LUPC to consider scaled-down Big Moose Township rezoning request

By Mike Lange
Staff Writer

    MONSON — The Maine Land Use Planning Commission will revisit a request by a Big Moose Township landowner to rezone part of their property from general management to residential development.
    The agency will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 12 at the Monson Community Center starting at 9 a.m.

    An original application filed by C&E Real Estate LLC asked LUPC to rezone the entire parcel of 50.9 acres, but the staff recommended that it not be approved, according to the notice posted on the LUPC website.
    One reason for the rejection, according to a staff report, is the LUPC adjacency rule. The general guidelines are that any property to be rezoned must be one mile or less away from any other compatible development. The property owned by C&E is approximately 1.9 miles by road from a subdivision developed with seven dwellings.
    However, a transcript of the Feb. 12  LUPC meeting indicated that the panel tabled the application instead of rejecting it outright. That way, C&E would not have to file a whole new application, but could amend the original one.
    The new filing asks for only 18.8 acres to be rezoned instead of the whole 50.9-acre parcel. There would be seven lots developed which would vary in size from 1 to 3.5 acres and typically have 200 feet of frontage on Moosehead Lake. The property would be accessed from the existing land management road that enters off Route 6/15.
    According to the updated findings from LUPC, “The petitioner provides … the following summary list of what it believes are ‘unique features’ that demonstrate the area proposed for rezoning satisfies the adjacency principle even though the property is farther than one road mile from similar development.
    The features include:
    The location of the property is five miles from Greenville, “a major population center along a major state highway (Route 6/15).”
    The land abuts a commercial railroad that already breaks up the large tract of forested land in the area.
    The acreage is located 2.58 road miles from the Big Squaw Mountain ski area. “The re-emergence of Big Squaw Mountain as a major ski resort for the State of Maine provides a unique condition that deserves additional consideration for the rezoning of this area.”
    Esther and Charles Wagenheim of Pittsford, Vt., the principals of C&E Real Estate LLC, own approximately 46.1 acres on Big Moose Township while Adam Moskovitz of Bangor owns an adjacent 4.8-acre lot.
    The couple is being represented locally by real estate agent Rodney Folsom.
    The March 12 meeting is open to the public.