Newport board sends ordinances to town meeting

NEWPORT — With only a little more than a week remaining before Newport’s town meeting on March 2, selectmen were busy Wednesday night certifying public hearings and ordinances that voters ultimately must approve or reject.

The five proposed ordinances are:

A mass gathering ordinance to control and direct, for public health and safety reasons, gatherings of more than 1,000 people that last for more than three hours.

A waterfowl control ordinance to discourage and prohibit the feeding of wild ducks and other waterfowl at Sebasticook Lake to decrease fecal matter deposited by the fowl that poses a health threat.

A yard sale ordinance to limit Newport residents to two yard sales per person, per location each year.

A zoning ordinance that features a new set of general land use standards to control and promote orderly development.

A land use ordinance, which is a companion to the town’s current comprehensive plan, and controls and promotes orderly growth and development.

One small change to the zoning and land use ordinances was made during public hearings Wednesday. A parcel located just north of the abandoned railroad crossing on Route 7 was changed from a designation of mixed residential to commercial to accommodate a pending sales agreement to an unnamed car dealership.

A representative of the dealership said the $600,000 project would include a large building for service and sales, and a parking lot to display cars. The dealer would sell new and used autos, but would be a franchised dealership.

Because the project would be larger than 5 acres, Department of Environmental Protection guidelines will come into play and will require protection of Sebasticook Lake from runoff and pollutants.

Copies of the proposed ordinances are available at the town office and will be provided at the town meeting, said officials.

In other business, the board authorized a check to be paid to a Massachusetts firm for renovation and rebuilding of the town’s rescue rig.