There will be a Special Town Meeting on Sept. 17, at which time, the voters of Rangeley will have the opportunity to vote on five ordinances. The Ordinance Committee has developed these ordinances in response to issues that have come before the town in recent years.

Most of our present ordinances date back to 1987. Many of our ordinances need to be updated to reflect the changing times and better serve the people of the Town of Rangeley. The town is engaged in an ongoing process of evaluating our present ordinances and developing a comprehensive plan that will work together in developing a bright future. Together, we will look at what we have and determine where we will go in the decades to come.

It is in that spirit of community, that we are attempting to address voter concerns by the following ordinances:

1) Subdivision Ordinance: These proposed changes update our existing subdivision ordinance because of concerns expressed to us about developers being approved for a subdivision and being able to sell lots before the roads and other infrastructure are in place. People have asked us who is going to hold a developer accountable if he or she does not have the financial backing to complete a project. Building the roads and infrastructure for a development today is a very complicated process with tough state-mandated standards for erosion control, lot drainage, preservation of deer wintering habitat, protection for vernal pools, to name just a few, that requires a great deal of technical expertise. The purpose of developing these new standards is to keep the "uninformed and the uninsured" out of the development business so that the professionals can get the job done to the exacting standards that are required in this industry.

2) Phosphorus Ordinance: All developers have to follow strict guidelines for the control of phosphorus runoff as mandated by the State of Maine. The state does allow the off-site credit mitigation of phosphorus under a state-approved plan. The proposed changes to our existing phosphorus ordinance would disallow off-site credit mitigation of phosphorus in the town of Rangeley. The voters of Rangeley have expressed concern to the Ordinance Committee and town Officials that they want everything possible to be done to preserve the quality of the water in our area lakes, including mandating by local ordinance that all phosphorus be controlled on-site in each development. Another provision in the ordinance would encourage builders of new residential development on single lots to consider soil erosion and direction of water flow when planning their projects.

3) Sign Ordinance: This updates our present ordinance and is consistent with state regulations regarding signs along state highways for visibility and traffic safety. These proposed changes more clearly defines the different types of signs and clears up any ambiguities in our present ordinance, as well as providing more guidelines and clarity to our local realtors. The intent of the revised ordinance is not to impose additional fines as the sign fee is very reasonable; it is presented as an instrument to preserve the quality and character of our downtown area and the surrounding town.

4) Shoreland Access Ordinance: This is a new ordinance, which has been withdrawn at this time for further review and clarification.

5) Noise Ordinance: This is a new ordinance, which would regulate the most blatant noise at the most unreasonable times of the day in response to citizen complaints. We have included a comprehensive list of exemptions and there is a provision for special circumstances. This issue has come up in recent years as the population of Rangeley increases. We, the Ordinance Committee, would like to point out that all citizen complaints are reviewed by the Board of Selectmen. Not only does this new ordinance address the concerns of the citizens against unreasonable noise, but it also protects the citizens against unreasonable complaints. What this ordinance does, is clarify some of the issues pertaining to noise and provides some guidelines upon which the town can evaluate these complaints.

6) Vendors License Ordinance: Questions have come up regarding what a temporary vendor is as opposed to a more permanent type of arrangement and how to best regulate vendors in terms of liability issues for the town. Nobody wants a lot of regulation, but questions have come up as to where vendors are to be located; the provisions of the vendors license; and the hours of operation. The revised changes to the existing Vendors Ordinance attempts to answer these questions without imposing a lot of new regulations by more clearly defining what a vendor is and how to regulate vendors in the best interests of the vendors and the town.

Each one of the above ordinances addresses voter concerns. As citizens, we all have specific issues that speak to us, some more than others, but when voting for these ordinances, we ask that you consider what is best for all the citizens in the town of Rangeley. We, the Ordinance Committee and town Officials, hope that the review and implementation of town Ordinances will become an ongoing, dynamic process and that you, the citizens, will become very involved in the process as we all share our ideas and work together in the best interests of the town.

Full copies of these ordinances are available at the town Office. Bob Griscom, Code Enforcement Officer, is available to answer any questions you may have. We encourage you to stop by the town Office. We look forward to seeing many of you at the Special Town Meeting to be held this Sept. 17.