The Stimson DEP Notice of Violation of the Natural Resources Protection Act

Some representative authorized by the Stimson Family directed an unknown contractor to cut a 6 foot wide path on the "paper" street that runs along side of my house, from the back of the property on which my house sits to the edge of Silver Lake. The cutting of the this path meandered on and off what we perceived at that time and believe to have been confirmed by the Courts to be our half of what is shown as a paper street on the 1922 plan of Popham Beach (see discussion of 1922 Plan HERE. Also map of lots-Soon).

This path was constructed with no direct contact, conversation with or notice to my family, other than a comment made at a meeting of neighbors when the daughter of the owner of the trust which owns the Stimson property said they (the family) were going to put in a path back to the lake. We took the comment to mean that they were going to install a path on their own property.We were very surprised when we found that they had put it, in places, on our property!!!

The Stimson trust owns three acres of land which stretches from Hunnewell Ave.to Silver Lake. Abutting that land was what we believed (and the courts confirmed ) was half of "paper" street. With three acres and half a forty foot paper street, there was absolutely no need to use any land of my family's to put a path from Hunnewell Avenue to Silver Lake. There was no need to encroach on our property. We have a path which is fully on our own property to access Silver Lake and so have no use for a second one.

It was obvious to us, then, since the Stimson family had ample property on which to put a path, that their purpose was to establish a use of the right of way, where there had never been one, and not to simply provide access for their elderly matriarch as we were told (it was explained to us that this route was the only way the 80 year old Mrs. Stimson-now called Chester on her building permits- could get back to the lake. Their "other path"was too rough. Right...)

The Stimsons have asserted that it was within their easement rights over the "paper" street to build out the path. We feel that some sort of notice would have been appropriate, since cutting of vegetation was done on our property and the contractor, , was told to cut whatever was the lesser of the damaging routes within the "right of way". We feel that any damage to our property is excessive since we have not been asked about any such action and have no interest in it. We were told, by Mary MacNamara, that the Stimson's instructions to the contractor were that they should make every effort to minimize the damage to the vegetation, and it is clear that this was done in so far as where the vegetation cut was on our property, that it did indeed minimize damage to the vegetation on THEIR property.

When DEP staff had been called in to inspect the Wyatt property in 2002 to determine the appropriate permitting for that site with its unreported wetlands, I invited John Perry, the DEP staff enforcement officer making that inspection, to advise me on what I could and could not do in these same types of areas behind my house where the Stimsons would later try to blaze a trail. He told me at that time, that any cutting of vegetation in these areas required a State DEP, wetlands alteration permit. Consequently, when I saw the activity undertaken by the Stimsons, the DEP was notified of a possible infraction. The formal complaint was made by Susanne Nusbaum (who at the time was claiming ownership of all the streets on the 1922 Plan at Popham Beach and so was asserting that this paper street was her property, not ours). Woodlot Associates, an environmental consulting firm, was called in to do a survey of the wetlands on this "right of way". Their report (click here) was forwarded to DEP who inspected the property. DEP determined that a violation of the Natural Resources Protection Act had taken place. The following Notice of Violation was sent to Nancy Stimson.