RAYMOND – A Raymond resident has paid $25,500 in fines for violating shoreland zoning law by gradually extending his property into Sebago Lake.

According to the town of Raymond, during a period of 12 to 15 years, Paul Borriello, of 78 Deep Cove Road, filled in his Sebago Lake frontage by creating two peninsulas jutting out into the lake. He also installed 5-foot-high stone walls, a waterfall, a walkway and manicured lawn along the water’s edge.

On Feb. 6, Barriello paid the town $20,000 and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection $5,500 to cover legal fees and fines associated with the violations. He was represented by the Windham-based law firm of Sawyer, Sawyer & Minott, which declined to comment on the matter, citing attorney-client privileges. Borriello did not return calls seeking comment.

Chris Hanson, Raymond’s code enforcement officer, worked with the town attorney as well as lawyers from the Portland Water District and Maine Department of Environmental Protection to settle the violation. Borriello applied for and was granted yearly permits from the town to perform maintenance on his lake frontage, mainly to repair a stone wall that lined the shore.

However, instead of following the permit, Hanson said Borriello slowly expanded his property by extending a stone sea wall several feet a year and then placing infill. By 2009, when the violation came to the attention of DEP, Hanson said, Borriello had extended his property significantly into the lake. In the process, a sand beach between the two peninsulas increased in size, as well. He also erected stone pillars, a flagpole, an arch, a fire pit and a waterfall.

Hanson was alerted to the violation in November 2009 after a nearby resident complained and provided photos that showed gradual improvement through the years.

“If you stood there and looked out his back door toward the lake, it looked like a golf course. It was absolutely beautiful. And what happened, he kept getting permits … to repair an old wall and rip-rap, and each year that he got those permits he went beyond the permit’s scope and created in two particular areas two points,” Hanson said. “He went from having rocky shore to 5-foot-high mortared walls with golf course-quality lawn right out to the water, all beautifully manicured.”

While the property may have been beautiful, it violated shoreland zoning law, which limits what homeowners can do within 100 feet of the shoreline. The problem with removing natural buffering and installing a manicured lawn, Hanson said, is that it can lead to phosphorus getting into the lake, which can then lead to algae blooms that cut off sunlight and deoxygenate the water, killing fish.

“What we don’t want people to do is take natural rock habitat and turn it into lawn because that’s how phosphates and nutrients get into the lake,” Hanson said. “Most people, to have a manicured golf course-like lawn, have to fertilize it and that runs right into the lake. So we’re supposed to be maintaining a buffered strip 100 feet wide to protect the lake.”

Along with the $25,500 fine, Borriello will have to remove the peninsulas he slowly created. Though Hanson said the agencies were ready to take Borriello to court, Borriello avoided further legal action by the DEP and town by agreeing in November to a consent order that requires him to remove about 90 percent of the improvements and rebuild the natural rock buffer.

“He wasn’t asked to remove everything. We compromised with what we thought was appropriate without going to court. Some things are easier proved in court than others,” Hanson said. “Effectively, he’s to take out 90 percent of what he had done, and we are satisfied with that. But it should send a strong message around the lake that even if you do these violations over a period of years that you can still be forced to remove them.”

Borriello has until Thursday, March 1, to complete the removal. Hanson recently visited the property and said little had been done.

“We’ve received our fine amounts, but we’re still trying to get an appointment to look at his property to see how much progress he’s made in the restoration,” Hanson said Tuesday. “He has until March 1 to restore the site to its original condition. As of a week ago, he’d only done a partial amount of that work.”

In 2009, Borriello appealed Hanson’s determination but longtime Raymond Zoning Board of Appeals member Peter Leavitt, said the appeal was in vain.

“I’ve been on the ZBA since 1989. Over the years there were other issues that caused us to go down and look at the Borriello property as far as site reviews and for other issues where he was requesting expansions, so I have personal knowledge of what was on that property going back to the early 1990s,” Leavitt said. “As far as Mr. Borriello’s contention that really nothing had changed, I obviously had to dispute that because I had firsthand knowledge, I’d knew the extent of the building of the walls and the beach and knew that there were things like waterfalls and light fixtures that were not there at that time.”

Putting the violation in context with other shoreland zone violations, one of which included Borriello’s next-door neighbor, Bob Martin, who was cited in 2008 for a similar lakeside expansion, Leavitt said the Borriello violation “was pretty extensive, I’d say it’s right up there.”

Deep Cove homeowner Paul Borriello was cited and fined for extending his property into Sebago Lake creating, U-shaped twin peninsulas. Borriello must remove the improvements by March 1. (Courtesy photo)
A remediation plan shows the extent that Raymond homeowner Paul Borriello extended his property into Sebago Lake during a period of about 15 years. Borriello, who has paid $25,500 in fines, must also remove the shaded sections above and plant a buffering strip to prevent runoff.    Courtesy image

RAYMOND – A Raymond resident has paid $25,500 in fines for violating shoreland zoning law by gradually extending his property into Sebago Lake.

