BREAKING NEWS: Court rules against summer residents seeking to overturn Northeast Harbor housing decision

NORTHEAST HARBOR, June 26, 2024 - Superior Court Judge Thomas McKeon ruled Monday in favor of the town’s approval of six workforce housing units in the village which was opposed by nearby summer residents, it was announced today.

The court decision comes more than a year after the application review began. The Mount Desert Planning Board approved the application Oct. 24, 2023, after an eight-meeting process that began in March 2023. That approval was appealed in November 2023. Though planning continued, site work was postponed  pending the court’s ruling. 

Although it took a year, the decision came much faster than expected. The QSJ reported last October that one case in Hall Quarry has lasted more than a decade.

Whether the plaintiffs will prolong the appeals process by going to the state Supreme Court remains to be seen. The town was represented by Andy Hamilton of Eaton Peabody in Bangor. The named plaintiffs are Ann Cannon, Marc Cannon, Melissa Cannon Guzy, Lamont Harris, Joseph Ryerson and Lynne Wheat. They were represented by Grady Burns of Skelton Taintor & Abbott in Lewiston.

Mount Desert 365, developer of the proposed subdivision on Heel Way stated it “welcomes this positive news and is eager to begin work on site in the coming months.

“Upon  completion, Heel Way will introduce 6 year-round homes to the local market. The need for year-round housing in  the town of Mount Desert, and on MDI, has reached a critical level and the organization is proud to work alongside  Island Housing Trust, The YWCA of Mount Desert, Jackson Lab, MDI Hospital, and others, to address it.

“Mount Desert 365 is a community-based organization dedicated to promoting long-term economic vitality of the  town of Mount Desert, Maine, through expansion of sustainable year-round residential communities and  economic revitalization of commercial districts.”

The most divisive development battle in village history started when MD 365, largely funded by the billionaire Rales brothers, Steven and Mitchell, began to acquire land and houses to develop affordable homes for year-round workers.

A petition by 205 mostly summer residents opposing the six-unit project at Heel Way was filed in September 2022 with the Planning Board before MD 365 even formally applied.

That petition was countered by an online petition of 250 signatories in support of the project late last year, including the town manager and three members of the select board.

The QSJ will follow this breaking story with more details to come.