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Maine High Court Takes up Plum Creek Project

January 16, 2012 - Portland – Opponents of plans for a sprawling residential development in the Moosehead Lake region urged Maine's highest court Tuesday to send the case back to the state Land Use Regulation Commission, while a lawyer for the commission argued that it acted within its discretion in approving the project.

Phil Worden, a lawyer representing two environmental groups, told the Maine Supreme Judicial Court that additional proceedings are required even if that adds work or further delays the years-long process, because the LURC included amendments in the plan it approved.

Jerry Reid, a lawyer for the commission, said that reopening the proceedings wouldn't produce any information that couldn't have been gathered in the earlier hearings.

Seattle-based Plum Creek has proposed 821 house lots and two resorts with more than 1,200 housing units at Big Moose Mountain and Lily Bay. The plan was approved in September 2009, nearly five years after the company announced its proposal to rezone nearly 400,000 acres.

Gov. Paul LePage described the long proceedings as a perfect example of how Maine's red tape and regulations can stymie private investment.

"A business should have the opportunity to know how long the permitting process is going to be. Anything that takes a matter of years should be considered unacceptable," Adrienne Bennett, the governor's press secretary, said Tuesday in Augusta.

The process will likely continue for at least a few more months, to give the court time to consider the arguments and issue a ruling. And it's playing out as the Legislature considers overhauling the structure of the LURC, which handles zoning in Maine's unorganized territories.

The commission held four weeks of hearings on the Plum Creek plan in December 2007 and January 2008. There were 26 parties and nearly 170 witnesses during that phase of the process. More than 400 additional witnesses testified during four full days of public hearings.

The commission then developed amendments to Plum Creek's concept plan based on evidence presented during the hearings.

A Superior Court justice agreed with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Forest Ecology Network and RESTORE: The North Woods that the commission should have reopened the proceedings to allow further comment. The LePage administration, joined by The Nature Conservancy, appealed the judge's decision.

Worden, who represents RESTORE and the Forest Ecology Network, told the justices Tuesday that the commission sidestepped its own rules by proposing amendments. "You cannot come up with an ad hoc procedure afterwards," he said. "Our concern is that ad hoc procedures lead to ad hoc decisions, however well-intentioned they are."

Reid argued that the commission's rules gave it broad discretion in the Plum Creek matter and said critics had conjured up "a theoretical claim of prejudice."

He also said Plum Creek's critics have been unable to identify which new witnesses will be questioned if the case is reopened.

"Who are these mystery witnesses, and why was the commission not told about them while this matter was still pending before the agency?" he said.

The approved development plan would limit housing development to 16,900 of the 400,000 acres. Plum Creek plans to donate or sell conservation easements on 363,000 acres, where public access would be guaranteed and future residential development would be prohibited.

The Nature Conservancy, which supports Plum Creek because of the conservation easements, wants the Plum Creek plan to proceed without further delay.

"We continue to believe that the concept plan provides a tremendous opportunity for Maine's environment and for Maine people," said Tom Rumpf of The Nature Conservancy.

David Sharp, Portland Press Herald, January 2012


Lakes: Moosehead Lake
Regions: Moosehead


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