Rich A-hole Attacks Family Campground on MDI

Before moving to MDI we used to stay at the beautiful Mount Desert Campground. It caters to tent campers with its low impact tent platforms. Down at the simple canoe dock, kids have fun catching crabs and enjoying the waters edge. You can kayak into Sommes Sound from this incredible spot. Now some jerk who made his money putting doctors out of work and making our health insurance rates skyrocket is attacking the campground with lawsuits just because he can. I guess to some money entitles one to be a-hole.
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Legal costs, taxes imperil campground
By Earl Brechlin

MOUNT DESERT — The family that owns the Mount Desert Campground here worries that when it comes to running a successful family business, they may be able to win every battle but may ultimately end up losing the war. With a property tax valuation poised to soar and mounting legal costs due to protracted legal proceedings brought by a well-heeled neighbor, Owen Craighead wonders if the business that has been in his family for two generations will be around long enough to be passed onto the third.

“Some days it feels like we’re in a trash compactor.”
– Owen Craighead




“Essentially, it’s like trying to tip-toe through a minefield,” explained Mr. Craighead.

Located near the north end of Somes Sound, the Mount Desert Campground was established in 1958 by Marie and Arnold Allen. It was purchased by Mr. Craighead’s parents in 1984.

Set on the edge of a tranquil cove behind a sheltering island, the 60-acre forested property boasts approximately 130 campsites, mostly for campers looking to tent. There are a limited number of recreational vehicle sites. It is one of only a handful of campgrounds in the area that have sites directly on salt water.

The Craigheads have wrestled with the routine day-to-day challenges faced by any small, seasonal business owner – rising costs, finding employees, maintaining a customer base and taking care to preserve the establishment’s winning formula.

By all accounts, the campground has been successful. The Craigheads have been able to reinvest in the infrastructure, build homes for themselves and make a nice living. Things began to get more difficult, however, not long after Midwest attorney Michael Becker purchased the house and 5.5 acres of land next door in 1997. Mr. Becker is considered one of the top medical malpractice litigators in the country and is on a list of Ohio “Super Lawyers.”

It wasn’t long before the Craigheads got a letter from Mr. Becker complaining about having to look at campers using the dock to fish for crabs or preparing to go canoeing and kayaking. Motor boats aren’t allowed at the dock.

When the Craigheads applied to the state to obtain a submerged lands lease for the pier in 2000, Mr. Becker intervened. Through a series of attorneys, he opposed them at the local planning board, and lost. He opposed the lease with state regulators and lost. He appealed to Superior Court in Kennebec County and lost and then appeal to the Maine Supreme Court. Again, he lost.

At issue is the campground’s long dock that is necessary to provide access over extensive mudflats at low tide. Mr. Becker has argued it “impedes” access to his own dock and floats because there is only 25-30 feet between the campground dock and ledge for passage. During the permitting process, the Craigheads agreed to a slight realignment of the end float to broaden the passage. Court documents indicate that Mr. Becker has successfully navigated past the campground dock in his yacht.

In one legal brief after another, the fact that the campground’s pier was there and had been in use for decades before Mr. Becker purchased his house is repeated continuously. One observer likened the flap over the pier to someone moving next door to an established farm and then filing complaints about the smells.

Contacted at his Cleveland office, Mr. Becker declined to comment at length. “It’s still pending, that’s all I can say. It would not be prudent to comment. That’s what I tell my clients.”

Meanwhile, the legal cost meter for the Craigheads continues to run. “We spent $50,000 in 2005; some $70,000 total so far,” Mr. Craighead said. He explained the family holds no ill will against Mr. Becker – they even allowed his contractor onto their land to build the seasonal resident a fence. “I never even met the man until we started taking depositions,” Mr. Craighead explained.

What worries the family most is that the pier lawsuit now is entering another phase. While the state may have successfully defended itself from Mr. Becker, a related personal complaint against the Craigheads has yet to go to trial. The family’s lawyers filed a motion for summary judgement based on the state’s victory but that was denied. They are now awaiting the date for the civil trial. That process alone could cost an additional $50,000 to $100,000. The family worries that the protracted nature of the proceedings may mean that final victory could depend not on who is right or wrong but rather who has the deeper pockets. “That would not be us,” Mr. Craighead said.

On top of all that, the Town of Mount Desert is in the midst of a property tax revaluation. The campground’s current assessment of around $1.2 million is likely to increase by a factor of four or five, experts have told Mr. Craighead. State law requires most property to be valued at its highest and best use, not its current use. Even were the mill rate to drop, as is usually the case in a revaluation, the campground’s annual property tax bill of more than $15,000 could triple.

It doesn’t take long for mushrooming tax bills and sky-high legal bills to ruin a small business, he noted. “It’s scary. There’s only so much you can charge for a campsite.”

Over the years the family has become fast friends with hundreds of people who stay at the campground each season. “This place means a lot to a lot of people,” Mr. Craighead said. Several loyal customers have participated in a letters to the editor campaign to focus attention to the Craighead’s situation.

The family had considered putting some of the campground land into a conservation easement but recognizes much of their nest egg is tied up in the property. “I guess you could say we’re land rich but don’t necessarily have a lot of cash,” Mr. Craighead said. “It’s not something we could give away.”

With the civil trial not likely to begin until fall and the new valuations not due to take effect until 2007, the Craigheads have some breathing room.

Still, if running the campground becomes untenable, the family would have no choice but to sell as a last resort. Most likely, Mr. Craighead theorizes, the property would be carved up into several large lots for private multimillion summer homes.

“People say it’s crazy that this land is used for a campground,” Mr. Craighead said. “This place was the very best part of my childhood. People love it here. Some days it feels like we’re in a trash compactor.”