The City formally issued Notices of Violation to the Jetport, its affiliated entities, and the Portland Catholic Diocese (Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland) regarding tree clearing in late January/early February 2025 at 36 Dawson Street and 1561 Broadway that violated city ordinances. View the 36 Dawson Street Notice of Violation (PDF) and 1561 Broadway Notice of Violation (PDF).
The issuance of these notices requires the co-violators to engage with the City (the Jetport is in active dialogue already) and work towards remedies for the violations. The following violations were cited:
1. Unauthorized removal of Protected Trees - applies to both properties
- This deals with all Protected trees removed that were beyond the FAA guidance for clearances in either the GQS area (1561 Broadway) and TSS area (36 Dawson)
2. Violation of the Site Plan ordinance - applies to both properties
- This deals with the failure to receive prior Planning Board approval for work the amount of ground disturbance that was created in the course of tree removal.
3. Unauthorized impacts to wetlands and their uplands - applies to 1561, potentially 36 Dawson upon verification of the wetland area.
- This addressed known impacts, and will also track the wetland impacts that may be documented once the dispute between the wetland boundaries are resolved together with Maine DEP and Army Corps.
4. Violation of Planning Board approval - applies to both properties
- This deals with a failure to abide the conditions of approval from the 2019 Site Plan approval that was granted by the City, and includes:
- Failure to schedule a pre-construction meeting with the City and regulatory agencies
- Failure to establish erosion and sedimentation controls
- Failure to abide the selective cutting without stump removal and soil disturbance scope of work
- Failure to maintain work within the project boundaries
These notices of violation are a formal step toward resolution. The next communications on the tree removal incident will involve:
- Confirming the extent of the violation and the resultant fees/fines/mitigations
- Processing any approvals that should have been applied for, but were not.
These violation notices do not define the extent of violations as that is still under review due to the number of trees that were felled and the disputed wetland condition. This will be the focus of Code Enforcement's next steps.