On Tuesday night, the Belfast City Council will hold a public hearing to allow residents to weigh in on the city’s move to take a parcel of intertidal land by eminent domain and nullify a conservation easement on that property.
The parcel of land is needed for the construction of Nordic Aquafarms, a controversial fish farming operation.
A court has since ruled that residents Jeffrey Mabee and Judith Grace own the intertidal land, and that the easement prohibiting industrial development there remains intact. Also at issue is whether the land the city took was outside of its municipal boundaries.
Upstream Watch, a group opposed to the project, said that vacating the order is the only option it supports.
“The outcome that we want to see is the vacating of this order. Anything else and Upstream would still have concerns and pursue litigation,” said Jill Howell, the president of Upstream Watch.
Belfast Mayor Eric Sanders said councilors will listen to input and do as the court ordered.
“They told us to send it back and vacate or alter and that’s what we’re gonna do. I think something will happen. Something should happen,” Sanders said.
The city also has authorized a new survey of the intertidal land to confirm where the city’s municipal boundaries end.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
