For a second time, the Boothbay Planning Board approved a building permit for a proposed development within the resource protection district. On April 20, the board voted 4-1 in conditionally approving a Massachusetts couple’s application for selectively cutting a line of trees, installing a driveway, septic system and well, and constructing a single-family home. Applicants Heidi Cresta and Virginia Guerrero of Middletown, Massachusetts originally received planning board approval on Jan. 19 for their Highfields Association subdivision development.

But a couple of abutters objected to the board’s approval, and sought help from Maine Department of Environmental Protection, who along with the state Attorney General’s Office appealed the decision. State Shoreland  Zoning Coordinator Colin Clark represented DEP  and Assistant Attorney General Caleb Ewell sent a letter supporting overturning the original approval. Both state agencies believed the planning board’s original decision violated Maine and local land use ordinances. On March 15, the appeals board ruled in DEP’s and the Attorney General’s Office’s favor and remanded the application back for planning board approval. The planning board set April 20 during its regularly scheduled monthly meeting to decide on the application.

During the second review, Clark told the board why the state called for another planning board review. The first reason was contained in a state ordinance stating a planning board must rule no other location is suitable for building. The second is an ordinance requires a minimum 75-foot setback. “I reached out to the town for a copy of the approval and related materials. It was unclear how the board reached its decision, and whether the special exemption standards had been appropriately considered. This prompted a request for reconsideration, and ultimately an appeal.”

When town officials received the DEP’s appeal earlier this year, they were surprised because Clark had visited the proposed site. During the March appeals board hearing, witnesses testified Clark had singled out a site inside the resource protection zone as the only location possible for the development. But in the appeal, Clark identified a site outside the zone as a possible location even though he allegedly described it a few months earlier as a “wetland.” On April 20, planning board member Mike Thompson asked Clark about his rationale. “I was there for a specific reason to see if property water flowage was from tributary streams,” Clark said. “There are definitely a lot of wetlands out there. My request for being there was for an answer regarding tributary streams. We didn’t do a whole assessment of the property.  I was told ‘This was a resource protection zone’ and responded ‘The required setback is 250 feet.’” 

The planning board spent over 90 minutes reviewing the application. Once the board finished, it reached the same conclusion it did in January The board ruled applicants met state and local land use ordinance standards for allowing a single-family dwelling built in a resource protection zone. Chairman William Wright along with board member Peggy Kotin and alternates Mike Thompson and Lucian Laurie Jr. voted for approval. Board member Bruce Bowler voted against approval. Mark Stebbins is DEP’s Land Division director. He told the planning board his department appealed the board’s original decision based on a lack of supporting information. “You had an application and a decision, but not a lot of supporting materials. It was unclear how a decision was reached,” he said. “Had we been privy to notes written during the pre-application meeting, we may not have appealed.”

In other action, the board approved one other application and tabled another. The board voted, 5-0, approving a wharves and wiers application for Linda Jay Burley of 22 Linekin Landing Road. She sought approval for improvements to a pier, including widening it by one inch and raising the height by 2.5 inches, and adding a 12-foot by 4-foot ramp along with lengthening the runway by two feet. 

Concerns over COVID-19 prompted the second application’s tabling. A. Maltese (Adam Maltese) Design planned on representing Paul and Julia Spaulding’s application for their 256 Back River Road location. The Spauldings plan on replacing a garage with an artist’s studio and moving the proposed structure away from the lot line. The proposal would also increase square footage by 49 which is 20% larger.

The board meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 26 to accept the language written by town attorney Sally Daggett in the Cresta-Guerriero permit application. Following a vote, the board will hold a workshop.