Code of Maine Rules › 01 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION AND FORESTRY › 672 - LAND USE PLANNING COMMISSION (formerly Land Use Regulation Commission) › Chapter 10 - LAND USE DISTRICTS AND STANDARDS › Subchapter II - LAND USE SUBDISTRICTS › Section 672-10-II-22 - MANAGEMENT SUBDISTRICTS

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
Pursuant to the Commission's Comprehensive Land Use Plan,
					 the following management subdistricts are established:
A.
GENERAL MANAGEMENT SUBDISTRICT
				  (M-GN)
1.
Purpose
The purpose of the M-GN subdistrict is to permit forestry
					 and agricultural management activities to occur with minimal interferences from
					 unrelated development in areas where the Commission finds that the resource
					 protection afforded by protection subdistricts is not required.
2.
Description
These are areas which are appropriate for forest or
					 agricultural management activities and that do not require the special
					 protection afforded by the protection subdistricts or the M-NC or M-HP
					 subdistricts. Also included within M-GN subdistricts must be areas which do not
					 qualify for inclusion in any other subdistrict.
3.
Land Uses
a.
Uses Allowed Without a Permit
The following uses are allowed without a permit from the
					 Commission within M-GN subdistricts:
(1) Emergency operations conducted for the
				  public health, safety or general welfare, such as resource protection, law
				  enforcement, and search and rescue operations;
(2) Forest management activities, except for
				  timber harvesting3;
(3) Land application of septage, sludge and
				  other residuals, and related storage and composting activities in compliance
				  with regulations promulgated by the Maine Department of Environmental
				  Protection under
				  38 M.R.S.
				  §13: Maine Hazardous Waste, Septage and
				  Solid Waste Management Act;
(4)
				  Motorized vehicular traffic on roads and trails, and snowmobiling;
(5) Primitive recreational uses, including
				  fishing, hiking, hunting, wildlife study and photography, wild crop harvesting,
				  trapping, horseback riding, tent and shelter camping, canoe portaging, cross
				  country skiing, and snowshoeing;
(6) Surveying and other resource
				  analysis;
(7) Trails, provided they
				  are constructed and maintained so as to reasonably avoid sedimentation of water
				  bodies; and
(8) Wildlife and
				  fishery management practices.
b.
Uses Allowed Without a Permit
				  Subject to Standards
The following uses are allowed without a permit from the
					 Commission within M-GN subdistricts subject to the applicable requirements set
					 forth in Sub-Chapter III:
(1)
				  Accessory structures: New or expanded structures accessory to, and located on
				  the same lot as, any legally existing principal structures and uses, provided
				  that:
(a) The accessory structure is located
				  in a subdistrict that allows the principal use; and
(b) The total square footage of the footprint
				  of all new or expanded accessory structures built on a lot within a two-year
				  period is not more than 750 square feet and all other requirements and
				  standards of Section
				  10.27,P are
				  met;
(2) Agricultural
				  activities:
(a) Agricultural management
				  activities, including cranberry cultivation; the construction, alteration or
				  maintenance of farm or livestock ponds which are not fed or drained by a
				  flowing water; and the operation of machinery and the erection of buildings
				  including buildings to store equipment and materials for maintaining roads and
				  other structures used primarily for agricultural management activities;
				  and
(b) Small-scale
				  agritourism;
(3)
				  Campsites;
(4) Checkpoint
				  buildings;
(5) Commercial: Natural
				  resource processing facilities that do not involve structural development, in
				  conformance with the requirements of Section
				  10.27,S;
(6) Constructed ponds: Creation, alteration
				  or maintenance of constructed ponds, other than those described in Section
				  10.22,A,3,b,(2) above, less than
				  1 acre in size which are not fed or drained by flowing waters, in conformance
				  with the vegetative buffer strip requirements of Section
				  10.27,C,2,a;
(7) Driveways associated with residential
				  uses;
(8) Filling and
				  grading;
(9) Forest management
				  activities, except for timber harvesting4, involving
				  the operation of machinery and the erection of buildings including buildings to
				  store equipment and materials for maintaining roads and other structures used
				  primarily for forest management activities;
(10) Hand-carry launches: Parking areas,
				  roads, signs and similar facilities associated with private and commercial
				  hand-carry launches;
(11)
				  Home-based businesses: Minor home-based businesses;
(12) Mineral exploration activities: Level A
				  and B mineral exploration activities, including associated access
				  ways;
(13) Natural resource
				  extraction: Mineral extraction operations, less than 5 acres in size, except
				  for gravel extraction less than 5 acres in size;
(14) Road projects: Level A and B road
				  projects;
(15) Service
				  drops;
(16) Signs;
(17) Trailered ramps: Parking areas, roads,
				  signs and similar facilities associated with public trailered ramps;
				  and
(18) Utility services:
				  Buildings or structures necessary for the furnishing of public utility
				  services, provided they contain not more than 500 square feet of floor area,
				  are less than 20 feet in height, and are not supplied with water.
