ROCKLAND, Maine — A house that has been at the center of a six-year legal battle has been moved, but the court case remains in play.
The owner of the Appleton house committed no violation, his attorney said at a hearing on Wednesday in Knox County Unified Court. The town, however, is seeking unspecified financial penalties.
Appleton’s attorney, Jeremy Marden, attended the hearing while Jacob Boyington’s attorney, Christopher MacLean, participated via a conference call before Judge Susan Sparaco in the Rockland court.
The only issue was the amount, if any, of damages that should be paid to the town by Boyington. The attorneys said a future hearing would last four to six hours if the damage amount is not agreed to before the next hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
The house was moved in pieces beginning last week, and the move was completed this week before the hearing. The two-and-a-half story was moved to another parcel owned by Boyington on Appleton Ridge Road a little more than a mile away.
The saga of the house began in 2009, when Boyington purchased the tax-acquired lot from the town through a public bid process. The next year, Boyington, through his company Appleton Ridge Construction LLC, obtained a building permit from the town to construct a two-bedroom rental house.
The abutting neighbors immediately challenged the permit, arguing that under local ordinances the lot was too small for the building and that the structure would be too near the road. Boyington built the house despite the legal challenge, which ended with the court ruling that the house was in violation.