Land Use Regulation & Shoreland Zoning [Amended 06-11-08]

• Any newly-constructed or newly-relocated building shall be situated on a lot with 150 feet of frontage.
• No building shall extend closer than 75 feet from the centerline of the traveled way.
• All lots shall have a minimum side and rear setback of 10 feet.

a. Road crossings of watercourses shall be kept to the minimum number necessary;

b. Bottoms of culverts shall be installed at streambed elevation;

c. All cut or fill banks and areas of exposed mineral soil shall be revegetated or otherwise stabilized as soon as possible; and

d. Bridges or culverts of adequate size and design shall be provided for all road crossings of watercourses which are to be used when surface waters are unfrozen.  The requirement for a bridge or culvert may be waived by obtaining a permit from the Planning Board.

2. The determination of suitability shall be based on a soils report prepared by a State Licensed Site Evaluator based on an on-site investigation and soil observation hole to a depth of four feet or refusal.  Suitability consideration shall be based primarily on criteria employed in the State of Maine Subsurface Wastewater Disposal Rules as modified by on-site factor such as depth to water table and restrictive layer. (Impervious layer-bedrock).

3. Any new well shall be placed no closer than 100 feet from an existing septic system and shall be shown on the sewage disposal application.

4. This section does not apply to an existing developed lot. 

B. Setbacks 

The minimum setback for underground sewage disposal facilities from the normal high water mark of a waterbody shall be no less than 100 horizontal feet.  Where daily sewage flow exceeds 2,000 gallons, the minimum setback shall be 300 feet from any shoreline.  All setback requirements of the State Plumbing Code shall be met in full.  Setbacks from shorelines for all subsurface sewage disposal facilities shall not be reduced by variance. 

 2. Privies 

Privies may be permitted in areas not served by community sewer facilities under the following conditions: 

A. No plumbing of any kind shall be connected to or discharged into the privy pit. 

B. The privy shall be located at a minimum horizontal distance of 100 feet from the normal high water mark of a waterbody. 

C. The bottom of the privy pit shall be at least two feet above bedrock and the ground water table at its highest point during the year or have a water-tight vault. 

D. Privies shall not be permitted on recent flood plain soils. 

 3. Other Systems 

Other systems of sanitary waste disposal may be permitted after approval by the Maine Department of Health & Welfare, and after a permit has been issued by the Plumbing Inspector. 

The following provisions shall govern the use of signs in all districts, except as may be permitted with Site Plan Review approval: 

1. Signs and billboards relating to goods and services sold on the premises shall be permitted, provided such signs shall not exceed six (6) square feet in area, and shall not exceed two (2) signs per premises.  Billboards and signs relating to goods and services not rendered on the premises shall be prohibited. 

2. Name signs shall be permitted, provided such signs shall not exceed two (2) signs per premises. 

3. Residential users may display a single sign not over three (3) square feet in area relating to the sale, rental, or lease of the premises. 

4. Signs relating to trespassing and hunting shall be permitted without restriction as to number provided that no such sign shall exceed two (2) square feet in area. 

5. No sign shall extend higher than twenty (20) feet above the ground. 

6. Signs may be illuminated only by shielded, non-flashing lights.

1. All land uses shall be located on soils in or upon which the proposed uses or structures can be established or maintained without causing adverse environmental impacts, including severe erosion, mass soil movement, and water pollution, whether during or after construction.  Proposed uses requiring subsurface waste disposal, and commercial or industrial development and other similar intensive land uses, shall require a soils report, prepared by a State-certified soil scientist or geologist based on an on-site investigation.  Suitability considerations shall be based primarily on criteria employed in the National Cooperative Soil Survey as modified by on-site factors such as depth to water table and depth to refusal. 

1. All principal structures in the Resource Protection and Limited Residential-Recreational Districts shall be set back at least 100 feet from the normal high water mark of any pond, river, or salt water body as defined. 

