H.P. 1368 - L.D. 1918
An Act to Clarify the Definition of Functionally Water-dependent Use as it Pertains to the Shoreland Zone
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §436-A, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 815, §§3 and 11, is amended to read:
6. Functionally water-dependent uses. "Functionally water-dependent uses" means those uses that require, for their primary purpose, location on submerged lands or that require direct access to, or location in, coastal or inland waters and which cannot that can not be located away from these waters. These uses include commercial and recreational fishing and boating facilities, excluding recreational boat storage buildings, finfish and shellfish processing, fish storage and retail and wholesale marketing facilities, waterfront dock and port facilities, shipyards and boat building facilities, marinas, navigation aids, basins and channels, retaining walls, industrial uses dependent upon water-borne transportation or requiring large volumes of cooling or processing water that cannot can not reasonably be located or operated at an inland site and uses which that primarily provide general public access to marine or tidal coastal or inland waters.
Sec. 2. 38 MRSA §438-A, sub-§7 is enacted to read:
7. Exclusion of recreational boat storage buildings. Notwithstanding subsection 3, the exclusion of recreational boat storage buildings from the definition of "functionally water-dependent uses" is deemed to be incorporated into each municipal shoreland zoning ordinance on the effective date of this subsection, regardless of any prior approval of the ordinance by the commissioner.
Sec. 3. 38 MRSA §439-A, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1989, c. 403, §8, is further amended to read:
4. Setback requirements. Notwithstanding any provision in a local ordinance to the contrary, all new principal and accessory structures and substantial expansions of such structures within the shoreland zone as established by section 435 shall must meet the water setback requirements approved by the board, except structures which require direct access to the water as an operational necessity, such as piers, docks and retaining walls functionally water-dependent uses. For purposes of this subsection, a substantial expan-
sion of a building shall be is an expansion which that increases either the volume or floor area by 30% or more. This subsection is not intended to prohibit a municipal board of appeals from granting a variance, subject to the requirements of this article and Title 30-A, section 4353, nor is it intended to prohibit a less than substantial expansion of a legally existing nonconforming structure, provided that as long as the expansion does not create further nonconformity with the water setback requirement.
Effective July 9, 1998, unless otherwise indicated.
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