Opinion

Gensheimer v. Town of Phippsburg

  • 926 A.2d 1168
  • 2007 ME 85
  • 2007 Me. LEXIS 85
Court
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
Filed
Jul 10, 2007
Status
Published
Author
Alexander
On the bench
Clifford, Alexander, Calkins, Levy, Silver
Cited by
3 cases
Authority
More cited than 8.6%

The opinion

ALEXANDER, J.,

dissenting.

[¶ 19] I respectfully dissent. The Court’s opinion correctly outlines the statutes and ordinances that govern this case. As the Court notes, we review the interpretation of ordinances de novo. In that review, we construe the words of an ordinance according to their plain meaning, looking to both the objectives sought by the ordinance and the structure of the ordinance as a whole. Gerald v. Town of York, 589 A.2d 1272, 1274 (Me.1991). Under the Phippsburg ordinance, the Gen-sheimers’ occupancy and use of their home is a grandfathered, non-conforming use, and thus, a permitted use under the ordi *1173 nance. We held that such a grandfathered, non-conforming use was a permitted use in Gerald, 589 A.2d at 1273-75 . Because the Gensheimers’ home is a permitted use, the Superior Court did not err in concluding that the driveway the Gen-sheimers propose to construct was appropriate to provide access to their permitted use within the Resource Protection District. I would affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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