Membership
2015 Lunn Sawyer, Chair
2015 James Geary, Vice Chair
2015 Gretchen Strong
2013 Ted Fletcher, Secretary
2014 Charles Morrill
Ralph Dunbar Jr., ex-officio
The Board of Appeals (BOA) consists of five members appointed by the Board of Selectmen for 3-year terms. The Board holds public hearings to decide on appeals brought before them and it is the final step at the local level, that townspeople may take to appeal their property tax assessment, or a decision by the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO), the Planning Board, or other town boards or officials.
One of the most common appeals heard by the Board is that of a decision by the Tax Assessor regarding the value of taxable property. Another type of appeal is that of a decision by the Planning Board or CEO about how the Land Use Ordinance (LUO) or other ordinance is interpreted. Less common, a townperson may appeal decisions made about their property by another Town official or board.
A townsperson may also appeal a town ordinance for the purpose of obtaining a variance. The BOA is the only entity in our town government that may issue a variance from a town ordinance provision. The Board may grant a variance based on State regulated "undue hardship" or a disability variance.
The fee to file an appeal is $40.00 and all appeal applications are available at the Town Office.
The Board of Appeals of the Town of Southwest Harbor meets as needed, in the Town office. The public is welcome to attend.
