04/24/2014

Town Council committee eyes changes in determining shoreland-protection boundary

The Town Council's ordinance subcommittee will review a proposal that would change how the boundaries of the shoreland protection zone are determined.

Work on a new definition proposed for "normal high water line" - the point where the shoreland zone begins along the coast - will begin May 29, 2014 when the ordinance committee meets, at 8 a.m. at Town Hall. Development is limited within 250 of the line, and prohibited within 75 feet.

The town's zoning ordinance currently defines the normal high water line as " ... the apparent extreme limit of the effect of the tides" and gives the top of a bank, beach or bluff as examples.

This definition can be interpreted many ways, however, and prompted Code Enforcement Officer Benjamin McDougal to ask the Town Council to consider clarifying it. In March 2013, after five weeks on the job, McDougal said the greatest question he'd faced in Cape Elizabeth had been how to interpret its definition of the high water line of coastal waters.

McDougal suggested the town instead use the state Department of Environmental Protection's criteria for a coastal wetland, a more accurate, consistent and objective measure than the top of a bank, or a stain left by a high tide.

The state's definition, however, relies on the elevation of the highest annual tide, which changes ever year. The Planning Board, charged with making a recommendation to the Town Council, is instead recommending that the highest astronomical tide, plus 3 feet, be used to mark the shoreland boundary. The highest astronomical tide is measured over a 19-year period, currently from 1983-2001, and remains stable until the period is updated by the National Ocean Service every 20-25 years.

The elevation the Planning Board is recommending for the normal high water line is 14.6 feet - 11.6 feet as the highest astronomical tide measured at Portland Head Light, plus 3 feet. The additional 3 feet was suggested by the Planning Board to maintain Cape Elizabeth's practice of strict environmental standards.

The Town Council received the board's recommendation at their April 14 meeting and voted to refer it to committee. Councilor Kathy Ray, chair of the ordinance subcommittee, said she attended some of the Planning Board meetings and workshops on this topic during the last year and thanked the board for their attention to detail. "We will now have our hands full," she said.

David Sherman, another councilor on the committee, said he would better understand the implications of the recommendation by seeing examples of how different shoreland properties will be affected.