Ogunquit Planning Board Approves Motel Cottage Door Relocation

[0:26] Leslie Oleo: Okay, we're live. Oh, thank you. [0:37] Tyler McCosker: We're live. Okay. [0:41] Mark McLeod: Welcome, everybody, to the Agancler Planning Board meeting for September 28th, 2026. I'm Mark McLeod, Chair. [0:50] Leslie Oleo: Leslie Oleo, Vice Chair. Fred Kelly, Member. [0:53] Tyler McCosker: Tyler McCosker, Code Office. [0:55] Mark McLeod: Michael Rubin will not be here tonight. Do I have a motion to excuse Michael? Take a motion. Moved by Fred. Second. Second by Leslie. All in favor? Leslie? Yes. Okay, 3-0. Okay, and we do have a quorum. Could everyone please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Fred, would you like to read the mission statement? My pleasure. The Agunquit Planning Board is a team of volunteer citizens who assist fellow residents and developers with their future land use planning within the town. This is accomplished by applying the Agunquit Zoning Ordinances, subdivision regulations, and state statutes, considering input from the Land Use Office, concerned residents, and various town committees, such as the Historic Preservation Commission and the Conservation Commission, mission. Reviewing and recommending necessary changes in zoning ordinances in accordance with the Agunquit Comprehensive Plan and protecting and enhancing our historical and environmental treasures and safeguarding the visual charm of Agunquit for future generations. Next on the agenda is the minutes. Does anybody have any comments or corrections on the minutes? No. Move approval. Motion by Leslie to approve. Second. Second by Fred. Okay. All in favor? Yes. Yes. And the chair is yes to 3-0. Okay. Next is public input. The board welcomes the public to comment or ask questions about board members, excuse me, board matters. Questions are not always answered immediately. The board has agreed to answer questions at the next regularly scheduled meeting whenever possible. We ask that people keep comments brief and to the point and that your comments be respectful of the community. We also ask if you have a complaint or concern to be most helpful if you offer a solution or solutions. Please begin your comments by saying your name and your affiliation with Gunkert or state the name of the town you were from any [3:08] Mark McLeod: public comments ben anyone on zoom no hands no hands raised okay i did receive a letter the plane board did receive an email today so i thought i would read that should i identifier from last week? I got it today, so it might have been from last week. I'll just read it. It's for the board's consideration. As follows, quote, throughout July and now, it appears for the next several weeks, we will be listening to jackhammers demolishing the local ledge. And looking at the ordinance, it seems to be very much weighted in the favor of the developer. 7 a.m. start, 8 p.m. max finish, and okay to work at weekends with the written permission of the owner. Some Ogunquit taxpayers actually live here year-round and don't have a second home to which we can escape. Would the Planning Board consider proposing an amendment to the ordinance so that there is some respect for ordinary people's quality of life, requiring noisy building works to end by 6 p.m. With a ban on weekend and holiday working? So we don't have to answer that tonight, but we can talk about it at the end of the meeting if we decide to. Okay, next there's no unfinished business. Next is a new business, KJM Investments, Footbridge Beach Motel, 668 Main Street, Map 9, Block 1, GBD 2, design review application to relocate front door of caretaker's cottage. The Planning Board action to determine application completeness, schedule site visit and or public hearing if the board determines it would be helpful, if they determined they would be helpful. Approve, deny, or table the application. Applicant, would you like to come up to the table and tell us about your project? [4:58] Marshall Huff: My name is Marshall Huff. I'm, my husband, Scott. So we have a very simple adjustment, and it stems from the original entrance to the caretaker's house to the office where travelers come in. Right adjacent to it is our primary residence entrance, and we've had several travelers because when they come in there's nobody at the door, they continue on into the house or in my living room. I don't want to get off onto a tangent, but I had a French speaking, did not speak any English, make his way into my house, and he kept doing this and made his way to in My bathroom used my bathroom and I was blown away. So I have an open permit to side the building, one of two buildings, ones are the hotel is done. This is the final step, but before I commit the siding, I want to get this door addressed. So all we're asking to do is swap one window with the door so that we addressed, you know, the travelers who come in and look at, look at, look at us this way. Right now they look at us this way, so we both share an egress to greet them, whereas now we could just, you know, change it so that they don't have means to our puppies or to our dogs, we call them puppies, to our bathrooms, my kitchen, in my kitchen, and it's, it's