2. The first floor elevation or openings of all buildings and structures shall be elevated at least two feet above the elevation of the 100 year flood, the flood of record, or, in the absence of these, the flood as defined by soil types identifiable as recent flood plain soils. 

3. All principal structures will be constructed in conformance with existing and future town Ordinances. 

1. No substantial accumulation of slash shall be left within fifty (50) feet of the normal high water mark of any pond, river, or salt water body as defined.  At distances greater than fifty (50) feet from the normal high water mark of such waters and extending to the limits of the area covered by this Ordinance, all slash shall be disposed of in such a manner that it lies on the ground and no part thereof extends more than four feet above the ground. 

2. Skid trails, log yards, and other sites where the operation of logging machinery results in the exposure of substantial areas of mineral soil shall be located such that an unscarified filter strip is retained between the exposed mineral soil and the normal high water mark of any pond, river, or salt water body as defined.  The width of this strip shall vary according to the average slope of the land as follows: 

3. Harvesting operations shall be conducted in such a manner and at such a time that minimal soil disturbance results.  Adequate provision shall be made to prevent soil erosion and sedimentation of surface waters. 

4. Harvesting operations shall be conducted in such a manner that a well distributed stand of trees is retained. 

5. Harvesting activities shall not create single openings greater than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) square feet in the forest canopy. 

6. In any stand, harvesting shall remove not more than forty (40) percent of the volume of trees in any ten (10) year period.  For the purpose of these standards, a stand means a contiguous group of trees, sufficiently uniform in species, arrangement of age classes, and conditions, to be identifiable as a homogeneous and distinguishable unit. 

7. Timber harvesting operations not in conformance with 2, 4, 5, and 6 above may be allowed by the Planning Board upon approval of a permit granted in accordance with the provisions of Section 1-112-B subsection 6, paragraphs a-i upon a clear showing by the applicant that such an exception is necessary for proper timber management. 

 No activity shall locate, store, discharge, or permit the discharge of any treated, untreated, or inadequately treated liquid, gaseous, or solid materials of such nature, quantity, obnoxiousness, toxicity, or temperature that run off, seep, percolate, or wash into surface or ground waters so as to contaminate, pollute, or harm such waters or cause nuisances, such as objectionable shore deposits, floating or submerged debris, oil or scum, color, odor, taste, or unsightliness or be harmful to human, animal, plant or aquatic life. 

Piers, docks, wharves, breakwaters, causeways, bridges over 20 feet in length, and uses projecting into water bodies shall meet the standards in Paragraph G of this section.  All other changes in use or improvements shall be reviewed by the Planning Board under the Site Plan Review Ordinance.  

1. Marinas must not interfere with the free and safe navigation and reasonable public use of the rivers and waterways.

2. Marinas must be in conformity of the Army Corps of Engineers guidelines “For the Placement of fixed floating structures in Navigable Waters of The United States regulated by New England District” (July 1996 or most recent edition).   The Army Corps’ “rule of thumb” for mooring fields (Army Corps guideline #10, 1996) shall not apply in the Town of Bowdoinham.   

3. In a linear waterway, such as a river or narrow estuary, a reasonable area of public water should be maintained for the public interest.  In such areas, the marina structure in the water shall extend from shore a distance that does not exceed 25% of the width of the waterway as measured at mean low water.  

4. All structures and boats docked at marinas must be sited to provide a reasonable buffer between the boat and/or structure and the full scope of boats at nearby moorings, in order to provide safe access to those moorings.  The minimum buffer zone between the scope of the moorings for moored boats and marina boats and/or structures is 15 feet. 

5. The overall footprint of a marina, including all floats and docks, must be sited within a distance of 280 linear feet. The overall piers, docks, wharves and uses projecting into the water of any marina shall be limited to a maximum of 20 boat slips. 

6. In general, to prevent conflicts with neighboring waterfront property owners, the required minimum setback is 25 feet from the reasonable riparian property boundary.   

8. Marinas shall not engage in either significant boatyard maintenance activities (including, but not limited to, extensive engine repair, stripping of paint, and power-washing) or the commercial storage and pumping of fuel. 

