1) I know it seems as of 4/1/08 you will not be able to do any building or excavation of any sort within 50ft of the shoreline, correct me if I am wrong.
New primary structures (residential or commercial) can not be constructed within 50 ft of the shoreline after 4/1/08. There is still language in the law which allows DES to develop rules for the constuction of small accessory structures between the 50 ft setback and the shoreline.
2) What will be the minimum footage for a foundation from the shoreline after this bill goes into effect?
50 ft. There are provisions to allow building on undersized pre-existing lots.
3) We have a beach right now that is not perched and has been on the shorefront for at least 40yrs. that we know of (we purchased the property back in 10/06.) It is not flat, but a little slope to it w/ what seems like railroad ties behind it that go into the ground approx. 2ft. The beach area is approx. (25'L x 12'W). We would like to remove the railroad ties and build a retaining wall in it's place. Is this possible? Your thoughts please. It is not Lake Winni, but 15 min. from Alton Bay.
You can and will be able to replace the wall around the back of your beach. You should get a wetlands permit for that work. It would fall into the minimum impact category.
4) If we were to have a site plan done and have a foundation poured and then capped before 4/1/08, but not really begin construction until 10/1/08, would we be okay? We would have approx. 18 months for construction completion.
You would be ok, but you should photo document the project to show that you started earlier than 4/1/08 just in case some well-meaning, misinformed individual calls DES and logs a complaint.
Prior to the most recent changes to the Shoreland Protection Act a town could have a lesser setback that the State's 50 ft distance. This is no longer the case. The minimum setback in all towns is now 50 ft.
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