c.
Uses Requiring a
				  Permit
The following uses, and related accessory structures, may
					 be allowed within M-GN subdistricts upon issuance of a permit from the
					 Commission pursuant to
					 12 M.R.S.
					 §685-B, and subject to the applicable
					 requirements set forth in Sub-Chapter III:
(1) Agricultural activities:
(a) Small-scale agricultural processing
				  facilities;
(b) Small-scale
				  agritourism not in conformance with the requirements for such activities in
				  Section 10.27,A;
				  and
(c) Medium-scale
				  agritourism;
(2)
				  Campsites, Residential;
(3)
				  Commercial:
(a) Natural resource processing
				  facilities that do not involve structural development, not in conformance with
				  the requirements of Section
				  10.27,S;
(b) Natural resource processing facilities
				  that may involve structural development, in conformance with the requirements
				  of Section
				  10.27,S; and
(c) Recreation supply facilities that do not
				  involve structural development and are not within one-quarter mile of
				  Management Class 1, or Management Class 2 lakes, and not within one-half mile
				  of Management Class 6 lakes;
(4) Constructed ponds: Creation, alteration
				  or maintenance of constructed ponds, other than those described in Section
				  10.22,A,3,b, above, which are 1
				  acre or more in size, or such ponds less than 1 acre which are not in
				  conformance with the vegetative buffer strip requirements of Section
				  10.27,C,2,a;
(5) Draining, dredging, and alteration of the
				  water table or water level for other than mineral extraction;
(6) Driveways associated with non-residential
				  uses; driveways associated with residential uses which are not in conformance
				  with the standards of Section
				  10.27,H;
(7) Family burying grounds of not more than
				  one-quarter acre, in accordance with
				  13 M.R.S.
				  §1142;
(8) Filling and grading which is not in
				  conformance with the standards of Section
				  10.27,F;
(9) Home-based businesses: Major home-based
				  businesses, except in the townships or plantations listed in Section
				  10.22,A,3,d;
(10) Maple sugar processing
				  operations;
(11) Metallic mineral
				  mining activities: Tier one advanced exploration;
(12) Mineral exploration activities: Level A
				  and B mineral exploration activities, including associated access ways, which
				  are not in conformance with the standards of Section
				  10.27,C;
(13) Natural resource extraction: Mineral
				  extraction operations, except for gravel extraction less than 5 acres in size,
(a) affecting an area less than 5 acres in
				  size and which are not in conformance with the standards of Section
				  10.27,C;
(b) affecting an area between 5 and 30 acres
				  provided the unreclaimed area is less than 15 acres; and
(c) structures essential to the extraction
				  activity having a total gross floor area of no more than 2,000 square
				  feet;
(14) Peat
				  extraction affecting an area less than 30 acres in size;
(15) Portable mineral processing
				  equipment;
(16) Recreational
				  lodging facilities:
(a) Level A;
(b) Level B;
(c) Level C; and
(d) Level D (inside the geographic allowance
				  area);
(17) Residential:
				  Single and two-family dwellings;
(18) Road projects: Level C road
				  projects;
(19) Sawmills and
				  chipping mills on sites of less than 5 acres;
(20) Signs which are not in conformance with
				  the standards of Section
				  10.27,J;
(21) Solid waste facilities affecting an area
				  less than 2 acres in size;
(22)
				  Structures: Non-commercial structures utilized for educational, scientific, or
				  nature observation purposes; structures devoted to composting of sludge,
				  septage or other residuals affecting an area less than 5 acres in size; and
				  structures devoted to the storage of sand or salt;
(23) Subdivisions: General management
				  subdivisions;
(24) Trailered ramps:
				  Parking areas, roads, signs and similar facilities associated with commercial
				  and private trailered ramps and such facilities addressed in Section
				  10.22,A,3,b which are not in
				  conformance with the standards of Section
				  10.27,L;
(25) Truck and equipment storage;
(26) Utility facilities, excluding service
				  drops; and wire and pipeline extensions which do not meet the definition of
				  service drops;
(27) Water
				  impoundments;
(28) Wind projects:
				  Community-based offshore wind energy projects, as defined in
				  12 M.R.S.
				  §682(19); offshore wind
				  power projects, as defined in
				  38 M.R.S.
				  §480-B(6A); and wind
				  energy development in accordance with 35-A M.R.S., Chapter 34-A in areas
				  identified in Appendix F herein;
(29) Other structures, uses, or services that
				  are essential to the uses listed in Section
				  10.22,A,3,a through c;
				  and
(30) Other structures, uses, or
				  services which the Commission determines are consistent with the purposes of
				  this subdistrict and of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and are not detrimental
				  to the resources or uses they protect, and are of similar type, scale and
				  intensity as other allowed uses.
d.
Special Exceptions
The following uses, and related accessory structures, may
					 be allowed within the M-GN subdistricts as special exceptions upon issuance of
					 a permit from the Commission pursuant to
					 12 M.R.S.
					 §685-A(10), the
					 criteria of Section
					 10.24,B,1, and subject to the
					 applicable requirements set forth in Sub-Chapter III:
(1) Home-based businesses: Major home-based
				  businesses in the following plantations: 
				  
														Dallas Plantation,
														Rangeley Plantation, and
														Sandy River Plantation.
The following uses: and related accessory structures, may
					 be allowed within M-GN subdistricts as special exceptions upon issuance of a
					 permit from the Commission pursuant to
					 12 M.R.S.
					 §685-A(10), the
					 criteria of Section
					 10.24,B,3, and subject to the
					 applicable requirements set forth in Sub-Chapter III:
(2) Subdivisions: Maple sugar processing
				  subdivisions;
The following uses, and related accessory structures, may
					 be allowed within M-GN subdistricts as special exceptions upon issuance of a
					 permit from the Commission pursuant to
					 12 M.R.S.
					 §685-A(10), the
					 criteria of Section
					 10.24,B,1 through 4, and subject
					 to the applicable requirements set forth in Sub-Chapter III:
(3) Recreational lodging facilities:
(a) Level C (occupancy may exceed the
				  standard in Section
				  10.27,Q,1, Table A up to the
				  Expanded Access occupancy limit, provided that the majority of occupancy is
				  accommodated at campsites);
(b)
				  Level C - Expanded Access (inside the geographic allowance area); and
(c) Level D - Expanded Access (inside the
				  geographic allowance area);
(4) Agricultural activities:
(a) Large-scale agricultural processing
				  facilities; and
(b) Large-scale
				  agritourism.
e.
Uses Regulated by the Maine Forest Service
Pursuant to Statute, the following uses are not regulated
					 by the Commission within M-GN subdistricts but are regulated by the Maine
					 Forest Service.
(1) Land management
				  roads;
(2) Natural resource
				  extraction: Gravel extraction less than 5 acres in size; and
(3) Timber harvesting.
f.
Prohibited Uses
All uses not expressly allowed, with or without a permit or
					 by special exception, must be prohibited in M-GN subdistricts.