Section 1-112. Administration

 1. Code Enforcement Officer 

The Code Enforcement Officer shall be the Building Inspector who shall be appointed by the Municipal Officers. 

 2. Board of Appeals 

There is hereby created the Board of Appeals of the Town of Bowdoinham pursuant to the provisions of State law. 

1. Permits Required 

After the effective date of this Ordinance no persons shall engage in any use of land requiring a permit in the district in which it would occur, or expand or change an existing non-conforming use, or renew a discontinued non-conforming use without first obtaining a permit. 

2. Permit Application

Applications for permits shall be submitted in writing.  The Code Enforcement Officer, Plumbing Inspector, or Planning Board may require the submission of whatever information is necessary to determine conformance with the provisions of this Ordinance.

3. Plumbing Permit Required Prior to Building Permit

No building permit shall be issued for any structure or use involving the construction, installation or alteration of plumbing facilities unless a permit for such facilities has been secured by the applicant or his authorized agent, according to the requirements of this Ordinance. 

4. Approval of Permits 

Permits shall not be denied if the proposed use is found to be in conformance with the provisions of this Ordinance.  All permits shall either be approved or denied within 60 days of receipt of a completed application., including all information requested. 

5. Permits Issued by Code Enforcement Officer 

The Code Enforcement Officer shall approve or deny those applications on which he is empowered to act as shown in Section 1-110.  Approval shall be granted only if the proposed use is in conformance with the provisions of this Ordinance. 

6. Permits Issued by Planning Board 

The Planning Board shall approve or deny those applications on which it is empowered to act as stated in this Ordinance.  The Planning Board may, after the submission of a complete application including all information requested, grant a permit if it makes a positive finding based on the information presented to it that, except as specifically exempted in this Ordinance, the proposed use: 

a. Will not result in unsafe or unhealthful conditions;

d. Will not result in damage to spawning grounds, fish, aquatic life, bird and other wildlife habitat;

f. Will conserve visual points of access to waters as viewed from public facilities;

g. Will conserve actual points of public access to waters;

i. Will avoid problems associated with flood plain development and use; 

7. Conditions 

Permits granted under this Section may be made subject to reasonable conditions to ensure conformity with the purposes and provisions of this Ordinance. 

1. Variances

A copy of all variances granted by the Board of Appeals shall be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection.  The Board of Appeals, may upon written application of the affected landowner, grant a variance from the strict application of the Ordinance under the following conditions:

a. That the land in question cannot yield a reasonable return unless a variance is granted; 

b. The hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner;  

c. That the granting of a variance will not alter the essential character of the locality; and 

d. That the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general condition in the neighborhood. 

A variance is authorized only for dimensional requirements, including lot area, lot coverage by structures, frontage, and setbacks.  A variance shall not be granted to permit a use of structure otherwise prohibited. 

 2. Appeals to Board of Appeals 

The Board of Appeals may, upon written application, determine appeals and variances referred to the Board under Article V of the Board of Appeals Ordinance and in accordance with the notice requirements and hearing procedures set forth in the Board of Appeals Ordinance. 

 3. Appeal to Superior Court 

An appeal may be taken within thirty days after any decision is rendered by the Board of Appeals, by any party to Superior Court in accordance with State law. 

 D. Enforcement 

1. Civil Violations 

Any violation of this Ordinance shall be deemed to be a civil violation. 

2. Code Enforcement Officer 

A Code Enforcement officer shall be appointed or reappointed annually. 

It shall be the duty of the Code Enforcement Officer to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance.  If the Code Enforcement Officer shall find that any provision of this Ordinance is being violated, he shall notify in writing the person responsible for such violation, indicating the nature of the violation and ordering the action necessary to correct it, including discontinuance of illegal use of land, buildings, structures, or work being done, removal of illegal buildings or structures, and abatement of nuisance conditions.  A copy of such notices shall be maintained as a permanent record. 

