York Town News
Coastal Landscaping: unequal enforcement of sign ordinance bad for business
By Melissa Wood
YORK - Although the Appeals Board voted 5-0 to deny an appeal made by David Bridges, owner of Coastal Landscaping & Garden Center, 941 Route 1, they agreed with Bridges that enforcement of signs of Route 1 businesses should not be selective.
Bridges was issued a notice on May 30 that a sign advertising mulch for sale and a pile of mulch on the property were in violation. He removed the sign and said he is spreading the mulch pile, but said he's concerned that other businesses on Route 1 are allowed to keep their signs, giving them an advertising advantage and affecting his business economically.
"You will see different letters written by or to Code Enforcement over the past four years and yet nothing has been done by Code Enforcement to bring other businesses into compliance," said Bridges.
The board limited its discussion to Bridges's appeal of the notice of violation, but some members did sympathize with Bridges.
"We assume that treatment should be equal and if it's not equal that's another matter, I guess," said Chairman Michael Swant.
Code Enforcement Officer Tim DeCoteau said that the town issued two other Route 1 businesses notices of violation the day before it issued the one to Bridges, but said that up to 24 businesses are not in compliance.
"Equal treatment is a good thing," said DeCoteau, who said the town has been struggling with how to enforce the change in the ordinance in 2000.
He said that, ultimately, the Board of Selectmen has to decide whether it's in the best interest of the town to go to court against the businesses to enforce the ordinance - a point that Bridges took issue with.
"I think I have an interest in codes being equally enforced amongst all the same people," said Bridges.
Swant said that although the Appeals Board was not going to address the enforcement issue, he thought Bridges had the right to come back to the board and say if there is not future action.
DeCoteau disagreed and said that in a recent York County Superior Court case, the court ruled that boards of appeals could not order selectmen to enforce the ordinance.
"The only action that I do is that I send the notice," said DeCoteau. "The plan is we're going to document all the violations by early September; we're going to present them to the selectmen and they can decide what to do."
Earlier, in a narrow vote, the Appeals Board decided that a building permit applied for by Curtis Clark for 4 Woods Lane and completed by the Code Enforcement Office - but was never picked up or paid for - had been issued by the town.
The decision means that a growth permit for the property was valid, which means that Clark could use the growth permit for a planned apartment. Since the permit was issued in 2005, a new provision enacted in May of this year providing that if a building permit lapses the growth permit also expires did not affect their appeal.
Originally, Clark had planned to build a single-family house and barn on the property. He received a growth permit for the dwelling and separately received a building permit for the barn, which would house a workshop, and work on the barn began. But he changed his mind and never picked up or paid for the building permit for the house.
Vice Chairman Joseph Carr made a motion that the building permit was still valid because the building code stated that a building permit must be paid before an occupancy permit is issued, but did not explicitly say a permit was automatically voided for nonpayment. The motion carried 3-2 with Swant and Kevin Brown also voting in favor and Leon Moulton and Peter O'Connor voting against it.
Swant, who said he was on the fence before voting in favor, said a lot of the culpability falls on the appellant, and if something similar came up again he would not vote the same way.
"I think they made a lot of stupid mistakes quite honestly," said Swant. "I think if you deal with the town in the future you really need to sharpen up there."
In other business, the Appeals Board granted an administrative appeal sought by Diane Bonjourno to convert a seasonal property at 10 Norton Avenue, York Beach, into a year-round dwelling. However, the board made the approval conditional on the owner moving the house five feet from the property line since it is currently right on the line.
Swant also welcomed two new members who have both previously served on the Appeals Board, John Crousse, who returned after a seven-year hiatus, and O'Connor, who has been away for a year, and he thanked retiring board member Gene Sullivan, who left the board after serving two terms.
