Board discusses potential clean-up ordinance

WEST PARIS— A "yard clean-up ordinance," which regulates certain items that can be visible on a person's property from the street, was discussed by the West Paris Board of Selectmen at its January 26 meeting.

The ordinance came as a request from a citizen who has been interested in this kind of ordinance for a couple of years, said Town Manager John White.

White said that the ordinance would apply to both residential and commercial properties.

"It's entitled 'an ordinance regulating the accumulation of junk, trash, debris, and inoperable vehicles,'" said Selectman Wade Rainey. "If a person doesn't like the looks of somebody [a neighbor] having lumber around their house, or firewood ... it's got to be stacked neat." 

At the meeting, White had a sample yard-clean up ordinance from Indiana. He said that he was not sure whether any of the local towns had an ordinance of this kind, nor was he aware of any towns in Maine which followed such an ordinance.

"I don't think there's anything like this that's local," said Rainey.

Rainey said that, based on the ordinance, "motor vehicles in an inoperative condition whether they are licensed or not" are not allowed to sit in someone's yard.

"You also can't have a heap of rock fragments ... if somebody complains," he said.

Rainey then mentioned that, if the town decided to pursue the ordinance, a pile of rocks which has been outside the town office for years would have to be moved.

"You can't have any litter, and litter includes, but is not limited to trash, refuse, confetti, debris, grass clippings," added Rainey. "This doesn't warrant garden waste, so I wonder if you can have a compost pile?"

"In the ordinance I saw ... it didn't exempt compost," said White. According to White, the citizen who proposed the ordinance said that his main concern is "junk."

"Wood materials that are in not usable condition or are not kept in an orderly fashion or are not actively being used in a construction process on a parcel," are prohibited, reads the ordinance.

Rainey said the penalty for not cleaning up the prohibited items is $10 per day.

Board members agreed to hand over the ordinance to the Planning Board for further review. From there, the selectmen will decide whether the town should pursue the ordinance, said Rainey.

In other news, the board:

• Accepted a proposal from Androscoggin Bank to become the town's new source for government banking. Board members agreed that they were interested in pursuing electronic deposits and allowing residents to pay their property taxes online.

• Announced that town auditor Lance Bean completed his field work last week and did not see anything of concern.

• Announced that four candidates have been interviewed for the deputy collector/treasurer/clerk position. White said that he expected to make a decision by the beginning of the week.

• Announced that Pine Tree Waste completed the installation of two new compactors at the transfer station on Saturday, January 28. The electrical work was completed by Flanders Electric of Norway.