WATERFORD – Gary and Chris Searles went before the Waterford Appeals Board on Wednesday to protest a requirement for building permits and the removal of some structures at the Keoka Beach Camping Area.
The process went forward even though the Searleses, who also own Searles Excavation, had not filled out a form detailing the reasons for the appeal.
“I almost didn’t have this appeal,” board Chairman Gary Gaythwaite said. He explained that with the lack of information, the board had no reason to believe an appeal was necessary.
A lack of a formal complaint also may have accounted for the reason the meeting quickly became confusing. The Searleses’ attorney, James Belleau of Auburn, addressed a series of different concerns and ended up sharing much of his discussion with town attorney Geoff Hole of Portland.
Belleau wondered whether requirements being imposed by the town for accessory structures at the campground were permissible.
In December, the Waterford Board of Selectmen said Gary Searles owed the town permitting fees for “appurtenant structures” built next to or on recreational vehicles at the campground. Of about 140 recreational vehicles on lots in the campground, they said, only 12 did not show improvements such as sunrooms or porches.
Even with a discounted rate of $15 per improvement, Searles could owe as much as $1,500, the selectmen said.
They also said accessory structures built within 100 feet of the high water mark on Keoka Lake were not allowed under the town’s shoreland zoning regulations and needed to be removed.
Belleau on Wednesday pointed out that some of the accessory structures in question were built before a 1992 ordinance requiring permits for accessory uses. He also said many structures built on or around recreational vehicles in the shoreland zone existed before they were disallowed, and should be grandfathered.
In addition, Belleau took issue with the high water mark the town used and said some of the recreational vehicles in question may not even be in the 100-foot shoreland zone.
After nearly an hour of discussion, Geoff Hole said he didn’t expect an immediate decision on the appeal. “The board may very well want to hear – to think about – what it has heard tonight,” he said.
Gaythwaite said the board has 35 days to respond to an appeal.
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