3. Legal Actions

When the above action does not result in the correction or abatement of the violation or nuisance condition, the Municipal Officers, upon notice from the Code Enforcement Officer, are hereby authorized and directed to institute any and all actions and proceedings, either legal or equitable, including seeking injunctions of violations and the imposition of fines, that may be appropriate or necessary to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance in the name of the municipality. 

4. Fines 

The penalties for violation of this Ordinance shall be as prescribed in Title 30 MRSA Section 4966, as follows:

Civil Penalties.  The following provisions shall apply to violations of the laws and Ordinances set forth in this section, and all monetary penalties shall be civil penalties. 

1. The minimum penalty for starting construction or undertaking a land use activity without a required permit shall be $100, and the maximum penalty shall be $2,500 for each violation. 

2. The minimum penalty for a specific violation shall be $100, and the maximum penalty shall be $2,500. 

3. The violator may be ordered to correct or abate the violations.  Where the court finds that the violation was willful, the violator shall be ordered to correct or abate the violation unless the abatement or correction will: 

a.) Result in a threat or hazard to public health or safety;

b.) Result in substantial environmental damage; or

c.) Result in a substantial injustice. 

4. If the municipality is the prevailing party, it shall be awarded reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees and costs, unless the court finds that special circumstances make the ward of these fees and costs unjust.  If the defendant is the prevailing party, he may be awarded reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and costs as provided by court rule. 

5. In setting a penalty, the court shall consider, but shall not be limited to, the following: 

a.) Prior violations by the same party;

b.) The degree of environmental damage that cannot be abated or corrected;

c.) The extent to which the violation continued following a municipal order to stop; and

d.) The extent to which the municipality contributed to the violation by providing the violator with incorrect information or by failing to take timely action. 

6. The maximum penalty may exceed $2,500, but shall not exceed $25,000, when it can be shown that there has been a previous conviction of the same party within the past 2 years of the same law or Ordinance. 

All proceedings arising under the provisions of locally administered laws and Ordinances shall be brought in the name of the municipality, and those fines shall be paid to the municipality. 

Terms not defined herein shall have the customary dictionary meaning.  As used in this Ordinance, the following definitions shall apply.  The word "shall" is always mandatory; the word "may" is permissive. 

Any change, addition, or modification in construction or change in the structural members of a building such as bearing walls, columns, beams, or girders, or in the use of a building. 

A person whose land is directly or indirectly affected by the grant or denial of a permit or variance under this Ordinance, a person whose land abuts land for which a permit or variance has been granted, or a group of five or more citizens of the municipality who represent an interest adverse to the grant or denial of such a permit or variance. 

The keeping or raising of animals, including fowl, for any commercial use.  This definition also includes kennels.

A geologic formation composed of rock or sand and gravel that stores and transmits significant quantities of recoverable water. 

A primary or secondary recharge area composed of porous material or rock sufficiently fractured to allow infiltration and percolation of surface water and transmission of it to aquifers. 

A business establishment engaged in general repair, engine rebuilding, parts replacement, rebuilding or reconditioning of motor vehicles, body, frame or fender straightening and repair, painting and undercoating, and mechanized washing of automobiles but where no engine fuels are sold at retail. 

A business establishment engaged in the sale of engine fuel, kerosene, motor oil and lubricants directly to the public, and minor repair of automobiles but not including storage of unlicensed vehicles and not including body, frame or fender straightening and repair. 

A space, which may be occupied only by a fence, wall, customary yard accessories, landscaping for screening purposes, and a driveway not used for parking. 

A structure for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, goods or property of any kind. 

Business and Professional Offices 

The place of business of doctors, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, architects, surveyors, real estate and insurance businesses, psychiatrists, counselors, and the like or in which a business conducts its administrative, financial or clerical operations including banks and other financial services. 

Any area or tract of land used to accommodate two or more parties, in temporary living quarters, including tents, trailers, or other camping outfits. 

A private establishment providing day care for thirteen (13) or more children under the age of 16 which charges for the care of the children and holds all legally required licenses and approvals. 

