By Renee Worthing
Register Reporter

DRIVE UP WINDOWS
  The Sanford Town Council voted 6-0 with one abstention to approve amendments to a proposed zoning ordinance addressing drive up windows.
   The ordinance defines a drive up window, drive up and drive-through window as a portion of a business or a structure that allows the distribution of a product through an access point to serve clients in a mother vehicle.
   The council decided to further amend the zoning changes by striking the words which prohibited direct access to drive up windows from major thoroughfares in town, specifically Routes 4, 109, 202, 11A and 224.
   Instead of categorically prohibiting access from such streets, the council decided to include wording which leaves requests for drive-up and drive-through windows to review and approval by the planning board.
   Sanford Planning Board Director said he agreed with the amendments.
   “It gives us flexibility,” he said. “That’s exactly what we want.”
 
PTZ REALLOCATION APPROVED
   For the second time, Sanford Town Councilors unanimously approved the reallocation of about four-fifths of 800 existing Pine Tree Zone (PTZ) in south Sanford to three other sites.
   The council approved the reallocation in October, but Director of Economic Affairs Les Stevens said as he was preparing the paperwork, he discovered the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development suggested a public hearing.
    Nobody at the Jan. 15 public hearing spoke for or against the reallocation.
   Pine Tree Zones offer eligible businesses significant reductions in various taxes for up to 10 years.
   During an Oct. 2 town council meeting, Stevens said the shifting of PTZ land will “strengthen the competitive position of two Sanford businesses, Sanford Institute for Savings and Maine Precision Welding.”
   He said the plan will also pave the way for the SIS expansion announced Sept 18.
   The reallocation resolution included the deletion of a 35,456-square-foot parcel of land on Kennebunk Road/Route 99 and reallocating it to three other areas in town.
   “All we’re doing is adding some acreage and deleting an equivalent amount of acreage. We’re taking away from an area we couldn’t possibly use PTZ benefits,” Stevens said.
   The three new parcels of PTZ land are comprised of 7,789-square-feet at 900 Main Street where the current SIS building stands, 16,667-square-feet adjacent to the existing bank and 8,000-square-feet at 27 Hancock Lane, for a total of 35, 456 square-feet or .813 acres.
   In October, Stevens said it was easier to shift the land rather than add more PTZ acreage.
   “It’s a lot more time consuming and you have to jump through more hoops to get the Department of Economic and Community Development to approve the addition of PTZ acreage,“ he said.
   Stevens said the reallocation enables businesses to apply for PTZ certification for which SIS has already applied.
   In order for a business to be PTZ certified, it must be located within a PTZ zone or district.
   “Currently, neither business is in a PTZ. We are proposing to get them in a PTZ,” Stevens said.
   Maine Precision Welding moved from the Stenton Trust Building, a designated PTZ zone, to their new location on Hancock Lane, which is not a PTZ designated zone.
    
To contact Renee Worthing, call 282-4337 ext. 240 or email news@intheregister.com.