Opinion ID: 2189307
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Open Space Zoning Standards

Text: [¶ 11] The abutters contend that although section 19-7-2(A)(2) gives the Planning Board discretion to modify the space and bulk requirements of the open space zoning standards, the Board's modification of the building envelope requirement was, in effect, a variance, and variances can only be issued by zoning board of appeals (ZBAs) in accordance with the statutory criteria set forth in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4353. The Town and Frustaci respond that section 4353 relates only to mandatory zoning standards and not optional standards, such as the open space zoning standards that are at issue here. They also assert that the open space zoning standards are in the nature of subdivision regulations that may be modified by the Planning Board. The parties cite two opinions, Perkins v. Town of Ogunquit, 1998 ME 42, 709 A.2d 106, and York v. Town of Ogunquit, 2001 ME 53, 769 A.2d 172, in support of their respective arguments. [¶ 12] Perkins involved our review of a Planning Board's decision to waive a zoning ordinance's street frontage requirement for which the municipality's ZBA had previously denied a variance request made by the same applicant. Perkins, 1998 ME 42, ¶ 4, 709 A.2d at 107. We held that only ZBAs have the authority to grant variances. Id. ¶ 9, 709 A.2d at 108-09. Based on the home rule provisions in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 3001 (1996), [4] a zoning ordinance that gives a Planning Board waiver authority is preempted by 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4353 if the waiver is in reality the power to grant a variance. Perkins, 1998 ME 42, ¶ 9, 709 A.2d at 108. Because the ordinance provision at issue in Perkins empowered the Planning Board to waive the street frontage requirement, the ordinance circumvented the requirement that only ZBAs grant variances of zoning requirements and was therefore invalid. Id. n. 4 & ¶ 12, 709 A.2d at 107, 109-10. [¶ 13] We applied Perkins in York, 2001 ME 53, ¶¶ 9-12, 769 A.2d at 175-78, and affirmed four of five waivers of the Town's subdivision standards granted by the Planning Board. One of the subdivision standards, pertaining to minimum street width, had a corresponding provision in the Town's zoning ordinance. Id. n. 3, 769 A.2d at 174. We vacated the Planning Board's waiver of the minimum street width requirement because the waiver, in effect, constituted the granting of a variance of the corresponding zoning ordinance requirement, which only a ZBA has the authority to grant. Id. ¶¶ 11-12, 769 A.2d at 177-78. We upheld the other four waivers because they were waivers of subdivision standards that did not have corresponding provisions in the zoning ordinance. Id. ¶ 10 & n. 9, 769 A.2d at 176-77. [¶ 14] Perkins and York establish that a Planning Board may be vested with the power to waive municipal subdivision standards so long as the waiver does not, in effect, grant a variance from zoning standards that otherwise govern the zone. The Town and Frustaci assert that Cape Elizabeth's open space zoning standards are in the nature of subdivision standards that may be waived by the Planning Board without a variance. For the reasons that follow, this contention is contrary to the ordinance's establishment of a discrete and comprehensive set of zoning standards for open space subdivisions that take the place of traditional zoning standards in the RC District if an applicant seeks approval for an open space subdivision. [¶ 15] The ordinance establishes space and bulk standards applicable to open space subdivisions in the RC District that are more lenient than those applicable to traditional subdivisions: Traditional Subdivisions Open Space Subdivisions Minimum Lot Size 20,000 square feet 7,500 square feet (with public sewerage) Minimum Street Frontage 100 feet 50 feet Side and Rear Yard Setback 20 feet 5 feet [5] Unlike the standards for open space subdivisions, the standards for traditional subdivisions do not have a building envelope requirement. The more lenient lot size, street frontage, and side and rear yard setbacks in the open space standards point to a unique function of the building envelope requirement: it assures that reasonable distances and privacy are maintained between the clustered residences in an open space subdivision. [¶ 16] The Planning Board's modification of the open space standards in this case has the effect of blending traditional setback standards with higher density cluster developments, resulting in a subdivision that fails to meet the ordinance's requirements for both open space and traditional subdivisions. The Town and Frustaci assert that this blending is permissible because of the ordinance's characterization of the open space standards as optional in the RA and RC Districts. This construction is contrary, however, to the plain meaning of the relevant provisions of the ordinance. [¶ 17] The ordinance's description of the open space standards as optional in the RA and RC Districts in section 19-7-2(A)(2) is juxtaposed with the ordinance's description of the open space standards as mandatory in the RB District in section 19-7-2(A)(1). The ordinance unequivocally states that [d]evelopments proposed under the terms of this section shall meet all requirements of this section, unless otherwise noted. Zoning Ordinance, § 19-7-2(B)(1) (emphasis added). Accordingly, all subdivision applicants in the RB District and those applicants opting for open space zoning in the RA and RC Districts are bound by the open space zoning standards. Once applicable, the individual open space standards are not optional and must be met unless otherwise noted. [¶ 18] Contrary to the suggestion of the Town and Frustaci, the open space standards are also not in the nature of subdivision regulations. The open space standards, set forth in chapter 19 of the Town's code, establish fixed space and bulk standards. In contrast, the Town's subdivision regulations, set forth separately in chapter 16 of the Town's code, establish a review process and design standards that principally govern roads, drainage, and utilities. Cape Elizabeth, Me., Subdivision Ordinance §§ 16-2-1 to 16-3-6 [hereinafter Subdivision Ordinance]. Although both the open space standards and the subdivision regulations apply to subdivisions, their subjects are dissimilar and address different aspects of subdivision development. [¶ 19] Because Frustaci elected to proceed with an open space subdivision, the building envelope requirement was neither optional nor a supplementary subdivision regulation subject to Planning Board waiver. As we held in Perkins and York, a Planning Board's modification of a binding zoning requirement is, in effect, a variance that must instead be committed to the discretion of a ZBA. The authority that section 19-7-2(A)(2) of the Zoning Ordinance purports to grant to the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board to modify the ordinance's open space standards exceeds the Town's home rule authority in violation of 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4353(2)(B), (C), (4-C), and is invalid. Accordingly, Cape Elizabeth's building envelope standard may only be relaxed by way of a variance, and the Planning Board's decision to waive the building envelope standard with respect to the Blueberry Ridge Subdivision must be vacated.