happened. I don't want to take the board's time, but it's happened more than once. But while we've got this permit open to side it, I want to address this. It seems very simple, straightforward, it's just one wall. Yep, we're not going to touch the sides, we're not going to touch the roof, we're going to support it while we open up the wall just to reframe it and then slide the stairs over, reintroduce the awning, made sure that the awning will have support, and at the same time, we want to open up the floor just to make sure that it's sealed, because in hot August days, we'll get a must smell, so I'd like to be able to put a barrier down if it isn't there already, but that's the request. [7:21] Mark McLeod: Okay. Okay, why don't we first do the design review submission checklist? We don't need elevations on this. [7:36] Tyler McCosker: See, I told you he brought the pictures. I thought it was sufficient for what, yeah, you said you tried, you'd use AI or something, yeah, rudimentary [7:45] Mark McLeod: Yeah, I got it though, I got it right away I noticed that window moved too, that was the first thing I noticed Yes, we don't need dash five to six because of the cost in the [8:04] Tyler McCosker: School online, oh [8:09] Leslie Oleo: No, it's online, yeah, it's online, but I didn't get it email to you right away, but [8:16] Mark McLeod: And the, and we don't need a lighting plan because, right, that's not nothing, we're not changing light, it's taught changing the door, okay, how's [8:30] Tyler McCosker: The site plan, yeah [8:32] Mark McLeod: The pictures, I thought the picture is pretty clear, yeah, this is one that I could read everything, some of them when they get this one except for the little comment boxes in the bottom, but the rest, the rest was pretty quick [8:49] Tyler McCosker: It's just, you know, the worst, yeah, I tried to make it as least cumbersome form as possible [8:55] Leslie Oleo: Yep, looks good, and the siding and the hotel does look good, yeah, ah, thank you, yeah, thank you, it's [9:03] Mark McLeod: Improvement, yeah, it's nice, I like it. And before we go on, do we have a motion to find the design app design review submissions checklist complete? Move a motion by Leslie, second by Fred, all in favor. Leslie? Yes. Fred? Yes. Share votes, just three, nothing. Okay, so that. But the two questions that we have is, do we need a site visit? No. No. Okay. Do we need a public hearing? No. Fred? I don't believe so. I don't either. [9:39] Leslie Oleo: So should we do the decision work? [9:45] Mark McLeod: Let's do the design review submission work. [9:47] Leslie Oleo: Not a lot of findings to make here. No. [9:52] Mark McLeod: So let's see. We'll start at the top. Does this review involve a structure built prior to December 31st, 1930? No, it's 1950. And then review the specifics of the proposed application for compliance with 225-11.7.c of the Concord zoning when it's as follows. Number one, the scale of the building is the scale of the building compatible with the site of the neighborhood as to the relationship of the open spaces around it and the size of the doors, windows, porches, balconies, na. Is the height of the building visually compatible with the heights of the building in the neighborhood? N.A. N.A., no change. A portion of front facade, is the relationship of the width to the height of the front facade visually compatible with that of its neighbors? [10:39] Leslie Oleo: Technically, the front facade, that they're changing. [10:42] Tyler McCosker: It is, but they're not expanding. They're not changing. [10:44] Leslie Oleo: There's no change. I actually would have thought that would have been the side. [10:47] Mark McLeod: It's kind of a visual improvement when you stop and see the balance of the windows as opposed to whether the door is being centered. [10:52] Leslie Oleo: I think it's really more of a solid void. I think so, too. I just didn't even know whether it would be considered the front. [10:57] Mark McLeod: It's more four and five than three. Okay. For relationship, so we'll call that NA? Yep. Okay. For relationship of solids to voids in front facade, is the patterns of solids and voids in the front facade visually compatible with that of its neighbors? [11:13] Leslie Oleo: Well, yes, and it's actually being improved by moving the door and the window. But there's no change in the total change. [11:25] Mark McLeod: In voids. Proportion of openings within the facility. Is the relationship of the height of windows and doors to their width visually compatible with the architectural style of the building or that of its neighbors? Yes. Yes. There's really no change. There's no change. Realigning them. Actually, virtually. Roof shapes. Is the shape and proportion of the roof visually compatible with the architectural style of the building? Any relationship of facade materials, the facades of the building, particularly the front facade, visually compatible with those of the other streets around it? Any, actually they're changing it. Well, not for this last time. Yeah, we did that already. Relationship of spaces to buildings on the street. Has the rhythm of spaces to buildings been considered when