Opinion ID: 1900201
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Commissioner's Failure To Make Required Findings

Text: As notification of his decision to deny Wyman's application, the Commissioner sent Wyman a one-page letter summarizing his reasons for not choosing that proposal, accompanied by the report of the Department's staff, which provided a detailed comparison of the two projects. The plaintiffs assert that the Commissioner's explanation did not meet the statutory requirement that the notice to the applicant explain the basis for the decision. 22 M.R. S.A. § 307(5). This contention is frivolous. The staff report was thorough and well organized. The Commissioner's letter adequately summarized its main points. Together, the letter and the report sufficiently apprise the applicant and the public of the basis for the decision and allow for effective judicial review. See Gashgai v. Board of Registration in Medicine, Me., 390 A.2d 1080 (1978). The plaintiffs also urge that the notice of decision was inadequate because it failed to give a detailed statement of the reasons for the inconsistency between the MHSA recommendation and the Department's decision. See 22 M.R.S.A. § 307(5). It is true that the Commissioner did not directly compare his reasoning with that of the MHSA. The Agency, however, failed to provide any explanation for its decision. The statement of the reasons for the inconsistencies is intended to protect against arbitrary departmental action. The detailed staff report sufficiently indicates that the Commissioner did not act arbitrarily.