DALLAS PLANTATION – After more than a year of negotiations, the Land Use Regulation Commission reached an agreement Wednesday with landowners on Loon Lake who had violated land-use regulations.

Gregg and Geraldine Botka of Rangeley Plantation have agreed to pay a penalty of $2,000, reduced from an initially proposed $4,000 because of the remedial actions they had taken, said Scott Rollins, division manager for the commission.

The couple will have an additional $3,000 penalty if they violate the conditions of the agreement.

Conditions include restoring vegetation to proper levels, stabilizing the shoreline and maintaining undergrowth until July 2012. They must also notify the commission if they sell the land and notify potential buyers of the agreement, which will be maintained until 2012.

The Botkas purchased several acres on Loon Lake with the intention of building a retirement home there, according to Gregg Botka. Botka said he notified the commission in February 2003 when he learned that someone he had hired had violated several regulations.

Rollins, who has been division manager for the commission since January, said Friday that he couldn’t verify how the commission learned of the violations because he wasn’t initially involved.

According to information in the settlement agreement, the Botkas constructed a road and had timber harvested without obtaining a required permit.

The Botkas own several acres on adjoining parcels – some designated as general management, some as residential recreation development, but each having its own use regulations.

Botka notified the commission in February 2003 about the timber harvesting and road building; however, the notification indicated that harvesting was to take place in the general management subdistrict, not the residential area. The document also states that the commission granted approval for a permanent home and garage on the property in May 2003 with conditions that “areas cleared in excess of the commission’s standards for vegetative clearing be planted and remain undisturbed for a period of five years.” The Botkas also cleared vegetation from their lakeshore lot in excess of the commission’s shoreline standards, according to the document.

Gregg Botka said Friday that he took remedial action, replanting as soon as it was possible for trees to grow.