Hartwell v Ogunquit

“Amid continuing concerns regarding the costs and delays associated with the administrative process and appeals in municipal law, we confront this challenge: the inconsistent application of mandatory provisions in local zoning ordinances. Wayne C. Perkins appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court (York County, Fritzsche, J.) vacating the Ogunquit Planning Board’s site plan review and design review approval of Perkins’s application to convert his garage into a lobster pound. Because Perkins’s application fails to comply with one of the Ordinance’s requirements for design review, we must affirm the judgment of the Superior Court vacating the design review approval.

We address this procedural issue in detail in the hope of assisting towns, applicants, and interested parties in their continued efforts to develop a more predictable and less expensive process. We also vacate the judgment of the Superior Court with respect to site plan review and remand with instructions to remand to the Board for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Hartwell v Ogunquit