By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — It seems there was barely time for introductions before the new town planner for the Town of Naples was put to work.

After all, there were a lot of ordinances that needed to be amended or developed.

These items must be approved at a Special Town Meeting, which has already been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 28.

However, the next important step is a public hearing in September. This will provide an opportunity for the first reading of the proposed changes to the ordinances.

The Naples Board of Selectmen has set a date of Sept. 16, at 6 p.m., for the public hearing for the proposed ordinance amendments.

This date is unusual in that typically the board meets the second and fourth Monday of the month. Sept 16 is the third Monday of this month. (The selectmen will not meet this upcoming Tuesday but will return to their regular schedule the week after the public hearing.)

Also, it should be noted that the public hearing will be held one hour earlier than the regular meeting. The public hearing starts at 6 p.m.

The items that will appear for comment during the public hearing were discussed during the most recent selectmen’s meeting.

“We have been talking about a Special Town Meeting in the fall to deal with some proposed amendments to existing ordinances,” Naples Town Manager John Hawley said on Aug. 26.

“The Street Vendor Ordinance — the proposed ordinance relaxes the regulations pertaining to businesses or private property owners who would like to use mobile vendors to cater an event that does not offer tickets sales. And it allows mobile vendors during festivals with specific placement location regulated by the permitting process,” he said.

“It will reduce the fees required,” he said.

Fees can still be charged but a set fee won’t be tied into the ordinance. 

“The fees were pulled out of the ordinance and put in the town’s fee schedule so it can be adjusted,” he said.

Additionally, the proposed change would “eliminate the 60-day waiting period,” which proved a hardship for some festival organizers that appear before selectmen later than required, he said. 

The town planner and the code enforcement department have been working together on the proposed Outdoor Entertainment Ordinance, Hawley said.

“Adoption of this proposed ordinance would repeal the current Special Amusement and Outdoor Entertainment ordinances,” he said.

“Both of the former will be combined. All of the current performance standards that regulate required water supplies, refuse disposal, lighting, site size, parking, sanitary facilities, medical coverage and safety in general still exist,” he said.

“Health and safety not governed by the ordinance will have to follow state law,” he said.

“It will reduce permitting authority from two separate boards to one board, the selectmen,” he said.

Another ordinance that needs cleaning up is the Marine Safety Division Enforcement Ordinance.

“In order to have money from fines reimbursed, we have to have very specific language in those ordinances,” Hawley said.

“It is not our goal to make money with Marine Safety,” he said, but it would be nice if the town could collect the fines paid to the court.