A private home providing day care for less than thirteen (13) children under the age of sixteen (16) which charges for the care of children and which holds all legally required licenses and approvals. 

A building or structure, or groups of buildings or structures, designed, primarily intended or used for the conduct of religious services and accessory uses associated therewith. 

A person appointed by the Board of Selectmen to administer and enforce this Ordinance.  Reference to the Code Enforcement Officer may be construed to include Building Inspector, Plumbing Inspector, Health Officer and the like where applicable.  

A conditional use of land or building is a use that generally would be appropriate in the zoning district for which it is proposed after review and with certain restrictions and controls to meet the intentions and purposes of this Ordinance.  Conditional uses are permitted only after review and approval by the Planning Board. 

Real estate, portions of which are designated for separate ownership and the remainder of which are designed for common ownership solely by the owners of those portions under a declaration, or an amendment to a declaration, duly recorded pursuant to Maine law.  Real estate is not a condominium unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners.  Any real estate development consisting exclusively of clustered, detached, single family residences is not a condominium, unless so designated in the declaration. 

A building, structure, use of land, or portion thereof, which complies with all the applicable provisions of this Ordinance. 

A lot located at the intersection of two streets, roads or public rights-of-way. 

A level structure adjacent to a building elevated above the surface of the ground which may have a railing, but no roof, awning or other covering. 

Any building or structure or portions thereof containing one or more dwelling units, including manufactured and mobile homes, but not including a motel, hotel, inn, or similar use. 

One or more habitable rooms arranged, designed, or intended to be used as a complete housekeeping unit for one or more individuals living together as a family with independent living, cooking, sleeping, bathing and sanitary facilities. 

Emergency operations shall include operations conducted for the public health, safety or general welfare, such as protection of resources from immediate destruction or loss, law enforcement, and operations to rescue human beings and livestock from the threat of destruction or injury. 

Facilities for the transmission or distribution of water, gas, electricity or communications or for the collection, treatment or disposal of wastes, including without limitation, towers, poles, wires, mains, drains, sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm and police call boxes, traffic signals, hydrants and similar accessories but not buildings. 

The excavation, processing or storage of soil, topsoil, peat, loam, sand, gravel, rock or other mineral deposits, not including:

 a) The excavation of material incidental to approved construction of buildings, driveways or parking areas; 

 b) The excavation of material incidental to and at the site of construction or repair of streets; and 

 c) The excavation, processing or storage of less than twenty-five (25) cubic yards of material on a lot within a one year period. 

One or more persons occupying a dwelling and living as a single housekeeping unit, as distinguished from a group occupying a tourist home, rooming house, hotel, motel or inn. 

The cultivation of the soil for food products or other useful or valuable growth of the field or garden, nursery stock and non-commercial greenhouses, but excluding animal husbandry. 

That area within the Town of Bowdoinham located below the elevation of the 100-year flood, as shown on Bowdoinham's Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps. 

Forest Management Activities 

Timber cruising and other forest resources evaluation activities, management planning activities, insect and disease control, timber stand improvement, pruning, timber harvesting and other forest harvesting, regeneration of forest stands, and other similar associated activities, but not the construction or creation of roads. 

The length of a lot bordering on a public or private street, road, or right-of-way.  

That line which separates the lot from a public or private right-of-way.  On a corner lot, the front lot line is the line along the most traveled right-of-way as determined by the Code Enforcement Officer. 

Substances identified by the Board of Environmental Protection under 38 M.R.S.A., Section 1319, as amended. 

The vertical distance between the mean finished grade or the mean original grade, whichever is lowest in elevation, at the building or structure and the highest point of the roof. 

