City
council discusses draft landfill ordinance, overnight parking fees
October
5, 2006
By
Greta Sproul
A draft landfill ordinance
and a proposed hike in downtown parking fees were the main topics at a
regular meeting of the Old Town city council Monday night. Discussion
regarding the draft landfill ordinance centered on a request from the
Juniper Ridge Landfill Advisory Committee that the Council proceed with
a new zoning ordinance regarding expansion of the landfill. Casella
recently began construction on a section of the landfill identified as
“cell 3-B’, which is expected to be completed sometime in November. The
portion of the landfill currently in use has almost reached its
capacity, although spokesmen for Casella say that there should be more
than enough room for additional deposits through the rest of the year.
In accordance with the
original deal made at the time of the landfill’s inception, Casella must
submit an expansion proposal to the State Planning Office in February of
2007. The request made by the landfill advisory committee expresses
concern that any proposal submitted by Casella prior to the adoption of
a new zoning ordinance would make it difficult for the city to regulate
or control future expansion of the landfill.
In addressing the request,
city attorney Bob Miller said that a 30-page zoning ordinance had
already been drafted, but that it was “not ready for public review and
discussion at this point.” He added that the draft ordinance was
currently in the process of being reviewed and discussed on an internal
basis.
“The city’s authority to
regulate landfills has been pre-empted somewhat by the state
legislature,” Miller said.
He explained that the city
is allowed to regulate expansion of the landfill as long as the
regulations are not more stringent than those made by the DEP. In
keeping with that, the draft ordinance contains a request that the city
be allowed to conduct its own review after an initial review by the DEP.
A
proposed amendment to an ordinance that would allow overnight downtown
parking by lease only on a yearly basis prompted some extended
discussion from members of the public who attended the meeting. The cost
of leasing an overnight downtown parking spot had formerly been set at
$150 for a six month period, but during last spring’s budget cuts, a
proposal was made to raise the amount to a year-only fee of $300. Old
Town landlord Ken Wark told council members that the $300 fee was
“excessive” and would keep potential tenants from renting apartments in
the downtown area. He also questioned the wisdom in extending the period
of overnight parking leases from six months to a year.
“It
means that students who aren’t going to be renting for the whole year
will still have to pay for the time they’re not here,” he said.
Corinna Larson, an Old Town resident who also owns apartments whose
tenants would be affected by the fee hike, said that the former
overnight parking fee of $150 for six months had originally been set as
a way of discouraging apartments in the downtown area.
“Apartments are the only viable business in the downtown area right
now,” she said.
Larson added that, instead of raising the fee and extending the lease
period to a year to increase revenue, the city should enforce the hourly
parking laws already in effect. Another woman who identified herself as
an “Old Town renter”, who worked “odd hours” as a nurse at Eastern Maine
Medical Center in Bangor, agreed with the need for the city enforce
existing hourly parking laws.
“The
people who work downtown in the daytime aren’t feeding parking meters,”
she said.
The
Council ultimately approved the ordinance with an amendment to revisit
the amount of the fee at a meeting scheduled for Oct. 16.
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