Product Description

Recent updates:

• Update: November 2021

  Dear Subscriber:

  Thank you for choosing to keep your copy of A Practical Guide to Land Use in Maine up to date with this 2021 supplement. The following are highlights of just some of the many updates you’ll find in this supplement.

  • See chapter 13, Maine Land Use Law on Public Access, for new discussion explaining the scope of the public trust doctrine, including fishing, fowling, and navigation versus the common law reasonable balance test.

  • See chapter 14, Private Access Rights, for guidance on how to proceed if right, title, or interest is disputed in the context of land use permitting.

  • See chapter 17, Takings, for information on determining whether a regulation constitutes a taking and an analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2021 decision in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid.

  We at MCLE │ New England hope that you find this updated publication useful in your practice and in keeping your resource library current.

  Cordially,

  Alexis J. LeBlanc, Esq., Publications Attorney

• Update: November 2018

  Dear Subscriber:

  Thank you for choosing to keep your copy of A Practical Guide to Land Use in Maine up to date with this supplement for 2018. Inside, you will find many new discussions, analyses, and cites on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • In Chapter 2, find information on the legislature's clarification of the scope of ZBA authority, in Legislative Document 1381, An Act to Clarify Appeals of Municipal Land Use Decisions, 2017 Me. Laws, c. 241.

  • In Chapter 3, read an analysis of a 2017 Law Court ruling that, when an ordinance requires appellate review, even a CEO decision must include sufficient findings of fact to allow review by the ZBA, and the ZBA may not conduct a de novo review to "fix" inadequate CEO findings of fact.

  • In Chapter 7, find information on the Governor's Executive Order and Moratorium on Wind Power Permitting.

  • In Chapter 8, see an explanation of the "adjacency principle," which is used when reviewing proposals to rezone for new development, and discussion of the commission's 2018 reevaluation of its longstanding interpretation of this principle as a requirement that areas to be rezoned for development must be within one road mile of existing compatible development.

  • See Chapter 10 for a reporting on the "Brownfields Utilization, Investment, and Local Development Act of 2018" (BUILD Act), signed into law by the Trump administration in 2018.

  • See Chapter 12 for a case where a defendant holder of a conservation easement sought to enforce a restriction in the easement prohibiting commercial activities to prevent a nonprofit ecology school from operating on the property. Find out how the Superior Court interpreted the term "commercial."

  • See Chapter 13 for discussion of a case wherein the Maine Supreme Court is currently considering an appeal regarding the public's right, or lack thereof, to harvest seaweed that is attached to and growing on private intertidal land.

  • See Chapter 17 for a practice note on what the plaintiff must do when pursuing a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that an ordinance is an unconstitutional regulatory taking, either facially or as applied.

  We at MCLE trust that you will be pleased with these updated chapters and find them valuable in your land use library and practice.

  Cordially,

  Maryanne G. Jensen, Esq., Director of Publications

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 expand

Statutory and Administrative Framework

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Matthew D. Manahan, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 2 expand

Municipal Land Use Controls

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Matthew D. Manahan, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 3 expand

Judicial Review of Municipal Land Use Decisions

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Natalie L. Burns, Esq., Jensen Baird
Matthew D. Manahan, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 4 expand

Site Location of Development Act

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Brian McKay Rayback, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Exhibit 4A

- Municipal Capacity or Delegated Authority Status Under Site Law Buy Form

Chapter 5 expand

Stormwater and Erosion Control

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Emily J. Dupraz, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 6 expand

The Natural Resources Protection Act

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Brian McKay Rayback, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 7 expand

Wind Energy Act

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Juliet T. Browne, Esq., Verrill Dana LLP

Chapter 8 expand

Land Use Planning Commission

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Matthew D. Manahan, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 9 expand

State Agency Appeals

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Scott D. Anderson, Esq., Verrill Dana LLP

Chapter 10 expand

Contaminated Property—Liability, Transactions, and Remediation

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Georgia M. Bolduc, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP
Lisa Gilbreath, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 11 expand

The Maine Uniform Environmental Covenants Act

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Lisa Gilbreath, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Chapter 12 expand

Conservation Easements and Related Topics

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James L. Costello, Esq., Curtis Thaxter LLC
Rebecca G. Klotzle, Esq., Curtis Thaxter LLC

Exhibit 12A

- Maine Conservation Easement Boilerplate Buy Form

Exhibit 12B

- List of Resources Buy Form

Chapter 13 expand

Maine Land Use Law on Public Access

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Gordon R. Smith, Esq., Verrill Dana LLP

Chapter 14 expand

Private Access Rights

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Sarah McDaniel, Esq., Douglas, McDaniel, Campo & Schools

Exhibit 14A

- Demonstration of Title Issues in Easement Creation Buy Form

Chapter 15 expand

Forestry and Agricultural Land Use

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Michael L. Lane, Esq., Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios LLP

Exhibit 15A

- Statewide Average Value of Farmland by Category Buy Form

Exhibit 15B

- 2021 Per-Acre Tree Growth Valuations in Cumberland County Buy Form

Exhibit 15C

- Application Process for Forestry Operations Permits, Road Construction Permits, Bridge Construction Permits, Water Crossings, Gravel Pits Less Than Five Acres, and Gravel Pit Addendums to Road Permits Buy Form

Exhibit 15D

- Timber Harvesting and Related Activities in LUPC’s Jurisdiction Buy Form

Chapter 16 expand

Municipal Enforcement of Land Use Violations

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Leah B. Rachin, Esq., Drummond Woodsum

Exhibit 16A

- Sample Documents That Can Be Used in Conjunction with Obtaining an Administrative Search Warrant Buy Form

Exhibit 16B

- Checklist of Information to Include in a First Written Notice of Land Use Violation in Maine Buy Form

Exhibit 16C

- Checklist of Information to Include in a Second Written Notice of Land Use Violation in Maine Buy Form

Exhibit 16D

- Sample Rule 80K Citation and Complaint Buy Form

Chapter 17 expand

Takings

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Joshua D. Dunlap, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP
Elizabeth M. Frazier, Esq., Pierce Atwood LLP

Exhibit 17A

- Checklist to Determine Whether a Regulatory Taking Has Occurred in the State of Maine Buy Form

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