Rotting river pilings prompt clubhouse relocation request, Wiscasset Newspaper, October 29, 2009

Rotting river pilings prompt clubhouse relocation request

By PAULA GIBBS

Editor

Say "yacht club" and most people think big bucks and mega yachts. A $160,000 renovation would hardly be a blip on the New York Yacht Club’s radar screen – with very little effort, an evening fund-raiser or a weekend regatta would probably produce the cash – or a couple of members could just write a check.

But not so, in The Prettiest Village in Maine.

Wiscasset, while pretty, doesn’t have a wealthy yacht club crowd, but it does have a little yacht club, and a little building that houses it. That little building sits on pilings that have been continuously rotting, to the point where it is now time to replace them, or the pretty little building will fall into the pretty little harbor.

David King told the planning board Monday night that the club’s first idea – to move the 30’ by 54’ building off its pilings, replace the pilings, then put the building back – was tossed overboard when the members learned it would cost about $160,000.

"If we had our druthers, we would like to keep the building where it is," King told the board. "But this is not a wealthy club – we can’t afford $160,000."

"The building itself is in good shape," he said. "The people who built it did a nice job."

Planning director Jeff Hinderliter said he had asked town attorney Dennis Jumper to look into whether the club’s land is actually one or two lots. The land is split by railroad tracks. The club would like to move the building back from the water, but no more than 40 feet from the tracks to comply with what King said is the railroad right of way.

Since the building is on a non-conforming lot, any relocation of the building must comply with setback requirements "to the greatest practical extent" as determined by the planning board. Hinderliter noted that if the land is considered two lots, the placement of the building would be affected. Jumper suggested that the club get documented proof that the railroad owns the land "in fee" and "therefore legally separates the yacht club’s lot into two non-contiguous lots."

If the project does go forward as the club members envision it, King said three of the four setbacks would be met.

"Right now, we don’t meet any," he said.

Hinderliter said it may be that the board can grant a waiver for a site plan review because the building is under 2,000 square feet.

The board decided to have a site visit on Tuesday afternoon, then take up the matter at their next meeting.

In other business, the board voted to waive the site plan review process for Greg Lamar, who plans to build a 32’ by 50’ repair garage at Greg’s Used Cars & Service on Route 27. This is another project that qualifies under the 2,000 square foot waiver rule.

The board gave conditional approval to a site plan review application submitted by Norm’s Used Cars for the Route 1 business. The condition was that the necessary Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) approvals be obtained.

The board agreed to remove a requirement that the Wiscasset Airport site plan be signed by a professional land surveyor. Hinderliter said it was his understanding that "the plans have no boundary information or other items that would normally require a surveyor’s signature or seal."