The owner of a Brooksville marina who has fought the municipality for years over his use of moorings in Buck’s Harbor has shuttered the company and listed it for more than $1.8 million.
Tuesday’s signs on cables blocking the marina’s entrance road and gravel parking area on Route 176 warned against trespassing and claimed the marina is closed for the 2023 season.
Christie’s International Real Estate is selling two lots joined by an access road off Route 176 for $1,825,000. Two additional neighbors share that road. Two structures and a floating dock system are on the one-tenth-acre waterfront lot. A fifth-acre parking lot is located on Route 176. Town property tax records value the two lots at $261,500.
Since the summer of 2020, marina owner Jonathan Buck has been fighting with the town. Marina authorities said a tropical storm in August of that year caused a yacht attached to one of the marina’s 35 moorings to drag it a short distance and struck another boat.
The owner of a marina in Brooksville has claimed that the city’s
On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, a notice hangs from a cable blocking Buck’s Harbor Marina in Brooksville, Maine. The marina is closed and for sale, but the owner is suing the town. Bill Trotter/BDN
The marina stated the boat was moored up without permission and the damage was small, but the town blamed the marina for the crash. The town informed the marina in August 2020 that the yacht was too large for the mooring and towed it, violating the port law.
Buck reached a formal agreement with the municipality to resolve the matter that fall, but the town said Buck broke it. Buck sued the municipality in January 2022, alleging discrimination.
Buck and his family closed the marina Tuesday because the town’s actions and demands have hurt the business.
Buck stated their goal was to devalue the marina and push them out of business. “I will not subject my family to this unconstitutional harassment.”
Mark Shaughnessy, harbor committee chairman, said Buck’s case is currently in the state’s business and consumer court. Buck also filed a tort action against the municipality last summer, seeking monetary damages. Also unresolved.
Shaughnessy called the marina closure a disgrace. “Harbor users and cruising sailors struggle. The port benefits greatly.”
The marina’s recorded voice apologizes for its shutdown and says it’s “out of our hands.”
When operating, the marina offered sailors fuel and ethanol-free gasoline, laundry, fresh water and showers, garbage disposal, and internet. The ship’s store sold souvenirs and boating equipment.
“Buck’s Harbor Marina has been a family operation revered for providing a variety of marine services, including food, wine, fresh lobsters, showers, fuel, rental moorings, and mainland access from its docks,” according to Christie’s International Real Estate. “While mostly seasonal, Buck’s Harbor Marina offers the best of a ‘Maine way of life’ providing both essential and nonessential services to the boating public.”
