KENNEBUNK – The Kennebunk Planning Board approved a special exception that allows the filling of less than 200 feet of wetlands to allow access to portions of a 7.3-acre property at 165 High St.
The approval was needed for owners Sylvain and Maxime Theriault to build a second house on the property. The approval, with conditions, was voted at the Sept. 26 meeting.
A residential abutter, representatives of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District and the town’s conservation commission had expressed concern about potential issues concerning Branch Brook, the primary water supply for the district. The property is in two zones of the Branch Brook Aquifer Protection District, Shoreland Overlay District and the Resource Protection District.
Among the conditions voted by the planning board are that there be no underground fuel storage tanks and no exterior fuel storage tanks except for propane; that the septic tank be pumped initially after three years and then every two years.
Water district representative Justin Richardson noted the plan shows the pressure line to the leach field is nearly 390 feet uphill and, he said, he calculated about 217 gallons of wastewater would be in the two-inch line should there be a power failure. Planning board members mulled the question of mandating a generator to pump wastewater, but ultimately agreed to make it a strong recommendation.
The water company wanted no use of an oil furnace on the property – Richardson noted that provision has been used in properties in nearby Wells. That would be new to Kennebunk, and so the planning board instead decided to prohibit the use of underground and exterior fuel tanks as a condition, instead.
There are to be restrictions on the use of pesticides and herbicides.
Tree cutting on the property is the purview of the code enforcement office, Planner Brittany Howard told the board. She noted there are limits on tree removal in the zoning ordinances.
The special exceptions allow the owners to fil and grade 192 square feet of uplands for a driveway in the shoreland zone portion of the property. It also allows temporary disturbance and restoration of 38 square feet of wetlands for a wastewater effluent line.
The board also referenced conditions already noted in the zoning ordinances.
The vote was 4-1, with planning board member Richard Smith, who said he felt strongly about mandating a generator, dissenting.
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