The South Berwick Town Council voted unanimously on Nov. 25 to approve a consent agreement with Bath and Properties that resolves a notice of violation alleging cutting within the town’s shoreland buffer. Attorney Tim Phoenix, representing the owner, told the council the settlement was intended to avoid prolonged litigation and provide concrete remedies for neighbors.

Phoenix summarized the agreement as a negotiated package that includes an engineer- or arborist-designed planting plan subject to town staff review, a 100-foot, roughly 5–6 foot berm planted with substantial trees for sound attenuation, limits on certain landscape operations and a sum to reimburse town legal fees. “We are here tonight requesting that this board approve a consent agreement between the town and Bath and Properties with respect to certain activities, primarily identified loosely as tree cutting,” Phoenix said, and added the agreement “resolves all of the various issues, claims, and counterclaims” while saving litigation expense.

Neighbors gave split testimony during the public hearing. Jerry Tatlock, whose property backs the site, said the work represents an expansion of a nonconforming use into the 250-foot shoreland zone and raised concerns about constant truck traffic, dust, excavation, sedimentation and runoff into the brook. “I think a 5 foot berm and some trees is gonna do nothing to protect neighbors from the noise, the dust, and everything else that’s there,” Tatlock said. Rebecca Woznes, who lives adjacent to the site, asked why only the town’s CEO would sign off on the vegetation plan, requested her map-and-lot be included so the berm could extend to her property and said vibrations from machinery have affected her home and work equipment.

Other residents supported the owner. Tom Howarth and Kathy Better both said long-standing uses and the Hussey family’s ties to the community lessen their concerns. Ashley Bjornson, a South Berwick taxpayer, noted the agreement includes reimbursement that “is just shy of $16,000” in town legal fees and urged the council to approve to avoid further costs and support local business.

Councilors asked questions about next steps if the agreement were not approved and whether enforcement actions would proceed. The council recorded no dissent and voted 5-0 to sign the consent agreement with Bath and Properties, approving the settlements and the remediation measures described by the applicant’s attorney. The council’s action preserves the town’s ordinances and does not grant a variance; the property remains subject to the town’s shoreland and land-use rules.

The council did not take additional immediate enforcement action; staff will oversee the vegetation/planting plan, the berm installation and the timeline established in the agreement.