Brooks votes down rentals ordinance

BROOKS – A rental standards ordinance approved at the annual town meeting in March was defeated at a special town meeting Thursday night.

The ordinance and a building notification ordinance faced revotes after the March vote failed to meet the legal procedural requirements.

The rental standards ordinance, endorsed by the town planning board, was conceived as a way to maintain minimum health and life-safety regulations for rental housing in town. After discussion, including comments from landlords who said the ordinance would be costly for them to meet, the ordinance was defeated in a secret ballot vote, 36-30.

The building notification ordinance would require notification of the town office by anyone expanding a building by 400 square feet or more or building a new structure of 400 square feet or more. It passed, 37-27. The ordinance was proposed to keep selectmen, in their role as assessors, abreast of new valuation in town real estate.

Residents debated for about an hour an article that would have authorized selectmen to sell a 210-acre parcel recently acquired for nonpayment of property taxes. Residents amended the article to stipulate that money from the sale of the land be dedicated to a capital expenditure in town, which would have to be approved by a vote of residents.

The land, accessible by School Street Extension and Valley Road and known as the O’Brien property, has been appraised at $110,000. About a third of the property is wetlands and probably undevelopable.

Some of the capital expenditures mentioned at the meeting, that the money from the sale of the land could be used for, included rebuilding some roads and rehabilitating the town-owned Fogg House.

Selectmen pledged to meet with Coastal Community Action Program and Community Housing of Maine, two nonprofit groups that might assist in developing affordable housing on the O’Brien lot.

Selectmen also promised to host public hearings on any proposals for the property before selling it.

An article appropriating $3,200 so the town could buy heating oil at a reduced price also passed at the meeting.