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May 10, 2011

Court upholds Sears Island suit dismissal

By The Mainebiz News Staff

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a previous court decision to dismiss a civil lawsuit related to the state's plan for Sears Island.

In a ruling issued last week, the court found that Ron Huber of Rockland did not show any proof of direct injury from the Department of Transportation's plan to develop a port on Sears Island and conserve about 600 acres, according to the Republican Journal. The ruling upholds a September Superior Court decision, which found that Huber and others' lawsuits were premature because the state had not yet received an application to build a port on the island. Huber argued that the state's plan to market a port to developers would harm enjoyment of the island, and that the conservation easement violated state law and Maine's Sensible Transportation Planning Act. Former Gov. John Baldacci in 2009 issued an executive order that laid out plans for Sears Island.

Huber said in a press release that the ruling did not surprise him, and that it allows him and other plaintiffs to file a new lawsuit should the state receive an application to develop a port.

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