That line on the shores and banks of non-tidal waters which is apparent because of the contiguous different character of the soil or the vegetation due to the prolonged action of the water.  Relative to vegetation, it is that line where the vegetation changes from predominantly aquatic to predominantly terrestrial (by way of illustration, aquatic vegetation includes but is not limited to the following plants and plant groups -- water lily, pond lily, pickerel weed, cattail, wild rice, sedges, rushes, and marsh grasses; and terrestrial vegetation includes but is not limited to the following plants and plant groups -- upland grasses, aster, lady slipper, wintergreen, partridge berry, sarsaparilla, pines, cedars, oaks, ashes, alders, elms, and maples).  In places where the shore or bank is of such character that the high water mark cannot be easily determined (rockslides, ledges, rapidly eroding or slumping banks) the normal high water mark shall be estimated from places where it can be determined by the above method. 

A business or profession which is carried on in a dwelling unit, or other structure accessory to a dwelling unit, by a member of the family residing in the dwelling unit, clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes. 

A structure providing lodging, for a fee, on a per diem basis.  Accessory uses may include restaurants, meeting rooms, function halls, and associated recreation facilities. 

A yard, field or other area used as a place of storage for: 

 a) Discarded, worn-out or junked plumbing, heating supplies, household appliances and furniture; 

 b) Discarded, scrap and junked lumber; 

c) Old or scrap copper, brass, rope, rags, batteries, paper, trash, rubber debris, waste and all scrap iron, steel and other scrap ferrous or non-ferrous material; and 

A commercial establishment in which more than four (4) dogs more than one year old are housed, bred, boarded, trained or sold. 

A business establishment engaged in the manufacturing, packaging, processing, assembling or testing of goods or products, provided that all operations shall be carried on indoors and in such a manner as to confine smoke, fumes, dust, odors, and noise to the premises, and that no operations shall constitute a hazard by reason of the potential for fire, explosion, radiation release or other casualty. 

An area of land in one ownership, or one lease-hold, with ascertainable boundaries established by deed or instrument of record, or a segment of land ownership defined by lot boundary lines on a land subdivision plan duly approved by the Planning Board and recorded in the Sagadahoc County Registry of Deeds. 

A structural unit or units designed for occupancy, and constructed in a manufacturing facility and then transported by the use of its own chassis, or placed on an independent chassis, to a building site.  The term includes any type of building which is constructed at a manufacturing facility and then transported to a building site where it is utilized for housing and may be purchased or sold by a dealer in the interim. 

A shorefront commercial facility with provisions for one or more of the following: boat storage, boat launching, or the sale of supplies and services for watercraft, and their equipment and accessories.  The term shall also include any dock, pier, wharf, float, floating business, or combination of such facilities that serve five or more boats as a commercial enterprise or in association with a club. 

The width of a lot measured along the front lot line between the points of intersection of the side lot lines with the front lot line on a public or private right-of-way.   On the corner lot, the minimum lot width must be measured along the most traveled right-of-way. 

"Mobile home park" means a contiguous parcel of land designed for the location of  two or more mobile homes, trailers, or manufactured homes, which is licensed as a mobile home park by the Maine Department of Business Regulation. 

A residential structure containing three or more dwelling units. 

A governmental use funded whole or in part by the Town of Bowdoinham including, by way of illustration and without limitation, municipal buildings, public schools, public parks, public recreational facilities and fire stations. 

A building, structure, use of land, or portion thereof, existing at the effective date of adoption or amendment of this Ordinance which does not conform to all applicable provisions of this Ordinance. 

A minimum area of 200 square feet, 20 feet by 10 feet, exclusive of drives, aisles or entrances, fully accessible for the storage or parking of vehicles. 

A level area adjacent to a dwelling unit constructed of stone, cement or other material located at ground level, with no railing or other structure above the level of the ground. 

Piers, Docks, Wharves, Breakwaters, Causeways, Marinas, Bridges over 20 Feet in Length, and Uses Projecting into Water Bodies 

Temporary: Structures which remain in the water for less than seven months in any period of twelve consecutive months. 

Permanent: Structures which remain in the water for seven months or more in any period of twelve consecutive months.

