With the land use regulatory environment becoming ever more complex in the State of Maine, the concept of a Lead Professional assisting clients in evaluating land use criteria for a given project is being realized by Herrick & Salsbury, Inc. The use of a lead professional saves the client from missing pieces of information needed to evaluate development.

 

          As a Lead Professional, Herrick & Salsbury, Inc. will work with clients to navigate the regulatory process of permitting a project from constructing a driveway or road, retaining wall, building a home, developing a commercial site or a subdivision of land. As needed, we will consult with other professionals that we have working relationships with.

 

    Stephen R. Salsbury is a State of Maine certified Code Enforcement Officer, and while not holding a code enforcement position for a municipality, he demonstrates an understanding of the complexities of land use regulations. Code Enforcement Officers are governed by the Maine State Planning Office and are required to maintain proficiency with continuing education.

 

          Developing an application for regulatory approvals can take weeks or months, depending on the scope of development. With our experience we can assess the level of permitting needed for any given project and develop a list of needed permits and estimate a timeline for completion of the permitting process.

 

          Examples of those issues that need to be considered during a permitting process are local zoning, setbacks, density of development, access to utilities, existing soil conditions, access to a curb cut or a highway entrance permit, essential wildlife habitat, flood plains, stormwater management, wetlands, total amount of disturbed area, total amount of impervious area, impact on historic sites, subdivision law and site location law. Each of these issues could be within the jurisdiction of local, state or federal regulatory agencies.

 

          Other land use issues concerning the development of property could involve removing the parcel from tree growth tax designation and regulations concerning forest liquidation harvesting on a parcel of land within the past five years.

 

          Considerations and due diligence of a potential land purchase or development include: 

• Access to streets and highways

• Sewer capacity or on site disposal capacity

• Traffic flow

• Town or municipal zoning

• Fire protection

• Lighting requirements or limitations

• Setbacks

• Density

• Height restrictions

• Parking requirements

• Flood plain adjacency

• Historic sites

• Archeological sites

• Waste disposal

• Availability of utilities

• Wellhead protection

• Wetlands

• Vernal pools

• Shore bird habitat

• Wildlife habitat

• Amount of disturbed area within project

• Stormwater containment

• Registered farmland

• Tax consequences

• Forestry laws

• Neighborhood concerns