CAMDEN, Maine — The state’s highest court has ordered that an appeal, filed by a Camden woman who wants to block the expansion of the Camden Harbour Inn, be dismissed.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court said the appeal was filed before final action had been taken by the town and thus was not yet ready for consideration by the court.
The justices also took the opportunity to issue advice in the ruling to all Maine towns and cities about local zoning laws.
“We again encourage Maine’s cities and towns, perhaps with the assistance of the Maine Municipal Association, to review the myriad provisions in local ordinances addressing finality and appealability,” the justices ruled in an opinion published Tuesday.
The court said it was issuing its ruling in an effort to reduce confusion, costs and delays in municipal appeals.
The high court justices advised that the creation of “standardized, understandable and comprehensive rules for the provision of appellate review could substantially diminish the problems of cost and delay created by the language of the municipalities’ disparate ordinances.”
The court issued its comments on the appeal filed by Susan Bryant of Camden. Bryant appealed to Maine Superior Court in March 2014 concerning a special exception granted by the Camden Zoning Board of Appeals in January 2014 to the Camden Harbour Inn to allow it to expand on Bay View Street.
Bryant maintained in her lawsuit that the special exception violated the town’s zoning ordinances.
A superior court judge upheld the zoning board’s action.
Bryant owns and lives in a home next to the inn’s Chestnut Street entrance. She stated in her court appeal that neighbors at the January hearing voiced concerns about noise and traffic from guests, staff and deliveries. She also maintained that as a nonconforming use in the traditional village, the proposal to expand exceeded the allowable expansion limit.
Camden Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Steve Wilson said Tuesday that the inn owners have not yet filed an application with the town planning board for the expansion project pending a final court resolution.
The state high court ruled that an appeal to court is warranted once there is a final action by the town and that the zoning board granting of a special exception was not a final action. The justices pointed out that the town’s ordinance wrongly states that a resident can appeal the issuance of a special exemption in court.
Bryant’s attorney Ryan Dumais of Brunswick said his client preserves all her arguments with the ruling, which he termed a procedural one.
Attorney Stephen Hanscom, who represents the inn, said his clients were pleased with the ruling because it will reduce the time that it takes the project to go through town approval and possible appeals. He said that without the court ruling it could have taken four to six years because Camden’s ordinance allows a court appeal at every step of the review process rather than when the planning board has acted and the code officer has issued a permit.