Boothbay Harbor homeowners Joseph and Jill Doyle appealed a Sept. 8 planning decision to Lincoln County Superior Court Jan. 26. This follows a town board of appeals denial of a request to reverse abutter Boothbay Harbor Waterfront Preservation’s site plan revision for an existing structure, a splash pad, on its 65 Atlantic Ave. property.

The Rule 80b petition brief requests reversal of the Sept. 8 decision with claims it and a remand decision contained errors and inadequate findings and the application did not comply with ordinance standards. “The Planning Board’s decision to approve the Project … (and) the Board of Appeals’ decision to sustain the Remand Decision involved errors of law, an abuse of discretion, and was unsupported by substantial evidence in the … record.”

Kristin Collins of Preti Flaherty is representing the Doyles alongside Scott Anderson of Verrill Dana. Collins provided the Boothbay Register with a statement on behalf of the Doyles: “Like many others, the Doyles have been supporters of and donors to the park project on the promise that it would be safe, green, and legally compliant. Procedural shortcuts, violations and legal errors have plagued this process … The Doyles’ local appeal has so far been successful in at least requiring the Planning Board to consider those standards. Their goal with this court appeal is to ensure those standards are properly applied with the environment and neighborhood in mind.”

The statement claims BHWP’s splash pad construction went ahead in May 2020 with no permit or notice to abutters, nearly doubled in size from previously approved plans and was significantly shifted from its approved site. BHWP failed to address the environmental safety of the splash pad’s water discharge into the harbor and the site plan was initially approved without applying Boothbay Harbor's shoreland zoning ordinance, the statement said.

The brief alleges the town did not provide notice of BHWP’s 2020 application or the planning board’s approval in October 2020 because an outdated address was used; the Doyles were not provided information on the permits after repeated requests to the town and BHWP; the Doyles did not receive notice BHWP submitted its site plan revision application and were not notified of the planning board’s Sept. 8 approval; the Sept. 8 approval contained no findings; the splash pad increased from 25’ in diameter to 45’, and was moved next to the Doyles’ house and no property line buffering or sound mitigation was in the plan.

The brief also alleges the Doyles learned of the situation from a chance discussion between their and the town’s attorneys; that was when they appealed the Sept. 8 decision.

Town Manager Julia Latter declined comment due to the pending litigation.

BHWP President John O’Connell said in an email, the organization is disappointed the permitting and approval process has not yielded a timely outcome. “The Boothbay Harbor Planning Board has done an enormous amount of work on our project and it is unfortunate that the inhabitants of the Town of Boothbay Harbor are now being sued for their well meaning efforts … We want to build the park to provide working waterfront as well as significant public access for residents and visitors alike. We will continue to work hard to achieve our goal.”