determining visual compatibility, whether it is between buildings or between a building in the street? [Leslie Oleo: N.A., already existing.] Site features. Is the site placement material of walls, fences, signs, driveways, and parking areas visually compatible with the building and neighboring buildings? [12:26] Leslie Oleo: Yes, I mean N.A. N.A. It already is. [12:29] Mark McLeod: Architectural, historical, and neighborhood significance. Have the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, or moving of pre-1931 buildings been done in manner? So that's N.A. N.A. Does the lighting comply with the requirements of the town's lighting ordinance? [12:44] Leslie Oleo: That's N.A. No change. No change. [12:50] Mark McLeod: The review doesn't require more time to complete. The planning board does not need an irrevocal letter of credit or a phone spawn. So do I have a motion to approve? So moved. So moved. Okay. Motion by Leslie. I vote second. Second by Fred. All in favor? Leslie? Yes. Fred? Yes. And I am yes to. Approved three to zero. That was easy. It was. [13:19] Leslie Oleo: I'll try to keep it easy next time. It was even easy last time at the siding. Thank you very much. [13:26] Mark McLeod: All right, thanks. Have a great evening. The siding. All right, thank you. Have a good night. Okay. Code enforcement business. Tyler. Nothing new. Nothing new. Okay. Okay, for the other the business a couple quick things we have to discuss I almost forgot this. [13:58] Tyler McCosker: The public comment, so bold disclosure, I spoke with the author of the public comment about the concern, and I tell, I share with them the same thing I share with everybody that complains about our working hours. My concern about reducing working hours is you're not reducing the length of the project, you're extending it, you're staying the length of the project. So if you say no Saturdays, a lot of people do work Saturdays, it's just the nature of [14:37] Mark McLeod: the business. Now if you jackhammer for four weeks and you work the Saturdays and you cut the Saturdays out, you're actually extending it almost a week, probably five weeks. On the other hand, [14:46] Tyler McCosker: And giving people some quiet time, like you could say Sundays, is that palatable to say no work, no exterior work on Sundays, like, or lower the noise ordinance on Sundays to not allow that? It just [15:02] Leslie Oleo: kind of a more fundamental question. Isn't this more of a select board issue than planning board? [15:08] Mark McLeod: Well, it's an ordinance. It's noise ordinance. [15:11] Leslie Oleo: It's a noise ordinance, but not, I guess. [15:13] Tyler McCosker: Yes, yeah, also I don't, I do get some calls about this. It's typically people starting too early in the morning, right, is usually what I get complaints about. I had someone started at 5 30 a couple weeks ago, that is an issue. Yeah, and again, it's, you're restricted people that the trades typically start earlier than seven in the morning. Yeah, because especially in the summertime they don't want to be down here at nine in the morning trying to get in here right now. But I think 7 a.m is a reasonable time and most contractors do abide by that and they're trying to be careful about it. It can go both ways. I get the complaint, but yeah, I, if someone's hammering for, you're hammering Monday through Friday and you can finish it on Saturday. I don't know. It can go both ways. I don't know what. [16:19] Mark McLeod: You have more money to park that equipment on the site also comes into view. Right. I'm not sure that financial has a lot to do with it, but when you go to the scheme of things, that equipment just sitting there not doing anything is expensive. [16:31] Tyler McCosker: And to transport it back and forth. Now it's stuck there and you're trying to get it out of here. I don't know. It's just, there's a lot more to it. [16:41] Mark McLeod: The hammering and sawing is one thing, but I think you expect that when someone's doing work beside you. I think it's the jackhammering and the blasting that, which happens. [16:48] Tyler McCosker: So the other question is, do we want, and I'm not advocating for this whatsoever. Do we want a, we have a pretty robust blasting ordinance. Hence the reason a lot of people don't blast. Do we want to create a hammering ordinance? Again,, not advocating for it. I'm just, this is one of the arguments that people would have. Because then you would notify, you'd have to notify your neighbors. But then that also opens up, are they going to now have to do surveys of properties, things like that. Hammering, you don't have to do that right now. [17:31] Mark McLeod: Jack hammering doesn't typically affect neighbors' foundations. historically in my experience the blasting part is a much more of effect on neighbors right than the hammering probably zero to very few percent of any kind of complaint from jack except for the noise yeah like destruction of foundations because of the vibrations from the blast going through i can see that can pose a problem usually these complaints [18:03] Tyler McCosker: complaints or concerns come with also we should be notified when someone's doing a project