City wins year-long-rezoning legal challenge regarding land-based salmon farm site.
BangorDailyNews reports that a judge has ruled that the city of Belfast, Maine, USA, did not violate the law when officials amended the city’s land use plan in April 2018 to allow the Nordic Aquafarms project to move forward.
The decision, which was handed down on Friday, may mark the end of a year-long lawsuit filed against the city by Ellie Daniels and Donna Broderick, who had saught to reverse April zoning changes that paved way for the 40-acre inland salmon farm. Broderick and Daniels own a property bordering the 40 acres that Nordic Aquafarms’ are proposing to develop.
They alleged that city officials made procedural errors when they adopted zoning changes for the facility. However, Justice Robert Murray found that the city acted correctly when it undertook these actions and granted the city’s motion for summary judgement in the suit, the publication wrote.
It is not yet know if Broderick and Daniels will appeal the decision.
“The court ruling for the zoning conflict in Belfast is upon us. Although we are no fan of legal conflicts and never sought one, we are happy that the City of Belfast prevailed in the legal challenge regarding the zoning decision for our property in Belfast. The court ruling was clear – the rezoning for our property in Belfast was upheld by the courts. Congratulations to the city. For those interested, the city will be issuing a press release on the matter,” wrote Nordic Aquafarm President Erik Heim on LinkedIn.
In June, SalmonBusiness reported that the 33,000 tonne RAS farm in Belfast, Maine, is now expected to begin construction this autumn with the facility planned to be built in two phases, with the first phase targeted for completion in 2021.
