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Naples To Pursue Shoreland Violation To Fullest

May 06, 2010 - Naples to Pursue Shoreland Zoning Violation to Fullest

NAPLES – Knocking down a tree stand shall not stand, selectmen have assured.

Following an impassioned public hearing and a 40-minute executive session, Naples selectmen voted Monday to go after a cited violation of Shoreland Zoning laws on Long Lake “to the fullest extent.” The selectmen also want the formerly-well-forested but now almost denuded site to be restored in the buffer area to “as close as original condition as we can get.” The town had already begun negotiations with property owner John Chase, working with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, before Peter Lowell, executive director of the Lakes Environmental Association, asked to intervene two weeks ago. Lowell said Monday that the town’s code enforcement officer Boni Rickett had been given “outdated” information from the DEP before fashioning a preliminary remediation plan. The result was an inadequate remediation and penalty, he contended.

If penalties and remediation are too light, Lowell added, “Some people might say, “Why can’t I do the same thing?’” He said the violation was “pretty darn shocking.”

Following Monday’s vote, selectmen sent their attorney, Geoff Hole, off to draft a tougher penalty. They will review and press their plan to the landowner when the terms are ironed out.
Before that decision, numerous citizens said at Monday’s hearing that the town could not possibly allow such a serious and highly-visible violation to pass by lightly. Lew Krainin suggested that a prominent sign be erected on the property, viewable from Long Lake itself, noting that the violation was serious and that the lots would be fully remediated and the violator heavily fined, in order to discourage others from trying the same thing.

Ann McMahon, who lives on Long Lake, said that when she saw the clear-cut property this spring she thought, “Those people must have some pull. If you can do that . . . you can do anything . . . This is a blight on the landscape; it must be remade.”


Yes, fix it up right the first time, Dean Zeilon urged. He characterized the violation as “not a situation of manslaughter; its’ a situation of premeditated murder.”

Less graphically, the LEA’s attorney simply urged the selectmen to “set an example.”

John W. Johnson, representing Jackson Cove Association on Brandy Pond, said a similar violation occurred many years ago on his pond, “and nothing was done about it then. “ Do not make the same mistake, he urged the current board of selectmen. “We all concur with the seriousness of this,” he said.

Barbara Adlard, with a 70-year association with Naples, urged prompt action. The “example” function of remediation was her key concern. “If we don’t act strongly, we’re just creating a cynicism in our young people,” she said.

Others noted that if a full remediation is not made, damage to the lake could result, and if full penalties are not applied, future (or current) owners of lakeside property might decide to do a similar cut, as a possible boost to property values, as well as an illegal view enhancer.

Lowell said this shoreland violation is “the worst I’ve seen in my 38 years on the job.” The real danger, he said, is that such a deforestation of lakeside buffers invites deep degradation of water quality. Remedial measures which replace large trees with small ones and lesser ground covers with more effective natural vegetation, do not fully address such serious situations, he contended. “The DEP and the state law provide different standards for understory development,” Lowell said. “In this case, the statutory requirement of equal size replacement would better protect water quality and habitat.”
A higher fine also should be enforced to discourage any similar future depredations, he advised.

State law effective in 2007 applying to such situations says the court “must order” a mitigation that “must include, but is not limited to, replacement of each tree cut with a tree of substantially similar size and species to the extent available and feasible.”

Stumps show evidence on that lot of many trees that stood a foot or more in diameter, the LEA executive director said. Also, state standards “were not met by the replacement plan” as it was originally forwarded, Lowell added. “Go back to Square One and do it right,” Lowell urged.

Naples selectmen asked Monday for a tougher plan. Christine Powers’ motion called for a “maximum fine,” a replacement of the current “unacceptable” remediation plan with one “assuring regrowth,” and authorization for the town attorney to “file suit if he needs to.”

When that motion was approved, the packed meeting room broke out into spontaneous cheer.

By Mike Corrigan, May 6, 2010, Bridgton News


Lakes: Long Lake
Regions: Sebago


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