By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board will host two public hearings next week as it begins to update the existing Business District A (BA) zoning ordinance. 

There are currently two BA zones in Cape Elizabeth; one on Shore Road near the South Portland border and another along Route 77 between Kettle Cove and Broad Cove Road. Businesses in the BA zone along Route 77 include Rudy’s and the Good Table restaurants as well as the Agway store. 

The BA update is paralleled by a proposed amendment to the town’s wetland Resource Protection 1 (RP1) ordinance within BA zones. Wetland setbacks on these properties could be reduced should the town council approve a new setback exemption for properties within the BA district that are connected to public sewer and water. Properties that qualify for the exemption, such as Rudy’s, would be allowed to expand or build within 100 feet of identified wetlands, Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said. 

A public hearing on the proposed RP1 amendment is scheduled for April 15, to be followed by another public hearing on what O’Meara called the BA “overhaul” on April 16.

Updating the BA zoning stipulations on property setbacks, specified residential and business uses and other standards was recommended in the town’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the town council in November. 

“Right now, it’s the generic type of zoning you would see in the ‘70s,” O’Meara said. “It’s old and creaky.”

Gail Schmader, whose property abuts the BA zone by Rudy’s, said she is planning to attend next week’s planning board meeting in anticipation of changes within the BA zone.

“I’m in favor of [the BA district] having some guidelines,” she said.

Patrick Babcock, another abutter to the Rudy’s property, said he is concerned the wetland and zoning ordinances amendments could be decided too quickly.

“Everyone needs to slow down for a second, get a grip on what needs to be put in place before changes are made,” he said.

Babcock said rushing into the process could promote detrimental changes to the neighborhoods surrounding the BA districts by allowing establishments such as Rudy’s to become a “centrally located OUI machine.”

“I am absolutely in favor of [the new BA district ordinance] having restrictions on the ability to serve alcohol,” he said.

O’Meara said the purpose of amending the BA ordinance is not to expand or duplicate the Town Center District although the two could have similarities.

“It’s not going to look like the Town Center but the concept is the same,” she said. 

As it currently exists, the BA zone does not contain any specific design standards for structures or the inclusion of pedestrian access, which Planning Board Chairman Barbara Schenkel said are key elements in making areas “more neighborhood friendly.”

“Right now anybody could make their property look however they want,” she said.

Schenkel and O’Meara said they hoped to receive public input that could include suggestions for incorporating new design standards involving landscaping, lighting and sidewalk requirements. 

Schenkel said she looks forward to discussion concerning multiple tenant requirements and affordable housing options in amending the ordinance. 

“This means change in a whole district,” she said. “There’s almost no business in Cape Elizabeth at all, but if we can make the BA better and more attractive there might be.”

Too often town officials find themselves stepping backwards to appease upset residents who aren’t involved in projects from the beginning, Schenkel said.

“We want to involve the public at the front end,” she said. “It seems to me we need to [have a public hearing] before we put a single word on paper.”

O’Meara said she believes updating the BA zone might actually make some currently non-conforming properties more in line with the ordinance depending on how it is reformatted.

“We’re looking for a proactive approach,” Schenkel said. “This is only the beginning.”

Although the RP1 amendment and the BA update are currently separate ordinances, they could be directly related to one another, O’Meara said.

“It would be possible to put them both in one package,” she said.