Rules addressing maintenance and aesthetics of outbuildings and the grounds of properties may be coming to town.
After months on and off the agenda, the Planning Board agreed at its Oct. 22 meeting to consider new regulations for property maintenance.
The board decided to use an ordinance from the town of Madison as a starting place in crafting a South Berwick ordinance to address conspicuously neglected or disheveled appearance of some buildings and grounds in town.
“We all have stuff that we need to repair, and I think we all agree we’re talking about properties that have egregious issues,” said Hershey Hirschkop, board chair, who has strongly advocated for the change.
The proposed ordinance would outline a minimum standard for maintenance of grounds and outbuildings of properties, and might require screening the objectionable areas from public ways and abutters to protect the property values of neighbors, board members have said.
The ordinance would likely include a list of materials that would be considered a visual nuisance if they accumulated on properties, such as discarded plumbing, scrap lumber, old appliances, scrap metal and unused furniture. Inoperative vehicles already are covered by an ordinance that establishes a means for people to apply for an automobile graveyard permit to store them on their property.
In previous meetings the board reviewed existing town ordinances that regulate property maintenance, rules that are handled through the Code Enforcement Department. These ordinances address health and safety concerns and public nuisances, such as trash piles that draw rodents or structures that present a risk to the public.
Code Enforcement also would handle the proposed appearance issues.
The board was in agreement that when materials stored outside become a visible problem, they should be screened by landscaping or fencing. Requiring materials to be stored inside a building or at a certain distance from property lines would be too hard to enforce, board members acknowledged.
“So if we put this in place, they either have to screen it or remove it,” stated member Tony Palazzetti.
In some instances, mental health issues such as hoarding disorders and physical limitations due to disability or aging can account for property neglect, board members agreed, noting that in those circumstances there likely would be town assistance to help residents access outside resources.
Board member Clay Curtis suggested that one person’s idea of junk could actually be art to someone else, or the materials could be seen by the property owner as useful for other projects.
“When something is seen as a problem by one neighbor but not necessarily the other, I don’t know if that is our purview,” Curtis said.
DeCarlo Brown, town planning and economic development director, noted that current zoning regulates against what may be considered a “nuisance,” a term frequently used in land use zoning for unreasonable or unlawful use of property that inconveniences or damages others.
“What you are doing on your property should not interfere with the private enjoyment of a neighbor’s property,” Brown said, “That’s the basis of zoning, controlling the nuisance.”
Brown suggested scheduling a workshop on the draft ordinance for a future meeting, and asked for feedback from the public as the board works on the regulations, inviting residents to participate in developing the community’s land use rules.
In other business, Curtis, an alternate board member, was appointed to fill the position previously held by Zach Nobel on the five-member Planning Board, which is now looking to fill two open alternate positions.
