Richard Hill, acting as agent for Edward and Elizabeth Johnson, applied for a building permit to build two houses on a 60,000 sq. ft. lot, tax map 14, # 52.01. The planning board turned down the request (click here for the Planning Board decision). Six months later, Mr. Hill appealed that decision to the Board of Appeals. Their action on the request is dated as approved the same day that the application was submitted. This seemed to have several problems once it was discovered.

The way in which this all was discovered was by our asking the Phippsburg CEO how a 22,000 sq. ft. lot, the Clark Hill lot, had received a building permit for a 40,000 sq. ft. lot as listed. We thought that since the original property was sold as two parcels to Johnson from Stimson, that the Clark lot had "borrowed" from the other, "non-contiguous" parcel to make up the required and listed lot size (click here to see the first Johnson/Clark Hill building permit which lists that lot size as 40,000 sq. ft.). We were told that this was not the case since the parcel we speculated as having been borrowed from had been granted a variance by the BOA to divide it into two buildable 30,000 sq. ft. lots from its original 60,000 sq, ft. thus accounting for all of the parcel. We own land abutting the Johnson parcel which was granted the variance and were never informed of any hearing by the board about the variance as required by the town's ordinances, so we asked when and how this had happened and requested a new hearing on the matter. We felt that we had been denied our opportunity to speak to the matter as abutters, as was our right.

Section VIIB Board of Appeals Ordinance states;

The board Shall cause notice of the date, time and place of such hearing, the location of the building or lot, and the general nature of the question involved to be given to the person making the application and to be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The date of the publication shall be at least two seven days prior to the hearing. The Board shall also cause notice of the hearing to be given to the Board of Selectpersons, other concerned boards, commissions, persons and the owners of property abutting that for which the appeal is taken at least twenty days prior to the hearing.

The Board agreed to hold another hearing. Sort of. They gave notice to the abutting property owners and we convened at the town hall on May 9, 2002. They discussed the matter, took some comments on it and then, on the advice of the town's counsel, decided that the time period of thirty days, from the time of the original granting of the variance, during which we had the right to bring an appeal of their decision, had expired. We protested that since we had been given no notice of the original hearing (there was no "hearing" since there was no notice), it was impossible for us to respond to something we knew nothing about. They stuck by their decision, forcing us to take the matter to Superior Court, State of Maine. The courts agreed with us and overturned the BOA's decision. The text of the Board's decision and the court's decision are listed below.