APPLETON, Maine — The seemingly never-ending legal battle over a Searsmont Road lot has renewed, nearly a year after the owner was forced to remove a house he had built on the property.
Last July, Jacob Boyington of Appleton Ridge Construction moved the two-story house from the lot because the structure was found by the court to have been erected in violation of town zoning laws. Specifically, the 24-by-32-foot building was not far enough from the road, and Boyington could not reposition it anywhere on the 0.18-acre lot to satisfy the zoning requirements. He had been granted a permit by the town, but the court ruled the permit was issued in error.
But the issue resurfaced after Boyington received a building permit on March 1 from the town’s code enforcement officer for construction of a 12-by-32-foot, two-story house on the same lot.
Neighbors Paul and Rita Gagnon have filed an appeal with the town, claiming for one that the permit should not have been issued because Boyington had not yet removed the entire nonconforming structure as ordered by the court in the previous case. While the house was removed, the slab on which it sat remains on the site. The Gagnons also argue the code officer did not accurately measure the required setback from the road for the new house.
The town’s board of appeals will hear the appeal April 26.
Code Officer Toupie Rooney said Tuesday that the setbacks were determined from a survey done by professional surveyor Joe Coffey.
Boyington could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Construction has not begun on the new building, but contractor vehicles are parked on the lot.
The legal wrangling over the original house has yet to be concluded. A land use case by the town against Appleton Ridge is pending in Knox County Unified Court. The case could be heard in court next month in a jury-waived trial that is expected to take up to six hours.
The trial will determine what sanctions if any should be imposed on Boyington for the original violation.
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. He tore down a dilapidated building on the lot.
The abutting neighbors — including the Gagnons — 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. The house was 15 feet from the side of the road, while the town ordinance required 25 feet.