Dear Editor:

It seems as though a double standard is being used by the abutter on his own property vs. what he uses to delay the Eastside Park. He nit pics everything about the park, including the need for a sidewalk and crossing sign on Atlantic Avenue in front of the park, as suggested at the last planning board meeting.

Note: Boothbay Lobster Wharf, a short distance down the road with half of their parking across the road and entertainment weekends all summer, does not require sidewalks or crossing signs, apparently without any problems.

But when it comes to his own property, he builds a spite fence centered about the splash pad. The fence is very good looking – wooden, about 50 feet long and six feet high at each end. It is a structure in the shoreland zone. But the square wood posts are on the Eastside Park side and the fence starts at six feet high but increases in height to 7 and 8 feet at the center, which is across from the splash pad center.

The Maine and Boothbay Harbor requirements for a spite fence are a minimum height of 6 feet and the supports to be on the abutter’s side. In other words, the fence is illegal two ways.

Was this fence ever approved by the planning board? Can a local planning board override a Maine requirement?

Bob Crink

Boothbay Harbor