The town of Nobleboro is being sued by Blue Sky Towers III LLC following the denial of a dimensional variance for the installation of a tower by the appeals board.
In the lawsuit, Blue Sky Towers III states that the town’s land use ordinance, along with the appeals board’s decision not to grant the variance, violates federal telecommunication laws.
Nobleboro’s land use ordinance prohibits wireless communication towers from being built more than 300 yards from Route 1.
Blue Sky Towers III is asking the court to order the Nobleboro Planning Board to approve the site plan for the tower at 29 Starter Drive.
The lawsuit names the Nobleboro Board of Appeals, planning board, and town as a whole as defendants.
Appeals board Chair David Libby declined to comment on the lawsuit.
According to Nobleboro town attorney Kristin Collins, the town has not yet filed an answer to the complaint but will do so within the month unless the parties come to terms while discussing the matter.
“The town’s perspective on the case is that Blue Sky will have the burden of proof in federal court to prove that the ordinance interferes with Verizon’s coverage,” Collins said in a phone interview Wednesday, March 4.
Collins said the question of whether the ordinance and the decision of the appeals board interfere with Verizon’s coverage has not yet been resolved.
In June 2025, Blue Sky Towers III, in partnership with Verizon, submitted an application to the planning board to discuss the installation of a wireless communication facility following the discovery of a “coverage gap” in Nobleboro.
The application requested leasing a 100-foot-by-100-foot plot of land located in the middle of an area requiring coverage. Within that area of land, a tower that is 86 feet tall with a 6-foot lighting rod would be installed.
In November 2025, Blue Sky Towers III withdrew the application from the planning board and submitted an application to the appeals board due to the town’s land use ordinance that restricts the location of what the town identifies as facilities.
Blue Sky Towers III requested a dimensional variance that would allow applicants to build the tower outside of the allotted location to fill the coverage gap that was identified by Verizon. The proposed location of the tower was the most ideal to close the coverage gap, according to Mark Beaudoin, a real estate lawyer representing Blue Sky Towers III.
The appeals board held three meetings to discuss granting the dimensional variance, and ultimately denied the variance on Jan. 27. The board determined the application did not involve traditional dimensional standards such as lot size, frontage, lot coverage or yard setbacks.
Instead, the request centered on the town’s 300-yard Route 1 corridor requirement, which Collins said functions as an overlay zoning district rather than a setback. The appeals board voted unanimously to deny the request.
