UPDATE: The Boothbay Planning Board hearing on Stimson Marine will continue March 6 at 6:30 p.m. After two hours of discussion, the planning board decided to conduct a site visit on February 27 at 261 River Road, the property where Stimson houses his boat business.

After the February 20 meeting concluded Stimson said: “They were willing to listen and think carefully to what I said, and it seemed to be very professional.”

Original post: Local boatbuilder David Stimson will go before the Boothbay Planning Board at 6:30 p.m., February 20, to apply for a maritime use permit.

Stimson and his supporters feel that his family business repairs boats as a principal occupation, and therefore his business is a permitted maritime use under Boothbay's current zoning ordinances.

The hearing comes more than six months after the Town of Boothbay shut down Stimson's business for what the code enforcement department considered a manufacturing operation illegally located in a residential district.

The ongoing story of Stimson Marine chronicles the conflict between the livelihood of a landowner, versus the protection of neighbors' rights, a story that has riled emotions on both sides of the issue.

Tonight's planning board hearing will likely add another chapter to the saga.