BRENTWOOD — An Atkinson man who has refused to remove an addition built onto his home has until Dec. 31 to respond to a lawsuit filed against him by the town.
The town has asked Rockingham County Superior Court to grant a permanent injunction, ordering John Mason of 4 Rocky Point Lane to remove a 10-foot-by-25-foot addition he built on his waterfront property without a building permit from the town.
Atkinson has been trying to get Mason to remove the addition for years, according town officials.
On Sept. 5, 2007, Mason applied for a permit to "rebuild existing structure," which was rejected because it did not meet wetland zoning regulations.
It also needed approval from the state Department of Environmental Services and a variance from the town zoning board, the court documents said. The addition already had been built at that point.
Mason has been contacted by the town and the DES on numerous occasions since September 2007 but no progress has been made, court documents said.
On Oct. 22, the town resorted to filing the lawsuit in Superior Court. Town Attorney Sumner Kalman filed a petition for an injunction that asks Mason be required to remove the addition and pay the town fines and penalties.
The petition does not specify the total damages the town is seeking.
Mason's property was last appraised in 2006 at $373,100.
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