Roll Call & Call to Order - Hugh Townsend, Chair, Secretary and Acting Chair on Nordic Permit review, Declan O'Connor, Members Wayne Corey, Geoff Gilchrist, and David Bond, and Associate Members Daisy Beal (voting member on Nordic application) and Steve Ryan (Not participating in Nordic Review).
Board Consideration of Ordinance Amendments. Solar Energy Systems a. Presentation on Ordinance Amendments - Department staff b. Public Hearing. The City of Belfast Planning Board, at its meeting of Wednesday, December 4, 2019, beginning at 6:00 pm in the Room 138 Conference Facility at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center that is located at 80 Belmont Avenue, shall conduct a public hearing on proposed amendments to City Code of Ordinances regarding solar energy systems. The amendments would apply to all solar energy systems that are installed on or after January 1, 2020, and to all existing solar installations that are modified after January 1, 2020. The amendments identify permitting requirements for all solar energy systems, including the installation of larger commercial systems (larger than 1 acre) that the State of Maine is now encouraging. Amendments are proposed to Chapter 102, Zoning and Chapter 82, Shoreland, and also apply to certain properties located in the flood zone. Persons who may be affected by this proposal are encouraged to attend the public hearing and to offer public comment to the Board. The City also will accept comment in writing or via email by 2:00 pm on December 4. Written comment to: City of Belfast, Code and Planning Dept, 131 Church St, Belfast, ME, 04915. Email comment to: wmarshall@cityofbelfast.org. Questions regarding the proposed amendments should be directed to Wayne Marshall, Director, Code & Planning at 338-1417 x 125, or to wmarshall@cityofbelfast.org. c. Board deliberation on Ordinance amendments and recommendation to Belfast City Council.
Development Review - Nordic Aquafarms Permit Applications, Including Site Plan Permit, Shoreland Permit, Zoning Use Permit, Significant Groundwater Well Permit and Significant Water Intake/(Waste)Water Discharge Pipe Permit NOTE TO PUBLIC: The Board will not be conducting any public hearings on the Nordic Aquafarms permit application at this meeting, and does not anticipate accepting any public comment on the application during its discussions. Nordic Aquafarms, Inc. has submitted an application to develop a land based salmon aquaculture facility on a 56 acre site located on the northwesterly side of Route One near the lower reservoir of the Little River. The applicant proposes to develop the project in two phases over 5 or more years. Total production capacity at build-out is estimated to be 72,732,000 pounds (33,000 metric tons) of salmon per year. Phase 1 involves the construction of about 414,450 square feet of buildings, and Phase 2 involves the construction of about 392,804 square feet of buildings; each phase involves rearing and processing a similar amount of salmon. The facility would use a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) to process water used in rearing the salmon in land based tanks. At full build-out, the facility is projected to use about 1,205 gallons of freshwater per minute (gpm) and about 3,925 gallons of saltwater per minute. The freshwater is proposed to be obtained from three sources: the Belfast Water District (about 500 gpm), on-site groundwater wells (about 455 gpm) and the extraction of surficial water from Reservoir 1 on the Little River (about 250 gpm). Saltwater will be obtained from Belfast Bay via two new off-shore water intake pipes that extend about 6,300 feet from the High Annual Tide into the Bay. The RAS system also involves Nordic Aquafarms treating and regularly discharging the freshwater and saltwater (wastewater/effluent) used to rear salmon back into Belfast Bay via a discharge pipe that extends offshore about 3400 feet from the High Annual Tide. The 56 acre site that Nordic Aquafarms, Inc. proposes to develop includes parts of all of the following properties, as such are identified on the City of Belfast Tax Assessor maps: • Map 29, Lot 39, located at 285 Northport Avenue that is owned by the Belfast Water District (about 29 acres): • Map 4, Lot 104, located off of Northport Avenue that is owned by Sam Cassida (about 12.5 acres): • Map 4, Lot 12A, located at 22 Perkins Road that is owned by Goldenrod Properties, LLC; [dba Mathews Brothers] (about 14.5 acres): and • Map 29, Lot 36, located at 282 Northport Ave, that is owned by Richard Eckrote (easement for construction of water intake/wastewater discharge pipes). The Planning Board is responsible for the review of the following permit applications: • Chapter 82, Shoreland. Shoreland Permit for construction of facilities in the Shoreland Zone, including but not limited to the proposed water intake and discharge pipes. Part of project site is in the General Development Shoreland district and the easement area on the Ekrote property is in the Limited Residential Shoreland district. • Chapter 90, Site Plan. Project requires a Site Plan Permit for a project that may substantially affect the environment. Board is now reviewing the Preliminary Plan application. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a Use Permit for a project that qualifies as a Site Plan. Most of project is in the Route One South Business Park zoning district and the Ekrote property easement area is in the Residential II zoning district. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a permit for the location and use of Significant Groundwater Wells; reference Article VIII, Division 7. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a permit for the location of Significant Water Intake and Significant Water Discharge/Outfall Pipes; reference Article IX, Div 2. 5.1 Board review and discussion of Nordic Aquafarms permit application. 5.2 Board discussion of project review schedule.
