Singh Pier Update: Abutters decide against pier plan appeal

Abutters decide against pier plan appeal
by Mark Good

TREMONT — Abutting landowners will not appeal a planning board decision allowing developer Pritam Singh to build a 305-foot-long pier and float project on Seal Cove.

Sylvia Constable, who with other members of the Paine family, opposed construction of the pier, said Tuesday they also are dropping an appeal to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection asking for reconsideration of a permit for the project granted under the Department of Environmental Protection’s permit-by-rule process.

“Litigation is so expensive,” Ms. Constable said in citing her decision not to appeal.

During a public hearing on the issue, Mr. Singh said he would put the 23-acre Cape Road property into a conservation easement and limit any development to a family compound with six houses, Ms. Constable noted.

“We hope we can hold him to that,” she said.

Disappointed by approval of the pier, she remains philosophical about the outcome.

“Any decision of this sort comes down to a compromise,” she said.

Although the Paine family is no longer making a legal challenge, the pier project could still face an appeal by other parties. A town ordinance allows any aggrieved party to appeal a planning board decision within 30 days of that decision. In this case, the window for appeal ends July 21.

Planning board chairman George Urbanneck said this week that he is unaware of any efforts to appeal approval of the pier.

The June 21 decision by the planning board came nearly five months after the project was first presented.

The project became controversial in the town after the original applicant, Rob Egbert, was linked to the Singh Company, a Florida-based development firm. Opponents claimed the pier would despoil one of the remaining pristine landscapes in Tremont. They were also worried that the project could be detrimental to wildlife and affect lobster fishing in the area.

Another factor was a worry that the company had plans for a large condominium project on the property. As a result, the approval process was marked by legal challenges and fiery rhetoric from both sides.

Taxpayers will bear some of the legal costs. To date, the town has received one invoice from town attorney Chad Smith for work done by his firm on the pier application, according to town bookkeeper Debbie Nickerson. The bill for the period from Feb. 16-22 is $1,508, she said. Other bills are expected.

Legal costs associated with the pier are coming from the planning board budget, which for the 2004-2005 fiscal year was set at $8,250.