According to the town of Raymond, during a period of 12 to 15 years, Paul Borriello, of 78 Deep Cove Road, filled in his Sebago Lake frontage by creating two peninsulas jutting out into the lake. He also installed 5-foot-high stone walls, a waterfall, a walkway and manicured lawn along the water’s edge.

On Feb. 6, Barriello paid the town $20,000 and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection $5,500 to cover legal fees and fines associated with the violations. He was represented by the Windham-based law firm of Sawyer, Sawyer & Minott, which declined to comment on the matter, citing attorney-client privileges. Borriello did not return calls seeking comment.

Chris Hanson, Raymond’s code enforcement officer, worked with the town attorney as well as lawyers from the Portland Water District and Maine Department of Environmental Protection to settle the violation. Borriello applied for and was granted yearly permits from the town to perform maintenance on his lake frontage, mainly to repair a stone wall that lined the shore.

However, instead of following the permit, Hanson said Borriello slowly expanded his property by extending a stone sea wall several feet a year and then placing infill. By 2009, when the violation came to the attention of DEP, Hanson said, Borriello had extended his property significantly into the lake. In the process, a sand beach between the two peninsulas increased in size, as well. He also erected stone pillars, a flagpole, an arch, a fire pit and a waterfall.

Hanson was alerted to the violation in November 2009 after a nearby resident complained and provided photos that showed gradual improvement through the years.

“If you stood there and looked out his back door toward the lake, it looked like a golf course. It was absolutely beautiful. And what happened, he kept getting permits … to repair an old wall and rip-rap, and each year that he got those permits he went beyond the permit’s scope and created in two particular areas two points,” Hanson said. “He went from having rocky shore to 5-foot-high mortared walls with golf course-quality lawn right out to the water, all beautifully manicured.”

While the property may have been beautiful, it violated shoreland zoning law, which limits what homeowners can do within 100 feet of the shoreline. The problem with removing natural buffering and installing a manicured lawn, Hanson said, is that it can lead to phosphorus getting into the lake, which can then lead to algae blooms that cut off sunlight and deoxygenate the water, killing fish.

“What we don’t want people to do is take natural rock habitat and turn it into lawn because that’s how phosphates and nutrients get into the lake,” Hanson said. “Most people, to have a manicured golf course-like lawn, have to fertilize it and that runs right into the lake. So we’re supposed to be maintaining a buffered strip 100 feet wide to protect the lake.”

Along with the $25,500 fine, Borriello will have to remove the peninsulas he slowly created. Though Hanson said the agencies were ready to take Borriello to court, Borriello avoided further legal action by the DEP and town by agreeing in November to a consent order that requires him to remove about 90 percent of the improvements and rebuild the natural rock buffer.

“He wasn’t asked to remove everything. We compromised with what we thought was appropriate without going to court. Some things are easier proved in court than others,” Hanson said. “Effectively, he’s to take out 90 percent of what he had done, and we are satisfied with that. But it should send a strong message around the lake that even if you do these violations over a period of years that you can still be forced to remove them.”

Borriello has until Thursday, March 1, to complete the removal. Hanson recently visited the property and said little had been done.

“We’ve received our fine amounts, but we’re still trying to get an appointment to look at his property to see how much progress he’s made in the restoration,” Hanson said Tuesday. “He has until March 1 to restore the site to its original condition. As of a week ago, he’d only done a partial amount of that work.”

In 2009, Borriello appealed Hanson’s determination but longtime Raymond Zoning Board of Appeals member Peter Leavitt, said the appeal was in vain.

“I’ve been on the ZBA since 1989. Over the years there were other issues that caused us to go down and look at the Borriello property as far as site reviews and for other issues where he was requesting expansions, so I have personal knowledge of what was on that property going back to the early 1990s,” Leavitt said. “As far as Mr. Borriello’s contention that really nothing had changed, I obviously had to dispute that because I had firsthand knowledge, I’d knew the extent of the building of the walls and the beach and knew that there were things like waterfalls and light fixtures that were not there at that time.”

Putting the violation in context with other shoreland zone violations, one of which included Borriello’s next-door neighbor, Bob Martin, who was cited in 2008 for a similar lakeside expansion, Leavitt said the Borriello violation “was pretty extensive, I’d say it’s right up there.”

Deep Cove homeowner Paul Borriello was cited and fined for extending his property into Sebago Lake creating, U-shaped twin peninsulas. Borriello must remove the improvements by March 1. (Courtesy photo)
A remediation plan shows the extent that Raymond homeowner Paul Borriello extended his property into Sebago Lake during a period of about 15 years. Borriello, who has paid $25,500 in fines, must also remove the shaded sections above and plant a buffering strip to prevent runoff.    Courtesy image