# Dodge v. Town of Norridgewock

> Supreme Judicial Court of Maine · July 18, 1990 · 577 A.2d 346

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9701181

## Case

- **Full name:** Sharon DODGE v. TOWN OF NORRIDGEWOCK
- **Court:** Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
- **Decided:** July 18, 1990
- **Citations:** 577 A.2d 346; 1990 Me. LEXIS 202
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Wathen
- **Judges:** McKusick, Wathen, Glassman, Clifford, Collins, Brody
- **Cited by:** 12 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9701181

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- affirming the trial court’s decision not to grant declaratory relief on the grounds that it “would serve no useful purpose in the context of this case and would constitute an advisory opinion”

## Opinion text

WATHEN, Justice,
dissenting.
I must respectfully dissent. This case illustrates the useful purpose served by declaring that the Town is obligated to state the reasons for denying a request for an abatement. Plaintiff (1) presented her abatement request to the Town, (2) filed an action in Superior Court, (3) presented a *348 second request to the County Commissioners, and (4) filed a second action in Superior Court. The Town denied her request and refused to state the reasons for the denial. The County Commissioners permitted the request to be denied by their failure to act. With so much legal effort and maneuvering, it is difficult to believe that even after an appeal to this court plaintiff would be unsuccessful in obtaining the only thing that is guaranteed to her by law — a statement of the specific reasons for the denial of her petition. 36 M.R.S.A. § 841(2)(G). Plaintiff has been deprived of the means to assess the viability of her administrative appeal in violation of section 841. Such a result comports neither with notions of judicial economy nor with the liberal construction that is required to effectuate the salutary purpose of the Declaratory Judgment Act. See King Resources Co. v. Environmental Improvement Comm’n, 270 A.2d 863, 867 (Me.1970).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9701181. Public record. Not legal advice.