Dixmont, ME Environmental Rules: Boat Dock Permits (2026)

Dixmont regulates piers, docks and wharves through Section 15(C) and Table 1 of its Shoreland Zoning Ordinance, adopted March 19, 2016. The ordinance applies to land within 250 feet of great ponds and freshwater wetlands and within 75 feet of streams, and it also reaches any structure built on, over or abutting a dock, wharf or pier. The town has no general zoning ordinance.

Table 1, item 15, covers piers, docks, wharfs, bridges and other structures below the normal high-water line or within a wetland. A temporary structure is marked CEO in all three districts, meaning a permit from the Code Enforcement Officer. Footnote 8 excludes bridges and other crossings not involving earthwork, which need no permit. A permanent structure is marked PB in all three districts, meaning a permit from the Planning Board.

Section 15(C) sets the standards. Only one structure below the normal high-water line or within a wetland is allowed on a single lot, except that a lot with at least twice the minimum shore frontage can have a second structure for as long as the lot is not further divided. Access from shore must be on soils appropriate for the use and built to control erosion. The location cannot interfere with existing developed or natural beach areas and must minimize adverse effects on fisheries. The facility can be no larger than necessary and must be consistent with the surrounding character and uses. No new structure can be built on, over or abutting a pier unless it requires direct access to the water as an operational necessity, and existing structures on a pier cannot be converted to residential dwelling units in any district. Structures on a pier cannot rise more than 20 feet above it.

A structure built on a float is prohibited unless it is designed to function as, and is registered with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife as, a watercraft. New permanent structures projecting into or over water also need a Department of Environmental Protection permit under 38 M.R.S.A. section 480-C, and the Army Corps of Engineers can require a permit in navigable waters.