WILTON — The Board of Selectpersons agreed Tuesday to send proposed amendments to the Building and Property Maintenance Ordinance to the Ordinance Committee for review and recommendation.
Mark Shibles returned to the board Tuesday with suggestions on wording of the property maintenance ordinance. He proposed including abandoned buildings, having the ordinance apply townwide.
In February, he asked the board to consider creating an abandoned properties ordinance similar to one used by Searsport, but the board tabled the request. At the time, board members wanted to review the ordinance and were concerned about costs and the town’s ability to enforce ordinances.
Shibles’ concerns revolve around unsightly properties that he thinks create a picture of Wilton that is not going to attract business to help offset property taxes.
Board Chairperson Tiffany Maiuri was hesitant to support the suggestions. Though positive, she said, the timing of them concerned her.
Faced with replacing the code enforcement officer because of Roger Williams’ retirement, the town is seeking an officer to work more hours and she felt that should be done first. Voters will consider the issue at the June town meeting.
Shibles thought the length of time it takes for an ordinance to go to the committee and be reviewed would negate that concern.
Creating another ordinance without the ability to enforce it makes it just another ordinance, Selectperson Jeff Rowe said.
The Building and Property Maintenance and dog ordinances are the ones most used by the town, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said. Searsport has found results for their abandoned building ordinance have been extremely slow, she said.
Selectperson Scott Taylor moved to have the requests go before the Ordinance Committee for fine-tuning before bringing them back to the board.
Board members agreed that the code enforcement officer’s role would be to implement the ordinance, not design it.
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