Trenton adopts contract zoning

TRENTON – It took about 45 minutes Tuesday night for townspeople to discuss and then adopt a new ordinance that allows contract zoning.

It is believed that with the vote, Trenton has become the first municipality in Maine where voters have the final say in contract zoning matters. In other municipalities, such as Bangor and Saco, elected or appointed officials ultimately approve contract zoning projects.

The proposal was approved by a 39 to 8 vote.

The ordinance would apply to nonresidentially-zoned projects of more than 1 acre in impervious surface. Only land uses not allowed in those zones would qualify for contract zoning, but they would have to be similar to uses that are allowed.

All allowed uses would go through the normal application process to get approved.

Having contract zoning will give the town leverage in determining which commercial projects it wants to have in Trenton and how those projects would be realized, officials have said. It could also say no to contract zoning proposals it does not like.

At a public hearing held just prior to the vote, local resident Steve Savage argued that the ordinance should require developers to pay a bond to help ensure their projects are completed.

Fred Ehrlenbach, chairman of the local planning board, told Savage that the town can ask for anything it wants, including a bond, during the negotiation process.

“When you go into negotiations, everything is on the table,” Ehrlenbach said.

Some residents expressed concern about how contract zoning would apply to the proposed Acadia Gateway Center, which would be used as a maintenance and storage facility for the Island Explorer bus system. Such a center also likely would function eventually as a new visitor’s center for Acadia National Park.

Many residents have said publicly they do not want such a facility to be built in Trenton.

Ehrlenbach said that with contract zoning, the state might have to go to greater lengths to get such a center approved. The governor could override a town vote against such a facility, he said, but it may be a tricky thing to do politically.

Ehrlenbach and Selectman Jim Cameron each stressed, however, that the contract zoning proposal was not a response to the Acadia Gateway Center concept.

The idea of contract zoning came up in Trenton before the Acadia Gateway Center concept surfaced, they said. Besides, the town’s planning board has not received an application for any such facility.

“We don’t even know what it is yet,” Cameron said.