Hope Select Board approves amended consent agreement with Grenerts over shoreland violations

The Hope Select Board voted 4-0 on Aug. 7 to approve an amended consent agreement with Gregg and Holley Grenert to resolve Shoreland Zone and land-use violations at 75 Loon Lane.

Attorney Patrick Mellor, appearing by Zoom for the Grenerts, told the board that the family “wanted to get into compliance right away,” and said some delay was tied to an engineering firm addressing storm-related issues earlier in the year. Mellor asked the board to eliminate financial penalties and rely on attorney fees as the sanction, and to reduce the required garage removal from 100 square feet to 80 square feet; the board did not accept the request to eliminate penalties in full.

Town staff and a consultant confirmed that the Consent Agreement’s list of violations was accurate, though some items (for example, fence placement) were described as minor. Board member Sarah Ann Smith offered an extended completion date for the garage of April 30, 2025, with a final non-extendable deadline of Sept. 30, 2025. Charlie Weidman cited the state minimum fine of $110 per day per violation and said that, given 176 days since the Notice of Violation, a penalty on the order of $8,000 was not unreasonable.

Following discussion, Charlie Weidman moved to amend section J to extend the garage completion date with specified terms and to authorize Town Administrator Samantha Mank to sign the amended agreement on the Select Board’s behalf; Wayne Luce seconded and the motion passed 4-0. After attorneys and staff revised the document, Gregg and Holley Grenert and Samantha Mank signed two original copies of the agreement.

The vote implements the board’s negotiated schedule and leaves in place the board’s statutory penalty authority; the consent agreement includes provisions allowing further amendments if both parties agree in writing.