COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — The Board of Environmental Protection has okayed a plan to fine a Columbia Falls company $250,000 for not filing the proper permits before developing seven acres of land.
Morrill Worcester manages Worcester Holdings LLC. His family also operates the wreath company behind Wreaths Across America.
Worcester Holdings is facing a fine and a March 1 deadline to apply for an after-the-fact permit to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for the development of its already existing roads, parking lot, 52 cabins, and on-site restaurant.
The DEP said it's been asking for that permit for two years.
"This feels egregious to me the way the Department [of Environmental Protection] has been ignored," Chairwoman Susan Lessard said in a Board of Environmental Protection meeting Wednesday morning.
According to the DEP, the Worcester family — which is also behind a now defunct plan to build the world's tallest Flagpole and a park around it — began construction in 2019 on 20 cabins on its lot. According to the website for Flagpole View Cabins, they were "built with the intention of our guests viewing the progress of the future Flagpole of Freedom Park."
Thirty-two more cabins were built over the next three years on the site, according to the DEP. The cabins are rented out for $169 - $229 a night, and include access to an on-site takeout restaurant.
On July 13, 2022, DEP staff went to the land in Columbia Falls to conduct an inspection based on a complaint about an unpermitted development.
On July 15, the department issued a notice of violation to Worcester Holdings. That's the first time the Worcesters were told to apply for an after-the-fact permit.
Two months later on Sep. 14, the firm representing Worcester Holdings discussed permitting requirements with the DEP, yet the company still failed to submit a permit application.
Nearly one year later, the matter was referred to the attorney general's office on Aug. 24, 2023. The attorney general's office developed an agreement by January of 2024, requiring the Worcesters to pay a $250,000 fine — to be made in 23 payments — and submit their after-the-fact permit application by March 1, 2024.
The Worcesters have signed the agreement, but as of Feb. 28, the DEP said they had still not received an application from the company.
Attorney for Worcester Holdings, Timothy Pease, released the following statement on Feb. 28:
"In January 2024, Worcester Holdings signed an administrative consent agreement with the Maine DEP to resolve an alleged environmental violation involving worker cabins built in Columbia Falls. The Worcester Family and its associated businesses first and foremost wish to have a good working relationship with all Federal, State, and Local Regulatory Agencies. In this case they feel it is in everyone’s best interest to avoid litigation and move forward. As far as the project is concerned there is no environmental damage or impact and they obtained all required local permits for the cabins. The Worcesters had a general understanding of Maine DEP site law and purposely kept the development small enough as not to require a Site Location of Development Permit. Issues lie in the misinterpretation of the impervious surfaces and site law. A lot of the area immediately surrounding the cabins was stabilized utilizing wood chip mulch. The Worcesters were aware that the use of mulch was a best practical use for erosion control. It was assumed that mulched areas and the pre-existing roadways that dated back for decades would not count in impervious area calculations. To correct the situation directly after the DEP sent the notice of the violation the Worcesters hired a reputable engineering firm to complete an After the Fact Permit Application. The amount of time to complete the application process was not satisfactory to the Maine DEP staff resulting in the Worcesters agreeing to resolve the issue through an administrative consent agreement.”
In the meantime, Pease said the Worcesters are free to continue using the development and the cabins.
"If they violate this [agreement] then bad things will happen," BEP member, Robert Duchesne said. "I'm looking at $250,000 and thinking, boy that's a high price, but that's chicken feed compared to what they're going to have to do if they can't be prepared for what they've agreed to. If you have to move cabins or if you have to move roads, if you have to do all these scientific studies necessary to get an after-the-fact permit after you really already disturbed the landscape, this could get really expensive."
According to the agreement with the attorney general's office, the Worcesters could be required to remove any or all of the cabins that are not approved.
"We'll be keeping an eye on those guys," Lessard said as the board voted in favor of accepting the agreement with a hard deadline of Friday for an application from the Worcesters.