Roll Call & Call to Order - Hugh Townsend, Chair, Secretary and Acting Chair on Nordic Permit review, Declan O'Connor, Members Wayne Corey, Geoff Gilchrist, and David Bond, and Associate Members Daisy Beal (voting member on Nordic application) and Steve Ryan (Not participating in Nordic Review).
Board Consideration of Ordinance Amendments. Solar Energy Systems a. Presentation on Ordinance Amendments - Department staff b. Public Hearing. The City of Belfast Planning Board, at its meeting of Wednesday, December 4, 2019, beginning at 6:00 pm in the Room 138 Conference Facility at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center that is located at 80 Belmont Avenue, shall conduct a public hearing on proposed amendments to City Code of Ordinances regarding solar energy systems. The amendments would apply to all solar energy systems that are installed on or after January 1, 2020, and to all existing solar installations that are modified after January 1, 2020. The amendments identify permitting requirements for all solar energy systems, including the installation of larger commercial systems (larger than 1 acre) that the State of Maine is now encouraging. Amendments are proposed to Chapter 102, Zoning and Chapter 82, Shoreland, and also apply to certain properties located in the flood zone. Persons who may be affected by this proposal are encouraged to attend the public hearing and to offer public comment to the Board. The City also will accept comment in writing or via email by 2:00 pm on December 4. Written comment to: City of Belfast, Code and Planning Dept, 131 Church St, Belfast, ME, 04915. Email comment to: wmarshall@cityofbelfast.org. Questions regarding the proposed amendments should be directed to Wayne Marshall, Director, Code & Planning at 338-1417 x 125, or to wmarshall@cityofbelfast.org. c. Board deliberation on Ordinance amendments and recommendation to Belfast City Council.
Development Review - Nordic Aquafarms Permit Applications, Including Site Plan Permit, Shoreland Permit, Zoning Use Permit, Significant Groundwater Well Permit and Significant Water Intake/(Waste)Water Discharge Pipe Permit NOTE TO PUBLIC: The Board will not be conducting any public hearings on the Nordic Aquafarms permit application at this meeting, and does not anticipate accepting any public comment on the application during its discussions. Nordic Aquafarms, Inc. has submitted an application to develop a land based salmon aquaculture facility on a 56 acre site located on the northwesterly side of Route One near the lower reservoir of the Little River. The applicant proposes to develop the project in two phases over 5 or more years. Total production capacity at build-out is estimated to be 72,732,000 pounds (33,000 metric tons) of salmon per year. Phase 1 involves the construction of about 414,450 square feet of buildings, and Phase 2 involves the construction of about 392,804 square feet of buildings; each phase involves rearing and processing a similar amount of salmon. The facility would use a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) to process water used in rearing the salmon in land based tanks. At full build-out, the facility is projected to use about 1,205 gallons of freshwater per minute (gpm) and about 3,925 gallons of saltwater per minute. The freshwater is proposed to be obtained from three sources: the Belfast Water District (about 500 gpm), on-site groundwater wells (about 455 gpm) and the extraction of surficial water from Reservoir 1 on the Little River (about 250 gpm). Saltwater will be obtained from Belfast Bay via two new off-shore water intake pipes that extend about 6,300 feet from the High Annual Tide into the Bay. The RAS system also involves Nordic Aquafarms treating and regularly discharging the freshwater and saltwater (wastewater/effluent) used to rear salmon back into Belfast Bay via a discharge pipe that extends offshore about 3400 feet from the High Annual Tide. The 56 acre site that Nordic Aquafarms, Inc. proposes to develop includes parts of all of the following properties, as such are identified on the City of Belfast Tax Assessor maps: • Map 29, Lot 39, located at 285 Northport Avenue that is owned by the Belfast Water District (about 29 acres): • Map 4, Lot 104, located off of Northport Avenue that is owned by Sam Cassida (about 12.5 acres): • Map 4, Lot 12A, located at 22 Perkins Road that is owned by Goldenrod Properties, LLC; [dba Mathews Brothers] (about 14.5 acres): and • Map 29, Lot 36, located at 282 Northport Ave, that is owned by Richard Eckrote (easement for construction of water intake/wastewater discharge pipes). The Planning Board is responsible for the review of the following permit applications: • Chapter 82, Shoreland. Shoreland Permit for construction of facilities in the Shoreland Zone, including but not limited to the proposed water intake and discharge pipes. Part of project site is in the General Development Shoreland district and the easement area on the Ekrote property is in the Limited Residential Shoreland district. • Chapter 90, Site Plan. Project requires a Site Plan Permit for a project that may substantially affect the environment. Board is now reviewing the Preliminary Plan application. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a Use Permit for a project that qualifies as a Site Plan. Most of project is in the Route One South Business Park zoning district and the Ekrote property easement area is in the Residential II zoning district. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a permit for the location and use of Significant Groundwater Wells; reference Article VIII, Division 7. • Chapter 102, Zoning. Project requires a permit for the location of Significant Water Intake and Significant Water Discharge/Outfall Pipes; reference Article IX, Div 2. 5.1 Board review and discussion of Nordic Aquafarms permit application. 5.2 Board discussion of project review schedule.