OXFORD, Maine — A Maine family is left baffled after they were greeted with unexpected construction at their vacation home in the town of Oxford.
Katy and David Clark started working on their vacation home along Caldwell Lane back in 2018, and say they look forward to taking advantage of the spot every summer.
"Katy and I worked our entire lives for this property," David said.
So when the Clarks returned on June 13 to what they believed to be their property now bare of several trees without their knowledge, they say they were devastated.
"I did some math, and I think they took somewhere from around 80 to 100 trees off of our property," David said. "It's also destroyed our canopy of trees, and our privacy."
What sits on the property now is a wooden frame for what appears to be the start of a building project; something the Clarks did not plan for.
To find out who cleared the property, David says he want to the Town of Oxford and found a building permit signed on June 10 with permission for a Michael Wise to build a bunkhouse.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to Wise on Wednesday, and are awaiting a response.
According to the Town of Oxford's Code Enforcement Officer Kingston Brown, he says he was sent an application from Wise, who believed the property belongs to him, according to a prior survey done.
Although the surrounding land in question is in a "Resource Protection Zone," Brown says he is allowed to issue a permit when appropriate.
However, David says that in the recent past he has been required to get approval from the town's planning board in order to start construction on the property.
"There was no planning board approval is the point. They somehow have bypassed that step," David said. "Even without the land issue, property dispute, there's been about 150 trees that have been cut in a conservation zone... so there's multiple issues going on here."
Work has since been halted until a property line can be determined according to Brown.
With the damage already done however, the Clarks say they hope to get some closure soon for the vacation home they worked so hard for.
"You know, it's disrupting everybody's summer. Nobody wants to see these trees cut," homeowner David Clark said.