Any inland body of water which has surface area in excess of 10 acres, except where such body of water is man-made and in addition is completely surrounded by land held by a single owner, and except those privately owned ponds which are held primarily as waterfowl and fish breeding areas or for hunting and fishing. 

The structure in which the primary use of the lot is conducted. 

A pit in the ground into which human excrement is placed. 

A building owned by a unit or agency of local government, the State of Maine or any of its agencies, and the United States Government or any of its agencies. 

Any person, firm, corporation, municipal department, board or commission authorized to furnish gas, steam, electricity, waste disposal, communication facilities, transportation or water to the public. 

Recent flood plain soils include the following soils as described and identified by the National Soil Survey: 

lluvial land

Hadley silt loam

Limerick silt loam

Ondawa fine sandy loam

Podunk fine sandy loam

Rumney fine sandy loam

Saco silt loam

Suncook loamy sand

Winooski silt loam 

Non-intensive recreational uses not requiring structures, such as hunting, fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, fire prevention activities, wildlife management practices, soil and water conservation practices, harvesting of wild crops, and public and private parks and recreation areas involving minimal structural development. 

Any non-municipal indoor or outdoor recreational use such as, but not limited to, golf courses, tennis courts, riding stables, swimming pools, or ice skating rinks, but not including campgrounds, drive-in movie theaters, race tracks, water slides, miniature golf and mechanical or motorized rides. 

A vehicle or vehicular attachment designed for temporary sleeping or living quarters for one or more persons, which is not a dwelling, and which may include a pick-up camper, travel trailer, tent trailer, or motor home. (See Trailer). 

An establishment where food and drink is prepared and served to or consumed by the public. 

A business whose principal use is the-retail sale of consumer goods. 

All public or private roads and streets, state and federal highways, private ways (now called public easements), and public land reservations for the purpose of public access as designated on the official map of the Town. 

Any free flowing body of water from that point at which it provides drainage for a watershed of 25 square miles to its mouth. 

A route or track consisting of a bed of exposed mineral soil, gravel, asphalt or other surfacing material constructed for or created by the repeated passage of motorized vehicles. 

A business whose principal use is the provision of services including, but not limited to, barber shop, beauty salon, shoe repair, laundry service, or tailor shop. 

The minimum horizontal distance from a lot line to the nearest part of a building. 

All land areas within, and seaward of, 250 feet, horizontal distance, of the normal high water mark of any pond, river, stream, bay, estuary, or wetlands as defined. 

An object, device or structure, or part thereof, situated outdoors or indoors, which is used to advertise, identify, display, direct or attract attention to an object, person, institution, organization, business, product, service, event or location by any means, including words, letters, figures, design, symbols, fixtures, colors, illumination or projected images. 

 a) Billboard.  A structure designed, intended or used for advertising a product, property, business, entertainment, service, amusement or the like, and not located where the matter advertised is available or occurs.  A billboard is deemed not to be a sign as otherwise defined herein. 

 b) Free Standing Sign.  A sign supported by one or more uprights or braces permanently affixed into the ground. 

 c) Portable Sign.  A sign not designed or intended to be permanently affixed into the ground or to a structure. 

 d) Roof sign.  A sign located upon or over a roof of a building. 

 e) Temporary Sign.  A sign or advertising display designed, intended to be displayed or displayed for a short period of time. 

Defined specifically as Baker Brook, Shingleman's Creek, Sampson's Creek, Denham Stream,  Sedgely Brook and Mallon Brook as shown on the Official Land Use District Map. 

Anything built for the support, shelter or enclosure of persons, animals, goods, or property of any kind.  Structures include buildings, platforms, decks, in-ground swimming pools, wharves, piers, and floats; excluded are patios, fences, boundary walls, walks and driveway, earth-work and sanitary sewage disposal facilities, radio towers and antennas. 

A. A subdivision is the division of a tract or parcel of land into 3 or more lots within any 5-year period, which period begins after September 22, 1971, whether accomplished by sale, lease, development, buildings or otherwise, provided that a division accomplished by devise, condemnation, order of court, gift to a person related to the donor by blood, marriage or adoption or a gift to a municipality, unless the intent of that gift is to avoid the objectives of this section, or by transfer of any interest in land to the owner of land abutting thereon, shall not be considered to create a lot or lots for the purposes of this section. 

