At their regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 24, Southport selectmen reviewed the latest correspondence between the island’s code enforcement officer and the lawyer representing Diane Blasco, owner of a boathouse at Cameron’s Point.

An Aug. 1 letter to Blasco from Code Enforcement Officer Henry Berne withdrew a July 5 violation notice and replaced it with a violation notice about exceeding the scope of the original building permit and change of use to human occupancy.

The letter instructed Blasco to stop occupying the boathouse and to apply to the building inspector and planning board by Sept. 15 for approval of the recent changes.

On Aug. 12, the town received a letter from James Belleau, Blasco’s attorney, asking that the town withdraw the new violation notice. The letter expressed the position of Ms. Blasco that “the mere placement of mattresses in the boathouse” does not comprise a change of use.

After consultation with the town’s attorney, on Aug. 19 the town sent a response to Belleau in which Berne explained that the violation notice will not be withdrawn unless Blasco agrees to “cease any and all human occupancy of the boathouse,” “cease any and all use of the boathouse as anything other than a boathouse,” and obtain the required approvals from the building inspector and the planning board by Sept. 15.

Berne reminded Belleau that an application to allow the change in use of the boathouse would need to be obtained by Aug. 29, to ensure the matter would go on the agenda for the planning board’s Sept. 7 meeting.

Berne’s letter also reminds Belleau that, under Southport’s land use ordinances, the matter would not be eligible for review by the island’s board of appeals and would, instead, have to be appealed in Superior Court.

The Boothbay Register has also learned that representatives of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection visited the boathouse in response to a July 13 complaint. According to information provided by Colin Clark, state shoreland zoning coordinator, and Lucien Langlois, environmental specialist, both with the Bureau of Land Resources, Maine DEP, Blasco was informed about areas of concern under the Natural Resources Protection Act.

Langlois, who visited the property on July 25, observed four alleged violations, including three items without the required DEP permits. The three that required a permit are described as:

- A footpath wider than 6 feet

- Loam and woodchips placed in the footpath within 75 feet of the water

- Repairing more than 50 percent of a permanent, existing wooden pier

- Trenching within 75 feet of the water to bring utilities to the boathouse

An additional violation was described as “No erosion and sedimentation controls.”

As a result, Blasco and contractor Peter Cole received a warning notice from DEP. Langlois explained that Blasco corrected the issue concerning the width of the path while he was there. Blasco was able to submit an after-the-fact request for a permit which Langlois explained was eligible for review under the “permit by rule” provision. This request was received by DEP on Aug. 2 and Langlois approved it Aug. 4.

Noting that “(Blasco) was very compliant,” Langlois explained that the violations were easily corrected and he didn’t foresee any future problems. Blasco was required to pay a doubled application fee for the permits, which totaled $148. Langlois also explained that the Natural Resources Protection Act relates to the outside of the boathouse and that changes made to the building’s interior need to be addressed by the town. The DEP will continue to assist the town with administering the rules.

Asked during the selectmen’s meeting what might happen if the town does not receive the requested applications from Blasco by the deadline, Selectman Gerry Gamage said the matter “may have to be adjudicated.” Selectman Smith Climo said: “This doesn’t usually happen. We don’t usually need to take property owners to court.”