Wiscasset seeks millions in taxes from Maine Yankee nuclear plant

Maine Yankee, which in 1997 shut down its nuclear plant on Bailey Point and transferred 542 metric tons of radioactive waste into canisters there, paid annual property taxes to the town under an agreement that expired last year. The two sides have been unable to reach a new tax agreement and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection last year granted Maine Yankee a tax exemption based on a state law that gives breaks to industrial facilities for reducing air pollution.

Source: Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago

Falmouth issues new short-term rental rules 

A new requirement that all Falmouth short-term renters register their properties, with hefty fines for those who don’t comply, is drawing mixed reactions from owners and residents. The ordinance, approved by the Town Council July 26, stems from residents’ concerns about noise and congestion coming from vacation rentals like those advertised on sites such as Airbnb, according to Town Councilor Hope Cahan.

Source: Portland Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago

New Maine law supports tiny houses

On Wednesday, Gov. Janet Mills signed a new law that gives tiny houses the same status as any other single-family dwelling in the state. This puts tiny homes on equal footing with traditional residences and subject to the same zoning and code requirements. Under this new law, tiny homes can have no larger than 400-square-feet of living space and ones on wheels count as dwellings as well.

Source: BDN

By downeastlaw, ago

Portland approves Munjoy Hill Historic District

Portland city councilors narrowly approved the creation of a new historic district on Munjoy Hill and unanimously agreed to study the impacts of the city’s other historic districts, some of which have existed since the early ’90s. The 5-4 vote in support of the new historic district came more than two months after the council rejected the same proposal, and City Councilor Andrew Zarro, who initially opposed the plan, asked to reconsider the proposal.

Source: Portland Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago

Judge’s ruling threatens CMP transmission corridor project

A Superior Court judge ruling’s Wednesday may have created another hurdle for the builders of a 145-mile energy transmission corridor through northwestern Maine.

Justice Michaela Murphy ruled that the Maine Bureau of Public Lands did not have the authority to lease public reserve lands to CMP affiliate NECEC Transmission LLC, which is building the corridor, without first determining whether the lease would substantially alter the land in question. If a review finds the state-owned land would be significantly altered because of the lease, the question would go to the Legislature, Murphy ruled.

Source:  Portland Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago

Maine to get new tallest building in state

The Portland City Council voted unanimously Monday to grant a zoning change for a downtown high rise that would become the tallest building in the state – a title that currently belongs to Franklin Towers.

Redfern Properties wants to erect an 18-story building at Temple and Federal streets, behind the post office. Monday’s vote allows the developer to build housing on the upper floors of the 190-foot structure, which previous zoning would have prohibited.

City Councilor Belinda Ray, who represents the district, said she supported the change after the developer agreed to work with the owner of the Portland House of Music to design a building that would muffle noise coming from the entertainment venue across the street.

“I’m comfortable supporting this,” Ray said. “It’s going to give us much needed housing.”

 
tallest building in Maine
Source: Portland Press Herald

By downeastlaw, ago

Cliff Island community rallied to keep the coronavirus at bay

CLIFF ISLAND, Maine — In different times, a taxi met visitors at the wharf to take them to any destination on this H-shaped island’s dirt roads.

Few visitors come now. But the taxi is still parked up the road with its back window emblazoned with a simple message in bold yellow lettering: “Sorry! No Taxi Service Due to COVID-19.”

It is one of the most immediately visible ways that life has changed on the island in Casco Bay that is part of Maine’s largest city, but is a remote last stop on the ferry from the mainland. Cliff Island has yet to see a confirmed case of the coronavirus in nearly a year since the pandemic arrived in Maine, infecting more than 45,000 statewide and more than 3,700 in Portland.

 

Source: BDN 

By downeastlaw, ago

Norwegian firm seeks to put salmon farm off MDI

A Norwegian-owned aquaculture venture says it has filed plans with the state in hopes of getting permits it will need to cultivate salmon in the ocean off Bar Harbor.

It also will need to overcome organized opposition to its plans in order to come to fruition.

American Aquafarms plans to place 30 floating pens, each 150 feet wide, for growing salmon at two sites in Frenchman Bay, if it can get approval from the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The firm, headed by CEO Mikael Roenes, also has an agreement to purchase the Maine Fair Trade Lobster plant in Gouldsboro if the project is approved, and to convert it into a salmon hatchery and processing plant.

Source: BDN

By downeastlaw, ago