner that the amendment would affect, and he said he had not.

"We bring things to you. We operate as an advisory group to you. If you want us to do that, we would be more than happy to," said McKeever.

In reaction to Cates' question about talking to the property owner, Sandy Welty, a Harbor Committee member, said, "There seems to be a suggestion that the Harbor Committee was remiss in not polling one member of the public, the member of the public that owns the property. Wouldn't you, as a committee, be making a contradiction yourselves if you're saying you shouldn't poll the rest of the citizens of the town by allowing them to attend a public hearing on this? Aren't you devaluing, de-franchising them if you don't want to get their opinion but you want to get this one person's opinion? To me, that's the contradiction if you're talking contradictions."

Select Board member Jim Heard was the one to make a motion to take a vote.

He said, "I think in deferennce to the amount of work done by the Harbor Committee in conjunction with the Planning Board, it seems to me that the public really is the one who needs to decide this, and a public hearing really should have been held a long time ago. Let the public decide what they want. And that's what the public hearing can do. And we should move to do that."

Select Board member Leonard Lookner said, "We have gone through this process for many months, and I think it's time we open the discussion and hold a public hearing and see how our community either supports this change or says they don't support it."

White said what would be important for him with the issue was how the voters would be informed about what they were voting on. But his suggestion that the town include some sort of description was downplayed, as town attorney Bill Kelley had advised that such information be removed due to the potential appearance of bias.

French said he was willing to let it go to public hearing.

"I'm not sold on this, but I'll give you a public hearing. I may or may not vote to let it go to vote at the public hearing," said French.

The motion passed 4 to 1, with Cates opposed.

The Camden Select Board meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Washington Street Conference Room. According to the agenda, the public hearings will follow a presentation by the Camden Garden Club.

Related link:

• Watch the meeting tonight online here.

Camden Select Board
AGENDA
Aug. 18, 2015, 6:30 p.m.
Washington Street Conference Room

A. Call to Order

B. Communications, Presentations, and Recognition
1. Presentation - Camden Garden Club

C. Public Hearings
1. Harbor Ordinance Amendment – Recommended by the Harbor Committee
The Harbor Committee has proposed several amendments regarding piers including prohibiting new piers in the outer harbor, eliminating provisions for consolidated piers, and clarifying requirements for other piers including municipal piers, and clarified certain definitions.

2. Harbor Ordinance Amendment – recommended by the Planning Board
The Planning Board has proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance relating to piers to conform to the changes proposed by the Harbor Committee. These would only be effective if the Harbor Ordinance is amended

3. Zoning Ordinance Amendments – Recommended by the Planning Board
The Planning Board has proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance to clarify and update several provisions including: adds a definition of "Commercial,"changes "Elderly Congregate Housing" to "Congregate Housing" to eliminate the age restriction, clarifies the term "street level" and what uses are allowed or required at street level, and changes parking requirements to have space-per-unit requirements that apply based on type of dwelling, not age of occupants. The proposal also amends the Site Plan Review process to require businesses which have a floor area greater than 1000 square feet to be reviewed by the Planning Board if they want to change the use from a permitted use to a different permitted use. Currently Site Plan Review is required for new construction or expansion of existing buildings which are 1000 square feet.

D. Citizen Comments
This time is set aside for members of the public to comment on any town-related issue that is not on the agenda.

E. Approval of Select Board Minutes of August 4, 2015

F. Select Board Member Reports

G. Town Manager Report

H. New Business

1. Request to use Village Green by the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce: Welcome and Information table for cruise ship visitors on September 20, 27, 30, and October 4 and 12. Several large cruise lines visit several ports in Maine including Rockland. The passengers boards buses to tour the surrounding area, including Camden. To help us welcome these visitors and help them make the most of their time here, the Penobscot Bay Chamber of Commerce sets up an information booth near the Tour Bus drop-off spot at the Village Green.

2. Request to use Village Green by the Chestnut Street Baptist Church on Sunday September 6 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a church service
The Chestnut Street Baptist Church, which is adjacent to the Village Green, wishes to hold its September 6 church service at the Village Green, which is open to the public

3. Request to use Village Green by the Camden International Film Festival on Sept. 16 –Sept. 20, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) celebrates its 11th year. They are requesting to use the Village Green as a gathering area for Film Festival participants and the public to socialize, learn, and share information. There will be no commercial activity or sales.

4. Request by the Windjammer Festival to use the Public Landing from Thursday, Sept. 3 at 5:00 p.m. through Sunday, Sept. 6 at 4:00 p.m.
The Windjammer Festival uses Public Landing for the events, vendors, and educational exhibits celebrating Camden's maritime and windjammer heritage.

5. Request to approve Victualer license for Maria Weymouth & Erin Donovan, d/b/a Spoon Maine, LLC at 44 Bay View Street.

6. Request to approve application of Jonathan Elwell for a renewal taxicab operator's license driving for Schooner Bay Taxi.

Adjourn