North Yarmouth’s new code enforcement officer resigned last week, continuing a trend of code enforcement turnover as the town navigates a complex and contentious major subdivision approval process.
Code enforcement officer Kent Whitten left the position on Sept. 17 after starting in North Yarmouth in May. His departure was announced at the North Yarmouth Planning Board meeting on Sept. 22, which consisted of a public hearing for York Ridge Phase 2, a proposed 35-house subdivision off York Ridge Drive and Gray Road.
The proposed subdivision would be the counterpart to York Ridge Phase 1, a neighboring subdivision that was completed over five years ago by the same developer, Construction Aggregate Inc., a branch of North Yarmouth-based construction company, A.H. Grover Inc. The company is owned by Ben Grover, spouse of North Yarmouth’s assistant town manager and clerk, Debbie Allen Grover.
As A.H. Grover Inc. proposed the second project, residents and abutters of York Ridge Phase 1 said the first subdivision was plagued with issues, including flooding yards and basements. The construction company has done recent remedial work attempting to fix these issues, according to the planning board.
While the preliminary plan for the initial phase of York Ridge Phase 2, consisting of 15 lots, was approved by the planning board in February, the North Yarmouth Zoning Board of Appeals sent the plan back to the planning board in June following a resident appeal.
The appeal, made by York Ridge Phase 1 abutter Lianne Mitchell, said that the preliminary plan for the first phase of the second subdivision violated North Yarmouth’s land use ordinance. The ordinance says no plan shall be approved if the applicant is in violation of previously approved provisions. Mitchell and others claimed that A.H. Grover Inc. may have violated the approved plans for Phase 1 and that could be what is causing the subdivision’s issues.
When the planning board took up the York Ridge Phase 2 preliminary plan for the second time on Aug. 11, members expressed frustration about having to find negative evidence showing that no violations occurred.
“My critique of the findings of fact is that it’s not very specific,” said planning board Chair Chris Byers.
The planning board and Matt McGovern, a project manager for A.H. Grover, discussed how there were some minor changes between the initially approved plan and final construction. The board agreed with McGovern that the changes were likely approved by town staff but not properly documented at the time. Due to several code enforcement officers coming and going over the past six years, those who may have approved the changes no longer work for North Yarmouth, said board members.
“We don’t know based on any of the history from our town code enforcement office that it did comply. We’re taking the word (on) it from the applicant that he said at the time it did,” said planning board member Jennifer Barns, who resigned on Aug. 30 due to moving out of town.
Ben Smith, of North Star Planning, said while the gaps can cause issues down the road, they are not necessarily a signal of noncompliance.
“It is frustrating. It is not uncommon … especially in smaller communities, especially if you go back in time, to have incomplete records,” said Smith.
The planning board agreed on Aug. 11 that to close the information gap, Whitten would review an updated York Ridge Phase 1 plan set and visit the subdivision to ensure that everything shown in the plan was built in the field.
A public hearing scheduled for Sept. 8 was rescheduled due to the applicant not sufficiently notifying all abutters. By the time the public hearing took place, Whitten had resigned.
In a letter addressed to the planning board following his departure, Whitten shared his findings regarding York Ridge Phase 1. He wrote that several areas of the subdivision don’t match the approved plan, and while he knows that construction doesn’t always go exactly as planned, there is still a process for getting changes approved that he believes was not followed.
“The Town shouldn’t be left chasing completed work, and the taxpayers shouldn’t be paying to sort it out,” wrote Whitten.
While Whitten intended the letter to be included in the public comment at the public hearing on Sept. 22, Byers said it was not received in time to be included in meeting materials and that Whitten was no longer a town employee when the letter was written.
“Before Phase II moves ahead, the Board needs to determine whether any Phase I violations or issues with the approved plan remain unresolved,” wrote Whitten.
Whitten said he is not able to say whether his departure is related to the York Ridge subdivisions and declined to comment further.
During public comment on Sept. 22, residents rehashed their issues with the town approving Phase 2.
Michael Brown, who lives in York Ridge Phase 1 since 2022, said his neighbor across the street had severe flooding for years and only last month did A.H. Grover Inc. do any remediation.
“I’m not comfortable at all trusting Grover to do what he promises,” said Brown. “I’m very much against the Phase 2 project.”
Mitchell said that since her appeal was granted, issues have continued at York Ridge Phase 1.
“The point of my appeal was following the rules,” she said.
The board moved to continue the public hearing as old business at a future meeting, the date of which was not determined. At the next discussion, residents and the board would hopefully have more information provided by the town, said Byers.