By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

CASCO — The paperwork, the civil engineering plan, arrived too late to be reviewed.

So, the Casco Planning Board had no choice but to table an amended site plan that deals with a fill violation.

The property at 200 Roosevelt Trail, which is owned by Wayne Ward, has been illegally filled. Per town ordinance, any project which has more than 100 cubic yards of fill must come before the planning board. This summer, the town issued a notice of violation and started the process for a stop work order.

On Monday, the Casco Planning Board requested that the landowner put together a list that includes how many cubic yards of fill was put in and/or how many square feet or acres were filled. Furthermore, a plan for the storm water and a compromised septic system is on the list. The code enforcement office is working on the complete list of required information this week. That list will be presented to Ward who has been requested to turn in that information to the town hall three weeks before the planning board meeting. (The deadline for the January meeting is Dec. 23, which is right around the corner. In order to be on the agenda for the regularly scheduled Feb. 10, 2020, meeting, Ward would have to compile and submit documentation by mid-January.)

On Monday, the planning board had a full agenda with three other site plan applications. Ward’s property was listed last on the agenda.

Ward stepped to the microphone to explain the changes to the site plan, which was approved about 10 years ago in 2009. It wasn’t long before board members realized, the documents Ward kept referring to had not been in their packets. Ward blamed the missed deadline on the difficulty in hiring an engineer. Then, Casco Town Planner Jim Seymour asked Ward several questions before narrowing down the request for appropriate information.

Seymour clarified that the best approach was an amended site plan rather than a permit after-the-fact.

“Technically, you changed an original site plan,” he said.

“We need the extent of the fill and the best guess of the number of yards of fill. If I were you, I would use this is a chance to clean up any other changes to the plan. Clean it up and make it right,” Seymour said.

Ward spoke, saying he has used this amount of fill before and other property-owners have too.

“I can show you a lot of things that happened right around this town. Someone had 5,000 yards. It was very visible. It goes into a swamp and then goes into Sebago Lake.

You’ve got some more issues — a storage shed on Brown Avenue,” Ward said.

Seymour took back the floor. 

“Let’s stick to the application at hand. I know we have other issues in town, but let’s stick to your application,” Seymour said. 

Ward explained that the paperwork was not forthcoming sooner because he had to contact three or four engineering firms before finding someone who was not busy or did not have a conflict of interest.

Basically, all the board members voted to table the item until a complete application was before them. 

When the agenda item first came up, Ward spoke to the board.

“Thanks for giving me the time to talk to you about this. One of the things I want to correct, when I had an engineer draw the plans up, where on the slope of a hill that I want trees and grass. It is all ledge there. The hemlock trees would break that area between my property and the surrounding property,” he said.

“I am not putting  up any more buildings,” he said, referring to the 2009 plan.

“I would like to ask the board to make the hill more gently sloping, and put 8 or 9 hemlocks in two rows. That whole side would be under trees and grass, instead of boulders and rocks,” Ward said.

Town Planner Seymour said, “The plan that Mr. Ward is discussing — the  board has not even seen.”

Planning board member Lynne Potter commented that the board would have to table it because the paperwork didn’t arrive in time. She said that is the policy.

“We have to wait until next month or next meeting,” Potter said.

Seymour agreed, saying the plan come in last week. Then, he asked a series of questions about the area that one neighbor said was about six to eight feet higher after fill was brought in.

Seymour asked how many yards of material have been brought in.

“I don’t really know. But it is beyond” what is allowed, Ward said.

Seymour asked if is appeared to be more than 100 cubic yards.

“It is in excess of that. As they brought it in, they dozed it,” Ward said.  

Seymour asked Ward if he could give a square footage to the area that was filled. Ward did not answer the question.

“How long of the area is it? The drop off—how deep is it,” Seymour said.

Ward said, “About 10 feet, when you slope it back.”

Seymour asked what was the purpose of the fill. Ward said that previous code enforcement officers told him they “wanted me to fill it in.”