Opinion ID: 2747905
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Minimum Lot Standards

Text: .... (5) If more than one residential dwelling unit, principal governmental, institutional, commercial or industrial structure or use, or combination thereof, is constructed or established on a single parcel, all dimensional requirements shall be met for each additional dwelling unit, principal structure, or use. 4 amended complaint alleged an additional violation of section 15(D)(1) of the ordinance, but alleged no additional facts.3 On January 24, 2013, the court granted the Town’s motion pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 15(a) to amend the pleading. [¶6] On March 25, 2013, the Cayers filed a special motion to dismiss the amended complaint pursuant to the anti-SLAPP statute, 14 M.R.S. § 556, alleging that the Town’s complaint was a meritless lawsuit brought for the purpose of punishing or deterring the Cayers’ First Amendment right to petition local government. In support of this allegation, the Cayers submitted an affidavit recounting a twenty-plus-year history of disputes with the Town, its Board of Selectmen, and its CEO.4 3 Section 15(D)(1) of the ordinance provides, in pertinent part: .... D. Campgrounds. Campgrounds shall conform to the minimum requirements imposed under State licensing procedures and the following: (1) Campgrounds shall contain a minimum of five thousand (5,000) square feet of land, not including roads and driveways, for each site. Land supporting wetland vegetation, and land below the normal high-water line of a water body shall not be included in calculating land area per site. … . 4 Specifically, Richard Cayer recounted a list of disputes involving neighboring landowners and the Town dating back to 1993, several of which Cayer litigated before the Superior Court and the Law Court. In 2005, Cayer filed a Rule 80B appeal of the Town’s grant of a land use permit to neighboring property owners, and was successful on this appeal as well as a later challenge to a consent agreement between the Town and neighbors. Most recently, in 2009, Cayer filed an unsuccessful motion for contempt against the Town pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 66(d) for an alleged failure to comply with court orders to conduct further hearings on the contested permit. This case came before the Law Court in December 2009, and we affirmed the Superior Court’s judgment. See Cayer v. Town of Madawaska, 2009 ME 122, 984 A.2d 207. Cayer also cites a 2007 case in which neighboring landowners appealed the Town’s issuance of two permits to the Cayers to build a boat landing and new deck, and which ultimately resulted in issuance of the permits. 5 [¶7] Although the Cayers filed the special motion to dismiss 131 days after the Town filed its motion to amend, they did not request leave from the court to file the motion beyond the anti-SLAPP statute’s sixty-day time limitation. The court denied the special motion to dismiss by an order entered January 7, 2014, concluding that the Cayers’ motion was filed outside the time limitation.5 The court further concluded that there was no basis in the record to allow filing of the motion outside the sixty-day time period. The Cayers timely appealed.