A Maine Superior Court judge has sided with Brunswick residents in a dispute over a planned maintenance and layover facility for the Amtrak Downeaster rail service.
Neighbors of the proposed facility contended that the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority - or NNEPRA - which operates the Downeaster, failed to notify them about an application for a state storm water management permit.
The NNEPRA and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection had contended that the plaintiffs weren't entitled to be notified because their land doesn't actually abut the proposed facility, but is separated from it by a state-owned strip of land.
But last week, Judge Joyce Wheeler voided the permit, ruling that the plaintiffs are considered abutters of the project, and thus were entitled to be notified of the permit application.
Bob Morrison, chair of the Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition, says members are pleased by the decision, but not surprised.
"Simply put, an industrial garage of this magnitude with the inherent safety, noise, vibration and other unavoidable environmental impacts does not belong in any residential neighborhood," Morrison says, in a statement.
Last month, the Federal Railroad Administration ruled that the proposed 60,000-square-foot maintenance garage would not have a significant impact on its surrounding environment.
The Downeaster expanded to Freeport and Brunswick in 2012.