Possible Vacation Rental Regulation Brought Up at Trenton Planning Board Meeting
Planning board conditionally approves two projects, financial audit and other topics from July 8 select board meeting
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TRENTON—Vacation rentals: the topic with the most potential to be interesting for the near future of Trenton did not come up until the end of the Trenton Planning Board meeting on July 16. After all of the applicants and audience had left there was one couple left sitting in the back.
After Chair Michael Gilmartin acknowledged the couple and said hi, the two said that they had come to the meeting to voice their concerns about some things that their neighbor is doing on their property.
Steven and Judy Moore reside at 1118 Bayside Road are concerned that their neighbor at 1132 Bayside Road, identified by Trenton’s real estate tax database as Stacey Conary, has built two small homes on the property that are being utilized as vacation rentals.
The Moores stated multiple times that the homes being used as vacation rentals are not their primary concern.
But, “the manner in how this is being done does not foster a community environment,” Steven Moore said.
“We reached out to Angie and talked to her, that it looks, for all intents and purpose, like a tourist cabin and asked questions about the, you know, is this legal and stuff?” Steven Moore said.
Angela Chamberlain is the town’s code enforcement officer.
Moore continued, “Angie said they were basically permitted as single family dwellings because they have enough square footage.”
Member John Whetstone asked the Moores what their concern was.
Steven Moore replied, “Well, we always knew there was a house lot there and thought that a house could possibly be built at some point. We never expected what is a tourist cabin essentially. And there are two of them because the square footage of the entire property allows for having two houses there even though effectively we have a 40,000-square-foot requirement for a single family dwelling.”
The Trenton real estate tax database shows that 1132 Bayside Road is a 50-acre parcel which would equate to roughly 2,178,000 square feet.
The Moores also expressed concern that the cabins were situated on the edge of the lot closest to their parcel of land.
Fire Chief Steve Heckman said, “You’re concerned about the fact that it should have been just long-term rentals and now they just arbitrarily changed it to Airbnb and they are quadrupling or more (the money they are earning), you have people coming in and going out every week now.”
“And how many more is she putting in and at what point is that a commercial property?” asked Judy Moore.
Steven Moore said, “The concern is she is building a hotel in a residential area. The fact that they are on Airbnb proves it is a commercial enterprise.”
Trenton Code Enforcement Officer Angela Chamberlain, responding to an inquiry, said, the buildings “meet the definition of a dwelling and were permitted as such.”
Chamberlain also said that Trenton’s land use ordinance contains “nothing prohibiting short term rentals” and therefore she has no control over what a developer decides to use their legally permitted dwellings for.
The structures also meet setbacks and minimum area per family requirements according to Chamberlain and she said has no idea why the owner placed them where they did, which is also beyond her control as long as all requirements are being met.
After much discussion about Conary’s property and the growing number of vacation rentals in Trenton, the planning board seemed to be going in the direction of needing to get together with the select board, the CEO, and the fire chief to see if they can come up with some sort of LUO changes to start regulating vacation rentals and possibly slowing down the spread of them or the conversion of long-term rental properties into vacation rentals.
Whetstone said the town may also need to incorporate some life safety requirements into the town’s LUO.
Ronak Tilvawala Campground
Stephen Salsbury of Herrick & Salsbury Inc. represented the potential buyers of the lot located at 393 Route 3/Bar Harbor Road. This lot is across the street from the Cheese House and was last utilized by Coastal Builders & Sons.
The potential new purchasers want to turn the property into a camping resort with 10 cabins and a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment and office space for the campground in an existing building.
This application has been before the planning board before and was looking for final approve at the July 16 meeting.
According to Salsbury, the main entry and exit for guests would be on the north side of the property at the traffic light. There would also be a secondary exit at the south end of the property but that would be a right-hand turn only exit due to traffic flow.
The fire chief signed off on the driveway design and fire apparatus access at the meeting and said that his only requirement to fully sign off on the project was that it was documented that he requires Knox boxes for unit entry purposes to be on every building or to have one with a common key.
The pond that abuts the property is part of the parcel according to Salsbury and will be owned and managed by the camping resort.
The only item left after the planning board went through their checklist of requirements for this type of project is a pending variance for the septic system that requires approval from the State of Maine.
So the potential buyers could move forward with closing on the property, the project was unanimously approved with the condition that the septic variance receive approval from the state.
1164 Bar Harbor Road
This application was new to the planning board but quickly approved because it basically a change of use. The building has been used for commercial purposes for as long as any of the planning board members could remember but has been dormant and only used for storage by the current owners for the last couple of decades.
The potential new purchaser would like to rehabilitate the structure without changing the footprint and turn it into a dental hygienist’s office.
Once again, the fire chief said that that he requires a Knox box for unit entry purposes.
The only question that came up during planning board discussion and could not be settled was whether or not a state DOT traffic permit or study would be needed since the road has changed so much since the building had last been utilized as a commercial space.
Again, so the potential buyer could move forward with closing on the property, the application was unanimously approved with the condition that the buyer check with Chamberlain about the possible requirement for a traffic permit or study.
July 8 Trenton Select Board Meeting
Fiscal Year 2023/24 Financial Audit
At the July 8 select board meeting, James Wadman gave a presentation to the select board regarding the results of the town’s financial audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.
Wadman traditionally explains all of the sections in the audit to select board/town council members and starts with the first few pages. These pages are the opinion of the auditor on the town’s financial statements and note disclosures.
For this particular fiscal year, Wadman gave the town an “unmodified” opinion which means a clean opinion on the town’s financial statements and note disclosures. This means that everything that the town submitted was accurate and timely and there was nothing that caused the auditor alarm or suspicion.
For overall financial health, Wadman reported that the town is doing well. According to Wadman, the Maine Municipal Association recommends that towns have a minimum of 10-12% unassigned fund balance when compared with the town’s expended funds.
Trenton’s was 20% for this fiscal year.
Wadman also provided comparisons of Trenton’s expenditures and unassigned fund balances with the towns of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert, and Tremont.
Wadman also spoke to Trenton’s long-term debt and what percentage of the town’s overall state valuation this debt represents and once again provided charts to compare with the same towns.
Trenton has very little long-term debt.
Other Business
During the meeting, select board member Judith Sproule asked if the town had yet to apply for the state’s resiliency grant. Chair Fred Ehrlenbach replied that the Hancock County Planning Commission had done the work for the town and submitted the letter to the grant program.
The select board unanimously approved the renewal of the Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound’s liquor license.
The select board also unanimously approved the signing of two quitclaim deeds.
The next select board meeting is scheduled for July 22 at 7 p.m., at the town office.
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