A surveyor's walk of York-Kittery border highlights complexity of moving a town boundary

Jul. 19—Weeks after town officials and surveyors walked the border between Kittery and York, the question that has lingered for several years remains: Is the boundary between Maine's two oldest towns meandering or a straight line?

Changing the border could mean 13 homes and two businesses would become part of York, lowering their property taxes but creating a complicated and expensive process to sort out.

The question of the exact location of the dividing line arose four years ago when a developer bought a parcel of land along Route 1 that straddles the border. A survey of the property showed the boundary was 333 feet south of where the towns have thought it was for well over 150 years.

After poring over old maps and documents, York officials said they thought the border — which had been established in 1652 by decree from the Massachusetts Bay Colony under threat of force by an armed militia — should be a straight line instead of weaving between Eliot and Brave Boat Harbor. But their counterparts in Kittery aren't so sure.

Early conversations about the disputed boundary began with some lighthearted joking about militias and defending borders. But the issue has become more complicated and serious after a recent perambulation — the process of walking and marking a border — showed what would happen if the straight line boundary is adopted.

That kind of change, which would need legislative approval, wouldn't alter the ownership of any private property, but it would affect where people pay taxes, vote and send their children to school. If the border is moved, property owners would see a reduction in their tax bill; in York, the tax rate is $8.45 per $1,000 of valuation, while in Kittery it is $13.61.

It's unknown what would happen if a chain coffee shop in the disputed area becomes part of York, which does not allow franchise restaurants.

The York Selectboard now has to decide if the town should ask the courts to establish a commission to determine the correct boundary line or let the issue go and acknowledge the border as it has been recognized since 1858.

York Town Manager Peter Joseph said the board will likely discuss how to move forward at a meeting next month. The board this week received a report and presentation from the surveyor, but did not discuss how it will proceed.

Board Chair Todd Frederick did not respond to requests to talk about the dispute.

Stephen Langsdorf, an attorney for Kittery, is urging York officials to end the process now.

"We are towns that should be working together cooperatively, not fighting over an issue that was resolved amicably over 150 years ago," he wrote in a letter to York officials this week.

A COMPLEX HISTORY

The two towns were ordered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652 to set up their borders, but it wasn't until 1794 that they had to map out those lines. When Kittery and York did so, their borders didn't match up, but no one seemed to worry at the time.

Chris Mende, a professional land surveyor hired by York, said towns were required to perambulate the town lines every two years, but the requirement was later extended to once a decade.

"They relied very much on physically marking the line," Mende told the York Selectboard this week.

By the 1830s, towns in York County had more or less stopped doing it, Mende said. His research showed the last perambulation between York and Kittery was in 1835.

In 1858, York, Kittery and Eliot presented a joint petition to the Maine Legislature asking that the present meandering boundary line be officially modified to recognize the towns' mutual understanding, Langsdorf said. No one knows why the Legislature did not act on that request.

York filed a complaint in York County Superior Court 164 years later, after the developer's survey drew attention to the disputed border, asking a judge to appoint a commission to settle the issue. Kittery argued a commission wasn't needed because the boundary is in the right place.

A judge dismissed the complaint without prejudice, ruling that York did not meet the statutory requirements to present a claim and that it first needed to perambulate the line.

'SIGNIFICANT' IMPACT

That survey finally took place on June 24, with representatives of both towns walking sections of the border that had already been marked by Mende. The straight line boundary, which York officials believe is correct, is separated from the meandering line by 85 to 95 acres, Mende said.

Langsdorf said in his letter urging York to drop the issue that the decision not to do this for so long shows the location of the boundary was not disputed. The recent survey "revealed the dramatic effect that redrawing the shared boundary based on a 250-year old map would have," he said.

The impacts are significant, Langsdorf said — three of the 13 homes that would move to York would be split by the boundary, as would one business.

Another business would have its large storage facility in one town and its parking area in another, while two large cell towers would be separated from the infrastructure serving them. The Aroma Joe's in Kittery would become part of York, which does not allow franchise restaurants, putting its continued operation in jeopardy, he said.

Other complications include title issues that would have to be settled with new boundary surveys and litigation at significant cost to the property owners, Langsdorf said. Subdivision approvals and existing permits granted to property owners would be void and new permits would have to be obtained from York, he said.

Langsdorf said the cost to both towns if York proceeds would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The biggest question, he said, is why this is even being considered.

"Many generations of people chose to live or do business in Kittery or York based on which town they believed best suited their political, economic, education and personal interests," he wrote. "An involuntary change in residence or business location foisted upon innocent property owners would be a grave injustice for seemingly no reason."

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