Thomaston Planning Board Sets Workshop Schedule, Delays Sign Rules to January

The Thomaston Planning Board met on September 21 to plan which ordinance topics it will take up in the coming months. The board postponed a proposed sign advisory panel and sign ordinance review to January 4, put resource protection work on hold pending funding, and scheduled several state law updates for December. Members also discussed a resident's request to allow a green burial cemetery in the R2 zone.

Key points

• The board moved the sign ordinance review and a proposed downtown sign advisory panel to its January 4 workshop, giving members time to draft panel rules and seek Select Board approval.
• A member proposed an advisory panel, modeled on Rockland's, that sign applicants would be required to consult but not required to follow; the panel would need its own bylaws and Select Board authorization.
• The board agreed to hold off on resource protection designation work, citing the need for professional field work and DEP involvement, and will revisit permitted and conditional uses in R2, R3, R3A, and R1 instead.
• Resident Neil Crane asked about placing a green burial cemetery on his roughly 19.79-acre R2 property near the river; the chair said cemeteries are not currently allowed in R2 and that a cemetery in a resource protection zone would not be approved.
• The board scheduled LD 1829, LD 2173, and the tiny house definition (LD 1981) for December, and took up LD 997 on residential use in commercial districts, agreeing to revise section 719.2 to read "residential slash commercial."
• The board crossed LD 427 off its list, finding the town already addresses parking minimums in growth areas and does not allow off-site parking.

Next steps

• A member will research LD 1829 and LD 2173 and reach out to attorneys and other Maine towns that have already adopted similar ordinances.
• Neil Crane will research state rules on private cemeteries and DEP regulations on resource protection and shoreland zoning, then report back to the board.
• The chair will prepare the LD 997 revision for the board's review.
• Staff will post an updated workshop schedule on the town website once dates are finalized.
• The board's next workshop is Monday, September 28; the December and January 4 workshop dates were also set.

Read the full transcript