WILTON — Selectmen agreed Tuesday to let voters have their say on four proposed ordinances during the June town meeting.
The ordinances will be on the warrant after slight tweaking by the board. The decision came after a lengthy, well-attended public hearing Tuesday.
About 40 residents came to discuss proposed fireworks, disorderly property, building and property maintenance, and solid waste and recycling ordinances. Most left before the board voted to put them on the warrant.
Opinions at Tuesday’s hearing were strongest about rules governing maintenance for properties, particularly the need to paint.
The building and property maintenance ordinance sets a minimum standard for the condition and maintenance of all building exteriors, structures and surrounding premises. Its purpose is to protect the economic well-being of the town.
After several motions from board members failed, some residents urged the board to let residents vote on the ordinance. The board unanimously agreed, after deleting the words “peeling, scaling or deteriorated paint” from a sentence under maintenance standards. It will now read: “All surfaces shall be maintained free from deterioration, including but not limited to broken glass; loose or missing shingles or siding; crumbling brick, stone and mortar.”
They also deleted a paragraph “requiring all surfaces shall be covered with a protective coating, such as paint, plastic or other coating.”
“The (ordinance) name is scary,” James Black, Ordinance Committee member said, “but it’s more a health and safety ordinance.”
Deteriorating buildings and properties create health and safety issues for townspeople. Downtown, it affects the economic well-being of the town, he said.
For Brenda LaViollette, the ordinance is needed to protect properties. It’s not peeling paint but a highly-cluttered yard that she sees in her neighborhood.
Addressing cleanup of properties is based on resident complaints.
Code Enforcement Officer Paul Montague said the process begins with him making requests to property owners, then bringing the problem to selectmen. The town can then pursue cleanup through the courts, he said.
“I can’t write a ticket,” he said.
Some agreed that the town needed to help protect properties and property values. But, an emphasis on appearance bothered Conrad Heeschen, who requested taking out references to painting.
“The norm is there’s some degree of dilapidation in this town,” he said. “Eighty percent of the houses in these areas could be cited.”
Selectman Paul Berkey Jr. later agreed. “I have a hard time with telling you you have to paint your house,” he said.
“It’s not paint but more a maintenance issue,” Selectman Russell Black said.
The ordinance only applies to commercial, downtown and the residential I zones, and not covering the entire town seemed unfair to Bernal Allen.
Selectman Scott Taylor suggested there should be a difference between the downtown district and someone on the Washington Plantation line.
The board unanimously agreed to put the recycling ordinance on the warrant with the addition that the town’s facilities should only be used by property owners and for trash generated within the town of Wilton.
The ordinance continues the Solid Waste and Recycling Advisory Committee, encourages recycling and establishes fees for wastes that are difficult or expensive to recycle or discard.
The consumer fireworks ordinance and disorderly property ordinance passed for inclusion on the warrant by a board vote of 4-1.
The fireworks ordinance limits them in the downtown and residential 1 zone surrounding the downtown, where houses are closer together. It also limits the use of fireworks to Class 1 and 2 fire danger days, as determined by the Maine Forest Service. A Class 3 day requires residents to obtain a permit from the Wilton Fire Department. No fireworks are allowed on Class 4 and 5 days, which indicate the highest fire danger.
The disorderly property ordinance covers properties frequently visited by police, tying up taxpayer dollars, former police officer James Black said. It requires property owners to work on a plan to stop the visits after police are called to the same property four or more times within 30 days. The ordinance also applies to gravel pits and fields where parties are held.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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- During a public hearing Tuesday, Wilton Fire Chief Sonny Dunham told residents there have been no problems with fireworks in Wilton. About 40 residents gathered at the town office for the hearing on proposed ordinances.
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