ROCKPORT — On Dec. 16, the attorney representing Rockport residents Sarah Price and Stephen Florimbi submitted an appeal to the Town of Rockport seeking reversal of a municipal permit that allowed Lily Pond Partners LLC to demolish a section of the old Rock Road. 

The application the town approved was incomplete and the permit must be vacated, said Kristin Collins, an attorney with the Augusta office of the law firm Preti Flaherty. 

The permit as issued by the Rockport has an expiration date of Nov. 12, 2026 and states: "Approved – Earth moving project LUO table 1414 #28. Removal of an old railroad/road bed. Returning the landscape back to its natural form. Erosion control measures must be in place before any work starts."

Collins wrote in her Dec. 16 appeal: "The Appellants received no notice of the filing of the permit application nor of the permit’s issuance. They asked [Rockport] Planning Director Orion Thomas on December 8, 2025 whether a permit had been issued, and Mr. Thomas provided a copy of the permit. The permit is undated. Undersigned counsel asked Mr. Thomas for a copy of the other application materials on December 9, 2025, at which point Mr. Thomas indicated that the application was granted on November 12, 2025. This appeal is being filed less than a week after learning of the permit’s issuance."

Collins said the town erred in not requiring Lily Pond Partners LLC to produce a site plan review.

"The applicant has made it clear that its intent is to develop the property with one or more multi-family structures," wrote Collins. "However, the application seeks only a permit for filling and earthmoving. Removal of the Rock Road is clearly intended to support future development of the property.

"This permit should not have been granted prior to and without the benefit of a complete site and subdivision plan, to understand how removal of the road will integrate with the overall scheme of development and the more stringent standards applicable to such development."

The appeal also said the Town of Rockport has yet to establish right, title and interest to Rock Road. Lily Pond Partners LLC must show it has title to the road section, said Price and Florimbi, in their appeals.

The status of those rights was under intense scrutiny at a Dec. 8 Rockport Select Board meeting, when citizens urged the town to research whether the town holds an easement on the old Rock Road.

Collins submitted with the ZBA appeal a series of documents dating back to 1857 and wrote: "The Applicant sought a shoreland zoning approval and, as such, was required to submit evidence of right, title and interest with its application....  The Rock Road was established by an equitable partition of property, entered by judgment of the Supreme Judicial Court and memorialized in Book 94, Page 319 of the Knox County Registry of Deeds, and was created as a three-rod road benefitting the multiple parties who received land under the partition. See Exhibit A.

"Because this instrument was resolving a title dispute and apportioning property ownership by metes and bounds, its apparent intent was to convey the road in fee to those several parties.

"As a matter of recorded title documentation, the Town of Rockport, not the applicant, is the owner of the Rock Road. The Town holds a release deed to 'a certain lot or parcel of land known as ‘Rock Road’ constituting the entire length and width of ‘Rock Road’ running from the northwesterly corner of a Parcel B described in a deed from the Town of Rockport to this Penobscot Bay YMCA recorded at Book 2640 Page 329 in the Knox County Registry of Deeds, to Huse Street located in Rockport, Knox County, Maine.”

She said a 2002 boundary survey prepared by Landmark Corporation noted the Rock Road as “status unknown.”

The ZBA appeal also raised environmental concerns and said the municipal permit was granted despite the lack of proper erosion control and revegetation plans.

She referenced the Rockport Land Use Ordinance, Section 1415(20), which stipulates that earth, "filling, grading, excavation or similar activities which result in un-stabilized soil conditions and which require a permit shall also require a written soil erosion and sedimentation control plan."

Requirements also include mulch, temporary runoff controls, and permanent stabilization, such as retaining walls or rip-rap.

"It appears from the permitting record that the applicant provided only a scant erosion control plan, prepared by the CEO (an apparent conflict of interest/cause for bias)," said Collins.

Additionally, the permit application failed to identify a shoreland-certified contractor.

"Section 1416(3)(e) of the LUO requires that when an excavation contractor will perform an activity that requires or results in more than one cubic yard of soil disturbance, a person certified by Maine DEP in erosion control practices must be on site until all erosion and sedimentation control measures have been installed," wrote Collins. "The name of the certified contractor must be included on the permit application. The applicant in this case failed to name any contractor, and did not provide a certified contractor who would oversee the project. The application was therefore incomplete and did not meet the applicable standard, and therefore should not have been granted."

Lastly, the appeal described the Rock Road as an historical resource, and as such, subject to Maine Historic Preservation Commission review at least 20 days prior to action being taken by the permitting authority.

"The Rock Road has been in place for well over 150 years, and is an important part of Rockport’s quarrying history. It is eligible for listing on the National Register," wrote Collins. "The application should not have been granted without feedback from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission."

Rockport's Zoning Board of Appeals next meets Dec. 22 at 5:30 p.m., but the agenda has yet to be produced. 

The ZBA currently has five members, with one vacancy and three alternate vacancies. The ZBA consists of Geoffrey Parker, chair; Robert Hall, vice-chair; Maxwell MacCoole, Terri Mackenzie and Bill Freeman.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657