AUBURN – Attorneys Bryan Dench and Curtis Webber have collaborated in an article analyzing a high profile zoning case in which the Bangor Planning Board narrowly rejected an application by Wal-Mart to locate a super-store in the Bangor area. Their article was published in the Summer 2003 edition of the Maine Bar Journal, a statewide publication of the Maine Bar Association. It is titled Guidance from the Widewaters Case.

Wal-Mart proposed to locate its new store close to the Penjajawoc Marsh in Bangor, home to a number of migratory birds. The application, which would have resulted in a store which would have been five acres in size together with parking for 1,000 cars, was opposed by local environment advocates. After extensive hearings, the Bangor Planning Board rejected the proposal 3-2.

The author noted that, on appeal, the Superior Court judge ruled that the permit should nevertheless be granted because the Bangor zoning ordinance was unconstitutionally vague. To the surprise of many municipal attorneys, the Maine Supreme Court ignored the constitutional issue and sent the case back to the Planning Board to make additional findings of fact in order to determine whether the requirements for a conditional use permit had been satisfied.

In their article, Dench and Webber reviewed the inconsistent pattern of court decisions with respect to how specific the findings of administrative boards like boards of appeal and planning boards must be in order to satisfy the courts. The authors concluded that, at least in controversial cases, local administrative bodies may be in for some late night meetings in order to satisfy the requirements of the Widewaters case for more specific fact-finding.

Attorney Dench is a member of the Auburn firm Skelton, Taintor & Abbott. Attorney Webber practices with Linnell, Choate & Webber, LLP, also in Auburn. Both attorneys concentrate a substantial portion of their practice in the municipal law area.