B. In determining whether a tract or parcel of land is divided into 3 or more lots, the first dividing of such tract or parcel, unless otherwise exempted herein, shall be considered to create the first 2 lots and the next dividing of either of the first 2 lots, by whomever accomplished, unless otherwise exempted, herein, shall be considered to create a 3rd lot, unless both those dividings are accomplished by a subdivider who shall have retained one of the lots for his own use as a single family residence or for open space land as defined in Title 36, Section 1102 for a period of at least 5 years prior to that 2nd dividing. 

C. A lot of at least 40 acres shall not be counted as a lot except: 

a. Where the lot or parcel from which it was divided is located wholly or partly within any shoreland area as defined in Title 38, Section 435; or 

b. When a municipality has by Ordinance, or the municipal reviewing authority has, by regulation, elected to count lots of 40 acres or more in size as lots for the purpose of this subsection where the parcel of land being divided is located wholly outside any shoreland area as defined in Title 38, Section 435. 

For the purposes of this section, a tract or parcel of land is defined as all contiguous land in the same ownership, provided that lands located on opposite sides of a public or private road shall be considered each a separate tract or parcel of land unless such road was established by the owner of land on both sides thereof. 

The cutting and removal of trees from their growing site, and the attendant operation of cutting and skidding machinery but not the construction or creation of roads.  Timber harvesting does not include the clearing of land for approved construction or cutting wood for personal family use. 

Any vehicle used or so constructed as to permit its being used as a temporary dwelling for travel, recreation and vacation use.  This term shall include but not be limited to camper, camper-trailer and all other similar short-term shelter devices. 

See Campground or Mobile Home Park. 

As used in this Ordinance, the words "undue hardship" shall mean all of the following: 

A. That the land in question cannot yield a reasonable return unless a variance is granted; and 

B. That the need for a variance is due to the unique circumstances of the property and not to the general conditions in the neighborhood; and  

C. That the granting of a variance will not alter the essential character of the locality; and 

D. That the hardship is not the result of action taken by the applicant or a prior owner. 

A variance is not justified unless all elements are present in the case.   

The purpose for which land or a structure is arranged, designed or intended, or is occupied. 

Includes only permitted uses and not conditional uses or non-permitted uses. 

A relaxation of the terms of this Ordinance that may be granted by the Board of Appeals only where strict application of this Ordinance, or a provision thereof, to the petitioner or his property, would cause undue hardship.  A variance may only be granted for a permitted use in that particular district. 

A structure used primarily for the storage and/or distribution of commodities.   

The term "wetland" shall include all coastal and freshwater wetlands.  "Coastal Wetlands" as defined in the Alteration or Coastal Wetlands Act, Title 38 M.R.S.A. Section 471 et seq., are all tidal and sub-tidal lands including all areas below any identifiable debris line left by tidal action, all areas with vegetation present that is tolerant of salt water and occurs primarily in a salt water habitat, and any swamp, marsh, bog, beach, flat or other contiguous lowland which is subject to tidal action or normal storm flowage at any time excepting periods of maximum storm activity.  Coastal wetlands may include portions of coastal sand dunes.  Fresh water wetlands as defined in the Freshwater Wetlands Act, Title 38 Section 405 et seq., are all wetlands of ten or more acres which are characterized predominantly by wetland soils and vegetation.

Certified to be a true copy of ordinance passed 9/15/1975. Revised 6/29/88, 9/29/88, 6/19/89, 6/20/01, 5/8/02

“Attest: A true copy of an ordinance entitled Land Use Regulation & Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, as certified to me by the municipal officers of the Town of Bowdoinham, Maine, and adopted by the special town meeting on the 8th day of January, 2008.” 

Pamela C. Ross, Bowdoinham, Town Clerk