Maine family faces big fines over unpermitted cabins

[JoeT]

I ran across an interesting story about the Worcester family in Maine, who wanted to build the tallest flag pole in the world. It was supposedly meant to honor veterans and was going to be taller than the Empire State Building. Well, they've abandoned that lofty idea since then, but not before all the publicity unearthed some of their questionable business dealings. It turns out that the family business built 50 cabins without obtaining environmental permits from the state. The family called these cabins The Flagpole View Cabins. After the discovery, the company agreed to file an after-the-fact permit application for the cabins. The fines will cost the family an eye-watering $250K. In their defense, the family believed that the development was small enough to avoid triggering the need for environmental permits. It just goes to show what can happen if you fail to pull the proper permits and notify the right people.

 

[Overtime]

This is the first I've heard about this family and the world's tallest flagpole. I wonder why they gave up on the goal? In their shoes, I'd sue whichever attorney or developer it was that failed to pull the necessary environmental permits in the first place.

 

[Saxton]

I'm not surprised that it happened. Unless you're working with a vetted professional, it's easy to miss all the permits that are needed for a project. Honestly, the family got off easy compared to the fines I've seen before. At least they have a chance to make things right.

 

[Jake]

And that's why you never build anything until you gain the required permits. Even if you feel it would be okay to do, always verify with someone. Maybe the permitting office or your building contractor. Now they're are stuck with a $250K bill, and likely not much they can do but to pay it. My only other guess is that they could demolish the buildings, but I don't think that would change or stop the fine.

Ever since joining this site, every project I do I research to make sure if I need to obtain a permit or not. I don't want to end up like this family because they didn't property permit their builds.

 

[Winny]

This is the first I've heard about this family and the world's tallest flagpole. I wonder why they gave up on the goal? In their shoes, I'd sue whichever attorney or developer it was that failed to pull the necessary environmental permits in the first place.

Same here, neither have I heard of this family myself. They sound quite wealthy though, so I'm sure they can afford to pay the fine levied against them. I don't know if it's any attorney or developers fault, the family should have known to file a permit to begin with. Even if they considered the project too small for one, still they should have assumed there was a requirement for some form of permits.

I'm not surprised that it happened. Unless you're working with a vetted professional, it's easy to miss all the permits that are needed for a project. Honestly, the family got off easy compared to the fines I've seen before. At least they have a chance to make things right.

Not surprised either. Usually something like this is just a lack of foresight on the family. They in the grand scheme of things are responsible for not getting a permit. But yeah, I'm glad to hear they weren't fined anymore than they were. Still though $250K is a lot of money to lose. Even for a wealthy family like the Worcester family.

And that's why you never build anything until you gain the required permits. Even if you feel it would be okay to do, always verify with someone. Maybe the permitting office or your building contractor. Now they're are stuck with a $250K bill, and likely not much they can do but to pay it. My only other guess is that they could demolish the buildings, but I don't think that would change or stop the fine.

Ever since joining this site, every project I do I research to make sure if I need to obtain a permit or not. I don't want to end up like this family because they didn't property permit their builds.

Exactly, never go through the process unless you know for sure that you can go without the permit. Any building project will need a permit. I don't understand how they think building 50 cabins wouldn't be enough to require a permit. It also sounds like they are familiar with building properties, so they must've known permits would likely be required. That's how I feel anyway.

 

[Nomad]

This even illustrates the consequences of overlooking necessary permits and regulations. While their intention to honor veterans was very noble, their failure to obtain environmental permits for the cabins they built was a foolish step. They should have done some research before building cabins.

 

[SiteConEng]

It's not reasonable in this day and age to "not know" permits would be required for so many structures. Besides ICC and SLDO requirements, there is a water supply issue and sewage issue - whether these cabins are connected to public supply or private there are important code design requirements that must be shown to have been met.