Campground owner says $8.4 million fine would end his business

DAMARISCOTTA – A local campground owner is looking to the Legislature and the state’s highest court for relief from an $8.4 million state fine that he says would force him out of business.

The fine, which is thought to be the largest civil penalty in Maine history, was assessed last year by a judge who ruled that Lake Pemaquid Campground violated shoreland zoning laws by placing 18 cabins within 100 feet of Pemaquid Pond.

Superior Court Justice Donald H. Marden ordered the cabins moved and assessed an $8.4 million fine. Each of the 18 cabins was fined $100 for every day, dating back to 1986, that the campground was in violation of zoning laws – a total of 84,724 days.

Campground owner Clayton N. Howard appealed Marden’s decision to the Supreme Judicial Court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday.

“If the [lower court] decision is allowed to stand it would mean my company will file for bankruptcy. I don’t have $8 million,” Howard said. “It would be hard to argue the fairness issue as a legal principle before the law court, but it’s got to be on everyone’s minds.”

William Avantaggio, Howard’s attorney, said he wants the law court to reverse Marden’s ruling and dismiss the fine.

In the meantime, the Legislature is considering a bill sponsored by Sen. Marjorie Kilkelly, D-Wiscasset, that would dismiss the fine against Howard’s business.

Howard claims he was never notified in writing by the state or the town that his cabins violated shoreland zoning laws. Kilkelly’s bill would protect other landowners by eliminating the ability of the Attorney General to bring an enforcement action without first giving notice.

The state initiated enforcement action against Howard’s company, Lake Pemaquid Inc., in 1998, four years after receiving a complaint about “a lot of cabins” on Pemaquid Pond. The case went to trial in November 2000 and Marden issued his ruling the following June.

Following the judgment, the court authorized the state to attach the 150-acre campground and all its assets.

“The state could take the campground and sell it, but that’s not going to get them their $8 million,” Avantaggio said.