Shoreland Ordinance Section 4

Effective Date

A.  Effective Date of Ordinance and Ordinance Amendments

This Sebago Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, which was adopted by the municipal legislative body on May 25, 2010, shall not be effective unless approved by the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, hereinafter referred to as the Commissioner.  A certified copy of the Sebago Shoreland Zoning Ordinance or Ordinance Amendment, attested and signed by the Municipal Clerk, shall be forwarded to the Commissioner for approval.  If the Commissioner fails to act on this Ordinance or Ordinance Amendment within forty-five (45) days of his/her receipt of the Ordinance or Ordinance Amendment, it shall be automatically approved.  Upon approval of this Ordinance, the “Shoreland Zoning Ordinance” previously adopted on March 2, 1991 is hereby repealed.

Any application for a permit submitted to the municipality within the forty-five (45) day period shall be governed by the terms of this Ordinance or Ordinance Amendment if the Ordinance or Ordinance Amendment is approved by the Commissioner.

B. Repeal of Municipal Timber Harvesting Regulation

    The municipal regulation of timber harvesting activities is repealed on the statutory date

     established under 38 M.R.S.A. section 438-B(5), at which time the State of Maine

     Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Forestry shall administer timber harvesting

     standards in the Shoreland Zone.  On the date established under 38 M.R.S.A. 438-B(5), the

     following provisions of this Ordinance are repealed:

    8.B.1.  Article 7, Land Use Table of Permitted Uses, repeal the row labeled “Timber

     Harvesting” only.

        8.B.1.A  Article 11.R Timber Harvesting, repeal entire section.

        8.B.1.B  Article 2.B repeal definitions of the following terms:

                Basal area, residual

                Harvest area

                Residual stand

     NOTE: The statutory date established under 38 M.R.S.A. section 438-B(5) is the

                   effective date of state-wide timber harvesting standards.  That date is “the

                   first day of January of the 2nd year following the year in which the

                   Commissioner of Conservation determines that at least 252 of the 336  

                   municipalities identified by the Commissioner of Conservation as the

                   municipalities with the highest acreage of timber harvesting activity on an

                   annual basis for the period 1992-2003 have either accepted the state-wide  

                   standards or have adopted an ordinance identical to the state-wide

                   standards.”  38 M.R.S.A. section 438-B(5) further provides that “the  

                   Commissioner of Conservation shall notify the Secretary of State in

                   writing and advise the Secretary of the effective date of the state-wide

             standards.”