UPDATED

Camden elects Thomas Hedstrom, Stephanie French to Select Board, says no to Tannery proposal

Tue, 06/14/2022 - 3:30pm

    CAMDEN– Except for two articles — 15 and 16 — on the municipal ballot, voters in Camden said yes to all articles on the town’s 2022 Town Meeting Warrant, which included the easing of density in the town’s Land Use Ordinance, and a moratorium on coastal piers. 

    From the unofficial numbers read off by Elections Warden Peter Gross at 8:10 p.m., voters elected Tom Hedstrom, 713 to 675 to replace incumbent Marc Ratner on the Select Board for a three-year term, and voted Stephanie French in for a vacant two-year seat on the Select Board.

    French was running against former CSD Board Chair Robert Lawson. She received 677 votes, he 542.

    Rebecca Flanghan received 1,044 votes for school board; Taylor Pohlman 519. 

    Approximately 1,500 voters went to the polls today, and approximately 400 sent in absentee ballot.

    Click here for the complete warrant.

    The school budgets — SAD 28 and the Five Town CSD — both passed by a wide margin.

    Votes on the individual warrant articles that generated discussion and debate on the town follow:

    Article 3: Amend the Town Charter to provide for using secret ballot for adoption of the annual budget

    Yes: 943

    No: 498

     

    Article 4: Amend the erosion control standard in the zoning ordinance.

    Yes: 1,289

    No: 72

     

    Article 5: Remove the use and definition of “cottage” in the zoning ordinance and change it to dwelling unit.

    Yes: 1,257

    No: 201

     

    Article 8: Allow multi-family dwellings in the Village Extension District and amend other development standards including minimum lot size and lot coverage requirements.

    Yes: 964

    No: 522

     

    Article 9: Reduce lot size requirements in the Traditional Village zone.

    Yes: 1,058

    No: 448

     

    Article 11: Adopt a moratorium on piers, docks and floats for 180 days.

    Yes: 1,162

    No: 334

     

    Article 15: Authorize the Select Board to dispose of tax-acquired property in any manner the Select Board deems in the best interest of the town, except that the board shall use the special sale process for qualifying homestead property if they choose to anyone there than the former owner.

    Yes: 618

    No: 871

     

    Article 16: Authorize the Select Board to enter a purchase and sales agreed to sell the Apollo Tannery parcel, and that the parcel be developed consistently with the general principles of a central pavilion and gathering center, and flexible incubator spaces, that the purchase price be no less than $250,000, and that the premises have continued availability for a farmers’ market. Also, the town is to retain ownership until the brownfield remediation work is finished.

    Yes: 628

    No: 900

     

    Article 17: Should Article 16 fail, shall the Select Board not sell the Apollo Tannery parcel and stipulate that the parcel can only be sold by a Town Meeting vote.

    Yes: 1,075

    No: 380

     

    Article 21: Shall the town spend $10,481,653 on a 2022-2023 budget?

    Yes, 1,042

    No: 275