Plan for cabins near Unity Pond raises zoning questions

Portland Press Herald
January 8, 2017

Attorney Kristin Collins is quoted in this article about the role of the Board of Appeals in a zoning decision in the town of Unity.

An Excerpt

According to the town’s attorney, Kristin Collins of PretiFlaherty, the appeals board has two areas of jurisdiction that limit its power.

The board can handle traditional appeals, which would remand a case back to the Planning Board, should the appeals board conclude that it had violated an ordinance or made an error in its decision; or it can grant variances, which must meet the requirement of “undue hardship.”

“The Board of Appeals has to look very strictly at the variance standards,” Collins said. “The applicant has a really high bar to meet.”