and like that's not feasible for us to do every building permit to notify butters nor do i want to get into that because then it just opens it up the probably legal things but is it [18:21] Mark McLeod: possible to post jack hammers i'm sorry jack you know just building online they are i can't find [18:29] Tyler McCosker: them live though well we don't we only post them once a month yeah we don't post it daily [18:35] Mark McLeod: so sometimes it could be over before the not for not for a project involving jack [18:40] Tyler McCosker: they have to they're supposed to post the permit on the site right and then we post it once a month in the town office right and then she they put them they're supposed to put them online every [18:54] Mark McLeod: month can we communicate that more clearly to people just put a note out to people that [18:59] Tyler McCosker: with anyone that calls and asks and they and then people and then they always ask can you call us when they pull a permit absolutely not no because we're not going to get into that because then people will expect that to call all the neighbors when they pull a permit it's because there is a you run into it's still your property you still have property rights to do what you can do on it right and i get it 's frustrating when certain neighborhoods it's one house after another we've gone through a lot of times with that, but at some point everyone's house got built, and so I get both sides of the yeah that's, and I know it's frustrating, especially if you work from home or you're there a lot and these people just come up for weekends. I mean, I have some that have been going on the whole time I've been here, but eventually most construction projects have an end point, yeah, and usually the hammering and the loud noise is the very beginning of the project and it's over, and then besides roofing and siding, it's [20:15] Mark McLeod: usually not, it's usually done before they put the foundation in and dig, lay water and sewer pipes [20:22] Tyler McCosker: and stuff like, so that's something I mean we can discuss, I [20:30] Mark McLeod: don't, something about this was, it was discussed in the comp plan, I don't know if anything made through the strategies, I'll take, I'll go back and take a look, thanks, I don't remember anything about strategies, so and I'm [20:42] Tyler McCosker: never, I'm not pro more regulation where it's not necessary, we don't want to be anti building here because to make it and more red tape and more paperwork and [20:57] Mark McLeod: more restrictive I think as we can be or should be or should be, exactly, cry for [21:09] Tyler McCosker: this to change, I think that's, and you talk about it, but I just not to discard a single house I know, because I know it's, it must be very frustrating to deal with it, yeah, especially if it's, I know the second case that it was multiple over the course of two years, they've been, project seems like it's going on forever, a little frustrating, sometimes they jack him for three days and they're done, but then you have other places is they jackhammer for three months, so that's pretty unlikely for most projects and rare, because most people don't want to pay that bill, right, they change plans when they run into weeks and months of jackhammering, yeah, they learn how to, they give up, they give up the, yeah, they give up the full basement and go to across, yeah, I get you, that's a change order I suspect after the first couple days, yeah, most people, it's, it's very expensive to do this where I don't think I need [22:06] Mark McLeod: that page, so let's, let's just table this now, if you want I'll draft a letter to robin [22:11] Tyler McCosker: response, email response I mean, I don't think you really need to a letter, so that we discussed it, yeah, okay, if it comes up again we'll talk, we also have a lot of ordinance work already on our plate, so and more to come, I was, I'm, if we ever even got to an ordinance change this project would be over [22:33] Mark McLeod: So the other the other thing is there's a ton of things that are popping up now, you know. We may talk about one in a few minutes, but I'd like to try and keep us focused on the comp plan, right? Yeah, and strategies and strategies of the grid. So we have a lot to do. Okay, we have, I have two more things. There may be a third. I send the email to everybody this afternoon. I just got the email from Chris. I guess it went out the other day, but I hadn't checked my town email for a couple days. Oh, the select board has put together a framework for working with the boards and committees, and they have sent out sent it out a draft form to the chairs. I got it today, and I forwarded to the to you guys this afternoon, and it was at first I was gonna say you want to talk about tonight, but then I looked, it was like I don't know 10 12 pages. Yeah, so [23:29] Leslie Oleo: What I find interesting, though, is we don't have a tab. [23:33] Mark McLeod: What do you mean a tab? [23:34] Leslie Oleo: When you look at... [23:36] Mark McLeod: Oh, I didn't look at it that closely. [23:38] Leslie Oleo: Oh, yeah, no, we don't have one. [23:40] Tyler McCosker: I don't think my... From