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Residents press Leicester board to remove abandoned campers, board to serve violations
Summary
Neighbors described rotted campers, an outhouse and debris on a 20-foot shoreland parcel and asked the selectboard to enforce zoning and the town’s junk ordinance. The board agreed to serve notices and to have the sheriff attempt personal service before pursuing fines or court actions.
Neighbors urged the Leicester selectboard on April 9 to act after two campers and shoreline debris on a narrow parcel near Fern Lake drew rats, exposed metal and a collapsing structure that residents called an “attractive nuisance.”
A group of homeowners said the site near Partridge/Arbishop Trail contains a large, deteriorating fifth-wheel camper, a smaller trailer, an outhouse and pieces of ripped tarp and dock material in the water. “It’s gotten worse — there’s garbage all over, insulation and rodents,” one resident said, asking the board what it could do.
Board members described the town’s established enforcement steps: zoning or junk-ordinance staff document the condition, staff prepare a notice of violation and the sheriff attempts personal service; owners then have 30 days to remove the items or face municipal fines. “The zoning ordinance makes it very clear that they have 30 days to remove the items,” said the board’s presiding officer, who instructed staff to prepare a notice and send photos to the sheriff.
Neighbors and board members discussed additional legal options if owners cannot be located, including a superior-court petition to obtain title (a remedy the meeting noted could cost several hundred dollars in filing fees) or acquiring the units through tax sale or purchase and then demolishing them. Board members cautioned that formally taking title or paying for removal could be expensive: contractors’ removal estimates discussed at the meeting ranged from roughly $5,000 to more than $10,000 per unit.
The board asked staff to provide owner contact information, forward the photos to the sheriff, and follow up with the state shoreland official for the shoreline debris. The selectboard said it would treat the Partridge trailer site the same way it has treated other repeat junk-ordinance locations: issue a violation, allow the statutory cure period, and resume enforcement if the condition persists.
