GREENE — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday ruled against a Greene man who had argued that the town treated him unfairly in denying him a permit to operate a flea market.
The court dismissed the complaint filed by George Stanley, ruling that Stanley had missed a scheduled hearing on the matter and otherwise failed to take steps to defend his stance.
Stanley had contended that the court abused its discretion in denying his earlier motions.
“Because we conclude that the court afforded Stanley every opportunity to protect his rights in proceedings that he initiated and that had been pending for nearly two years,” according to the court ruling, “we conclude that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying Stanley’s motions and affirm the judgment.”
The clash between Stanley and the Town of Greene goes back to 2013 and involves an ordinance that had been in place since 2011.
In 2013, Stanley complained that he had twice applied for a license to operate a flea market and was twice denied. Town officials explained that their denials were based on the ordinance and pertained to the size of Stanley’s operation, as well as issues of signs, safe exits and parking.
In June of 2012, Stanley filed a complaint against the town alleging that they were interfering with the flea market business he was operating on his own property at 1316 Route 202.
“It’s more than just the junk man on the side of the road in Greene, Maine,” Stanley told a reporter in 2013. “It’s an unfinished project, like the Sistine Chapel that took seven years. Give me seven years and see where we are.”
The court denied Stanley’s motion for a temporary restraining order, ruling that he failed to show irreparable harm or any likelihood of success on the merits of his claim.
The Town of Greene moved for a more definitive statement on the matter, which the court granted, after which Stanley filed further complaints.
In September of 2013, Stanley showed up at a scheduled hearing on the issue but did not have an attorney with him, which resulted in the hearing being continued until March 2014. When March came along, according to the court ruling. Stanley asked for another continuance, claiming he was incapacitated at a New Hampshire hospital. The court agreed to grant the continuance if Stanley could provide medical proof of his situation.
No proof was forthcoming and Stanley failed to show up for the March 25 hearing, according to court documents. Weeks later, the court entered a judgment dismissing Stanley’s complaint and ordering him to cease operating the flea market until he could comply with the ordinance.
Three days later, Stanley filed a motion “to vacate, extend, continue or appeal” that ruling. In August, those motions were denied and shortly after, Stanley filed another motion to reconsider. That request was denied, a move that Stanley once more appealed.
“Although Stanley raised generalized arguments about ‘idle threats’ and ‘gross abuse of powers,'” the court wrote in its latest ruling, “there is no evidence in the record to support a finding of irreparable injury. The court did not abuse its discretion in denying Stanley’s motion for a restraining order.”
The ruling adds that the court had already suspended a $5,000 fine levied against Stanley on the condition that he cease operation of his flea market.
Stanley could not be located Thursday for comment on the court ruling. In a handwritten complaint Stanley filed at Androscoggin County Superior Court at the start of the legal scrap, he accused The Town of Greene of “a sicko plot to destroy me utterly as I am a stain on their ‘pristine’ town.”
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