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Harrison in Fight over Shore Violations

February 11, 2010 - HARRISON - A four-year-old dispute between the town and two Long Lake shorefront owners has ended up in court, and it doesn't appear that it will be resolved any time soon.

Selectmen held an emergency executive session Monday to hear a briefing by the attorney prosecuting the 80-K action against Donald and Brenda Buteau of 545 Cape Monday Road. No action was taken following the 55-minute briefing, and Town Manager Brad Plante said Tuesday, "It appears right now that the case is going forward in the court system."

A hearing was held Feb. 2 in the case at Bridgton District Court. Representing the town on behalf of Code Enforcement Officer John Wentworth was Jim Katsiaficas of the Portland law firm of Perkins Thompson.

Selectmen agreed last October to take the matter to court after Wentworth recommended they not enter into a consent agreement offered by the Buteaus' lawyer. At that time, Wentworth said the Buteaus violated the terms of a 2006 consent agreement and that the new agreement doesn't address those violations, or the penalties associated with it. Specifically, he said, the Buteaus put in stairs and a storage area after the first consent agreement was signed.

"There are a lot of issues that haven't been addressed," Wentworth said. The Buteaus did not adhere to the 2006 consent agreement, he said, and in terms of the shoreline zoning ordinance,"We, as a town, need to demonstrate that we take it very seriously. This individual needs to rectify the situation."

The Buteaus were fined $2,534 in civil penalties by the Department of Environmental Protection in January in a consent agreement that found that the couple violated provisions of Maine's Natural Resources Protection Act by constructing a gazebo, patio area and retaining walls within 75 feet of Long Lake without first obtaining a DEP permit. They also place rock fill adjacent to and in the lake.

The DEP agreed to allow the Buteaus to file an after-the-fact permit application for the structures, to remove the rocks and stone placed adjacent to the lake, and complete a planting plan. If the permit is denied, the Buteaus muss remove all of the man-made structures, including the wall.

Plante would not comment on the particulars of the town's case against the Buteaus, but at the October meeting, Chairman Bill Winslow said that based on the Buteaus actions in violating the 2006 consent agreement, "there's no assurance that he'd adhere to it," referring to his lawyer's offer to a new consent agreement.

Wentworth said that over the past six months the town has met three times with Donald Buteau and his attorney, once in the DEP's Augusta office. He has been working on resolving the violations with the Buteaus since 2008, he said, adding that the town's rules are more restrictive than the state's, particularly with regard to the retaining wall. "The wall wouldn't be allowed by the town," he said.

Wentworth added that the property was a non-conforming lot and that the Buteaus needed a variance to build on it. "We've spent about $4,641 on this case already," he said in October.

No figures were available as to how much more the town has spent on the case since deciding to take it to court.

By Gail Geraghty, Bridgton News, February 11, 2010

Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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