A last-minute agreement between the Congregational Church's building committee and the abutting neighbors, the Perkins family, put to rest a long dispute between the two that started in 2014.

On Dec. 15, 2014, the Boothbay Harbor Planning Board unanimously approved the work the Congregational Church wished to do on the building, which included work both inside and outside the building.

At the Boothbay Harbor Board of Appeals meeting on April 2, the board heard a request to reconsider the appeal the Perkins family made on Feb. 24. At that time, the Perkinses felt the church’s plans for construction placed undue adverse impact on their family.

The board agreed with the Perkinses that the discussions of the planning board did not take the proper amount of time to minimize the adverse impacts, and sent the plan back to the Boothbay Harbor Planning Board for further review.

At that time, Board Chairman Gloria Taliana stated she hoped the two parties could come to a mutual agreement.

Due to conflicts of interest and members being unavailable at the time, Planning Board Chairman Mike Tomko wrote a letter in early March indicating the planning board would be unable to review the plan again until May at the earliest. At that point, it looked like any approval of the site plan would have to be decided in Lincoln County Superior Court.

Instead, an agreement was reached between the building committee and the Perkinses in the 11th hour, late in the afternoon on April 2.

This new agreement states that no work will be done on the side of the building facing the Perkins’ property, and the current roof in that area will remain.

According to Sue Mendleson of Knickerbocker Group, the architect of the design, the group will still be replacing some shingles, which a permit is not needed for.

The board of appeals agreed to revisit their decision, and with both parties now in agreement about the new plan, they unanimously agreed to reverse their decision and instead deny the appeal of the Perkinses.

According to Boothbay Harbor Code Enforcement Officer Geoff Smith, this means the original planning board approval was upheld. Since the new plan is a reduction of the old one, it does not have to be reviewed again.

The new plan incorporates the original restrictions placed on the work in the original approval from Dec. 15, including that work hours would be between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. only, and that the Perkins’ property would be shielded from the illumination of the church steeple.

“We're grateful they changed their plans and hope it's a win-win for both sides,” Tom and Laura Perkins said in an email to the Register on April 2. “But it’s important that we all live up to the spirit of our agreement, not just the terms.”

“Workmen won't be on the side of the church facing the Perkinses,” Mendleson said. “That area of the roof will remain as it is.”

“We’re ready to move on and get through this as smoothly as possible,” Tom and Laura Perkins wrote in the same email. “Eric Marden (the church’s primary representative with us the past two months) has promised he would do everything possible to earn our trust throughout the construction process.”

Tom and Laura Perkins also say they appreciate the contribution Alex Logan (the church treasurer) made to the agreement.

“We just want to thank everyone in the community for the overwhelming support they have given our family as we’ve gone through this process,” Tom and Laura Perkins wrote. “We could not have done it without them.”

Related:

Congregational Church's plan to get a second look

Congregational Church's plan likely headed to Superior Court