CAMDEN — The Planning Board in Camden will hold a public hearing Jan. 9 on proposed amendments to rules governing accessory apartments and expanding site plan guidelines, as well as consider a draft amendment to move certain lots in the Transitional River Business District to the abutting Downtown Business District, and decide whether to approved a subdivision abandonment by Lyman Morse Boatbuilding Company.

The latter request involves undoing the 2010 Steamboat Landing Subdivision, aka the Bean Yard Plan, that was created after the then owners of Wayfarer Marine asked the town to approve a zoning change in order to make the subdivision legal.

At that time, Wayfarer Marine, which was subsequently purchased by Lyman Morse Boatbuilding Company, had asked the town to change zoning in the Harbor Business District so that the Bean Yard could accommodate residential development.

The property in question lies on the east side of Camden Harbor, adjacent to the town-owned Steamboat Landing.

Lyman Morse is asking the town to dissolve the subdivision, as it was approved by the Camden Planning Board in 2010. (See attached PDF for covenants and easement documents)

“Our request to abandon the subdivision that the previous owners of Wayfarer Marine created is simply because it is inapplicable to the marine storage and service business that we operate, and it therefore makes sense to consolidate the lots back into a single one as existed before the subdivision was created,” said Josh Moore, speaking for the company.

The company received a $1.5 million federal grant in Spring 2019 for the latter. Read: Lyman Morse receives $1.5 million federal grant to upgrade Camden marina.

The Boating Infrastructure Grant, administered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is to be used in partnership with the Maine Department of Transportation to build and install a 120-foot fixed pier, a 334-foot wave-attenuating floating dock, a 579-foot floating dock, and 16 slips for other transient vessels, providing a total of 2,000 linear feet of new dockage for eligible transient boaters.

Accessory Apartments public hearing

The public hearing Jan. 9 pertains to new allowances for accessory apartments in several residential zones in town. (See attached PDF for complete proposed amendment language)

The proposed amendments specific sections and, “provide property owners with options regarding the long-term rental of an Accessory Apartment; and, to add Accessory Apartments as a permitted use in the Rural Residential 1(RU-1), Rural Residential 2 (RU-2) and Coastal Residential (C-R) Districts.” according to Camden’s planning office.

And, a public hearing will be held on an amendment to the site plan review rules, “to expand upon, and to define, what constitutes a variety of modifications to an Approved Site Plan.” (See attached PDF)