BELFAST, Maine — A conservation group has filed a civil complaint in Waldo County against the city of Belfast and Nordic Aquafarms over the proposed land being passed over to the company.
The Friends of Harriet L. Hartley (HLH) is a group of almost 200 that is striving to conserve coastal lands surrounding Belfast.
According to the recently filed lawsuit, the group claims a 12.5-acre parcel included in Nordic's building plans are under restrictions based on former deeds to keep the land in its natural state.
The group claims the agreement was made back in 1973, when the original landowner passed the parcel off to the state.
"From the owner to the state, then from the state to the city, then the city to the district, and then finally to Nordic, those restrictions were always there." HLH secretary Andrew Stevenson said.
The city has since filed a deed of vacation to eliminate those restrictions for Nordic.
HLH believes the deed is void due to the fact it violates the terms of the 50-year-old transfer from the state to the city.
"And I have to wonder if you can really go back and rewrite history that way," Stevenson said.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to the city of Belfast but was declined an interview. However, the city's attorney, Kristin Collins, released the following statement:
"The plaintiffs seem to have missed that the State of Maine conveyed to the City of Belfast all of its authority regarding those restrictions through a document that was recorded on the same date as the 'deed of vacation' from the City which the plaintiffs are challenging. Essentially, this document gives the City the exact rights the opponents claim the City lacked. We assume this was an omission on the Plaintiff’s part. If the Plaintiffs, who are now aware of their error, fail to dismiss this baseless claim, the City will certainly move to have it dismissed."
A spokesperson for Nordic Aquafarms, Jacki Cassida, agreed, stating the complaint is "clear in the intent to continue the legal harassment. All the pertinent deeds were properly recorded, and the author of the declaratory judgment chose to simply overlook the one prior deed showing a proper release from MDOT. It is shameful to ignore such pertinent information to a case, simply to continue with the barrage of filings intended to tear down a good project, one that truly considers the greater good for Mainers."