The Maine Supreme Judicial Court handed down a decision on Feb. 28, siding with Westport Island Board of Selectmen and the Board of Appeal’s decision that George “Chuck” Richardson III’s property is over two acres, affirming the selectmen’s decision to issue a building permit in 2009.
In the case of Deirdre Dunlop versus the Town of Westport, et al., the court also agreed with the board’s determination that Richardson’s road lot could be included in his property’s acreage calculation. According to the court’s ruling, the court made the finding without deciding whether that portion of Jewett Cove Road meets the definition of a driveway because at the point where it enters Richardson’s property, it serves only two lots.
The decision stems from a 2009 neighborhood setback dispute regarding a proposed home, and the property’s non-conforming size near an abutter’s property owned by Deirdre Dunlop and Dianne Roberts.
George “Chuck” Richardson, III, (son of Westport Island Selectman George Richardson II) owns the property, which according to Dunlop’s claim, did not total two acres, the required size under the ordinance, requiring a minimum of two acres for either residential or commercial use.
Dunlop and Roberts were appealing the Westport Island Board of Appeals’ decision that affirmed the issuance of a building permit to Richardson III, arguing the selectmen failed to make requisite findings that the property in question met the two-acre minimum lot size requirement, and that the selectmen imposed an unreasonable and improper heightened burden of proof on her as the appellant, and that the building permit issued allowing Richardson III to build was invalid.
The Westport Island Board of Appeals upheld Richardson’s claim, and Dunlop and Roberts took the issue to the Maine Supreme Court.
