A Rockland resident who sued the city earlier this year over sweeping residential zoning changes is claiming that city councilors failed to follow proper process when they repealed the changes last month.
An attorney representing James Ebbert initially filed a lawsuit against the city on Jan. 28, alleging that the zoning changes passed by the city council on Jan. 14 failed to conform with the city’s comprehensive plan. The lawsuit also claimed that city officials failed to properly advertise the public meeting at which the changes were voted on.
Last month, the city council unexpectedly voted to repeal the zoning changes, citing the lawsuit and an acknowledgement that a broader conversation about zoning in Rockland must happen.
In his motion to amend the original lawsuit, Ebbert’s attorney Paul Gibbons argues that city officials did not properly provide public notification that they would be considering the repeal of the ordinance changes, in violation of state law.
The agenda for the Feb. 11 city council meeting at which the changes were repealed did not include any items pertaining to the zoning changes.
“The problem is that the public wasn’t notified,” Gibbons said.
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Mary Costigan, the attorney representing the city of Rockland, said she could not comment on ongoing litigation.
Ebbert, who was one of a group of residents circulating a petition against the zoning changes, said he’s been baffled by the city’s handling of the zoning issue.
“I still can’t believe they passed this one-size-fits-all [zoning ordinance] in the first place,” Ebbert said. “What really irritated me was the process.”
In collecting signatures for the petition, Ebbert said most people he came across were unaware that the city council had changed the residential zoning ordinance.
City councilors had been discussing possible zoning changes since last year in an attempt to come up with ways the city can increase the availability of affordable housing.
The repeal of the zoning ordinance amendment effectively stopped the group of residents from collecting signatures on the petition that was seeking to bring the changes before voters through a referendum process. Ebbert said the group collected about 670 signatures.
As of March 12, a judge has not ruled on whether the lawsuit can be amended, according to court documents.
The zoning changes at issue reduced minimum lot sizes, frontage and setback requirements, as well as square footage requirements for properties in all three of the city’s residential zones. The changes also allowed for detached accessory apartments as a conditional use in each of the zones and opened the door to allowing tiny houses in the city.
Following the repeal of the changes, City Councilor Valli Gieger said the council would continue to discuss how zoning changes can make housing more accessible in Rockland.
This week, the city council gave the green light to a contract zone that will allow Midcoast Habitat for Humanity to build 12 small houses where a 1930s neighborhood once stood near Route 1. Councilors also approved amending zoning for the Lincoln Street Center to allow artists who have residencies with the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation to live in their studios.