Inconsistency between the town’s Comprehensive Plan and the current list of allowable uses in South Berwick’s rural areas is under review by the Planning Board.
The board at its Nov. 12 meeting dove into consideration of what uses should be allowed in the three rural areas to achieve compliance with the goals and policies for land use outlined in the 2024 Comprehensive Plan.
Rural zoning districts 3, 4 and 5 – all designated residential – share the goal of retaining rural character and promoting conservation, with protections increasing incrementally from R3 to R5.
District R3 is a transitional area closest to the designated growth areas downtown; R4 is five miles from the village; and R5 surrounds the Mt. Agamenticus Conservation Region.
“In rural 4, we refer to rural 5 as the Holy Land,” Audrey Fortier of Rodier Road told the Planning Board at the meeting. “What normal agricultural things you can do in rural 4, you can’t do in rural 5 as that is basically the mountain.”
The 2024 Comprehensive Plan suggests redesignating parts of R3, west of Belle Marsh Road and east of Bennett Road, which already include significant preserved land and abut the R5 district. Reclassification would further protect those areas and require changes such as minimum lot size and setbacks.
Any changes proposed would be subject to public hearings and approval by both the Planning Board and Town Council.
The board worked with a list of land use categories outlined in town zoning ordinances that DeCarlo Brown, town planner and economic development director, had highlighted for adjustments to conform with the Comprehensive Plan.
Two uses now allowed that are being questioned by the board as inappropriate for the rural areas are automobile graveyards and junkyards, as well as clubs and fraternal organizations.
Aquaculture, or fish farming, is now prohibited in the rural areas, but the board decided that R3, 4 and 5 districts are good areas for that kind of enterprise.
The Planning Board will continue the process of examining the current land use table to make the recommended adjustments at its next meeting.
