Boothbay Region Land Trust application for site plan review of parking lot on McKay Road

The following were present for the site walk at the Church property on McKay Road: Planning board members Dave Boucher, Barry Hathorne, Jarryl Larson and Pat Jeremiah; Bob Leone, chairman of the Schmid committee; Nick Ullo, BRLT; Dwayne West, abutter; Byron Johnson; and Jackie Lowell, planning board secretary.

The site walk began at 4:30 p.m. at a fairly level, cleared area approximately the size of the planned parking lot (40’ x 70’). Capacity of the proposed lot is four to six cars. Barry Hathorne and Byron Johnson measured the sight distance from the driveway to the top of the hill: it was 400 feet, the requirement in a 40 mph zone.

The setback from the road was less than the 50 feet from the road right-of-way or 75 feet from the centerline of the road as required by the site plan review ordinance. The ground slopes off beyond the cleared area, making it difficult to move the parking lot farther from the road. In addition there are poplar trees and a willow tree that the applicants were hoping to save but would have to be cut down if the parking lot were moved in that direction. There was discussion regarding vehicles having the ability to enter and leave the parking lot in a forward direction and suggestions how this could be accomplished by means of a fence.

An area farther down the hill was looked at as an alternative site but was not considered an improvement over the original site.

Bob Leone said he had two alternatives: either cut more trees and move the site in order to have a 50-foot setback or ask the Appeals Board for a variance if the application is denied. He will bring new plans to the planning board meeting on October 15. The site walk ended at 5:35 p.m.