what I sat in the select board meeting and stuff, I don't think most of this is really for you. All right. Not that you're exempt from things. Right. But I think, I mean, you kind of have... [23:56] Leslie Oleo: We're already doing it. [23:57] Tyler McCosker: you're not picking and choosing typically what you're working on, right? This is, you have other than the workshop, other than the workshop, but that's even then that's mandated things. I think this is more to address just general committees and commissions and just to kind of get everybody on the same page and kind of get direction. I don't think you, I don't think the planning board really needs direction. Annual work plan, I don't think we not, I don't not necessarily, I mean we can clarify that with the way who's who's the liaison for the planning board now, do you [24:32] Mark McLeod: they might change, yeah, they might. I don't know, it might be Heath, but I'm not sure. I don't know, so we can talk to them too. I was going to say maybe we just take 15 minutes at the next workshop. Yeah, and it's fine, just review it and block a timeout, just I know we put for this year [24:49] Tyler McCosker: implement state mandated zoning changes and comprehensive plan updates. Pretty [24:56] Mark McLeod: easy. Why don't we just put aside 15 minutes at the next workshop. If it's going to take more than that, we'll schedule it again. [25:07] Leslie Oleo: There's a lot there, but when you read it, there's not a lot there. I haven't read it yet. [25:11] Mark McLeod: There's a lot of words, but a lot of content. I mean, yes. There's one more thing along this line, and this has arisen a lot lately. Should we do a review of the signed ordinance? Is it worth doing? [25:37] Tyler McCosker: The A-frame thing worked out great for me. so it is or has is it backfired no it's just certain people just don't want to yeah you ask them to do i think maybe i know what's come up with one specific person is the menu board like the menu things has been on the building or it does well it's it says it's for menus and real estate ads and such but other people are interpreting it however they want and they're putting other things in them and like that's not so it doesn't clearly say maybe tweaking the language but i mean i understand i From what I understand of it, and I think it's pretty clear, it's for menus and real estate things that change, right, not for, yeah, other things, yeah, sign purposes. So but other than that, I mean, it's simplifying. It would be great. Define it, but the problem you run into is if we start changing things, are people grandfathered? Are people not grandfathered? We have different, like, there's five pages of it. [26:45] Mark McLeod: More than enough. [26:46] Leslie Oleo: I think we have more comp plan things to do than that. [26:51] Mark McLeod: We keep it on the list that if we've got time, we could discuss it. I don't know if we've got time, but we could try. [26:56] Leslie Oleo: We won't even get through all the comp plan. [26:58] Tyler McCosker: People, is it something that people have said that they want us to look at, or no? It's not. No, okay. [27:06] Mark McLeod: I, it was, it was mentioned to be in conversation, but oh yeah, it's not. If people come and say that. [27:12] Tyler McCosker: This is your opinion on before I, yeah, okay, so I'd rather not talk about science right now, boy, yeah. [27:18] Mark McLeod: So the last thing is say the date for the next workshop. Our next meeting is on Tuesday, October 13th, because Monday's Dunaway's closed for the holiday. Should we do it that day at 5 o'clock, or would you rather wait? I'll leave it to you. Well, we're going. We're moving. Why don't we keep moving? [27:38] Leslie Oleo: Well, if we're going to respond to that missive from the select board, it's due the 15th of October. [27:46] Mark McLeod: There was a qualifier from Chris in there. [27:48] Leslie Oleo: Yeah, but it was a qualifier if you weren't meeting before then. Yeah. We are meeting before then. [27:56] Mark McLeod: So put a 5 o'clock on. 5 o'clock on 1016. We're on a roll guys, we're on a roll. [28:02] Tyler McCosker: I think an hour is a nice time too, then you don't. [28:08] Mark McLeod: Overdo it so what the topic will be, so let's just set the topics for Mary Ann's sake. So the topics will be review the select board framework, and then we'll review hopefully the final draft before it gets put in the form for the growth zone and the zone largest. Okay. Hopefully the final draft. I'm going to put final just with her. Okay. What would the date be on that? 10.13 at 5 o'clock. That's a Tuesday next month. Okay. Okay. Any other topics of discussion from the planning board? No. [28:56] Leslie Oleo: Some heat in the building would be nice. [28:59] Mark McLeod: It probably turns off at five o'clock. You are captaining a ship very well, I must say. That's a lot of effort. I know that's a lot of effort. [29:08] Tyler McCosker: It's on right now. Sounds like it's running, but it doesn't feel warm. [29:13] Leslie Oleo: No, it does not feel warm at all. I'm going to put in gloves. Motion to adjourn? [29:18] Mark McLeod: So moved. Second? Second. All in favor. I am.