Excavation & land clearing in New Gloucester, Maine.

Section 5.1.8 of the 2026 Zoning Ordinance requires that grading and earth-moving be done to prevent erosion and sedimentation of surface waters, that cut-and-fill be kept to a minimum and follow the topography, and that disturbed soil be stabilized as quickly as practicable. Sediment must be trapped with basins or silt traps until the site is stable, and anyone who causes sediment to leave a site is responsible for removing it.

In practice that means silt fence before the first stump comes out, stockpiles placed away from ditches, and loam and seed on finished grades without delay. Stormwater design follows Maine DEP Chapter 500 where it applies.

In the shoreland zone, clearing is capped: beyond the buffer, no more than 40% of tree volume can be cut in ten years, and total cleared openings are limited to 25% of the shoreland portion of the lot or 10,000 square feet, whichever is greater. Those limits are checked before clearing lines are flagged.

The town transfer station stopped taking brush on June 1, 2026, and burn permits are now issued online through the Maine Forest Service. Clearing debris is chipped, hauled or disposed of as part of the job.