HOULTON, Maine — The Houlton Town Council heard a request from a local businessman Monday evening to have the town amend its zoning ordinance.
Larry Holmes spoke to the councilors during the public comments portion of Monday night’s regular meeting about his desire to lease an empty building on North Street to a church organization. Holmes’ request was not an agenda item and therefore no action was taken on his request.
Holmes owns a 6,000-square-foot building that previously housed the Aroostook County Action Program’s daycare at 38-40 North St. in Houlton. Prior to that, it was the home of Portland Glass Company.
The building has sat vacant for the past three years, but in late 2017 members of the Latter-Day Saints church expressed interest in the property. According to Holmes, the church has outgrown its current location at 10 Pleasant St. in Houlton and would like to convert the building into a new house of worship.
A church, however, is not one of the permitted uses for the property, which is located in a residential/business zone.
Holmes stated he has twice been denied a request for an exception by the town’s planning board and therefore was asking members of the council to intervene on his behalf.
“I felt my only other alternative was to get the council to override the planning board,” Holmes said.
Holmes also stated that he had contacted the U.S. Department of Justice because he felt he was being discriminated against. The department has a Civil Rights Division which reviews complaints under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which protects individuals, houses of worship, and other religious institutions from discrimination in zoning and landmarking laws.
Council chairman Bill McCluskey responded that this was the first the council was hearing of Holmes’ issue and questioned his approach.
“You have come in here with a thinly-veiled threat, as far as I am concerned, with litigation if you don’t get your way,” McCluskey said.
“You can consult with your attorneys and do what what you want, but Washington will litigate,” Holmes said.
Priscilla Monroe, a member of the town’s Planning Board, also spoke on the issue. She stated that the board felt adding an additional use to the ordinance would set a dangerous precedent and explained why Holmes’ request was twice denied by the board.
“If we had allowed one church to locate in the RB zone we could not in the future deny that right to any other church in any of the town’s business zones,” she said. “That, in turn, could impact the ability of a restaurant to open for business anywhere in the town.”
Maine law prohibits the sale of alcohol within 300-feet of a church. Monroe said the planning board felt that by allowing Holmes’ exception, it could open the door for other churches to build new places of worship, which could impact current or future bars and restaurants from doing business in the town.
“The planning board is charged with overseeing the growth and development of the town within the framework of (federal, state and local) laws,” she said. “The planning board understands Mr. Holmes’ problem and wishes him a successful outcome in the rental or sale of his property. We must also consider the welfare of the entire town within the context of a single request.”
No other members of the public spoke on the matter during the meeting.
McCluskey said the council would review Holmes’ request and decide at a later time if they wished to revisit the issue.
