Title 17, Title 17

The expense of abating a nuisance by virtue of a warrant shall be collected by the officer as damages and costs are collected on execution; except that the materials of buildings, fences or other things removed as a nuisance may be first levied upon and sold by the officer, and t…

Any court of record before which an indictment, complaint or action for a nuisance is pending may, in any county, issue an injunction to stay or prevent such nuisance, and make such orders and decrees for enforcing or dissolving it as justice and equity require.

Whoever erects, causes or continues a public or common nuisance, as herein described or at common law, where no other punishment is specially provided, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100. The court with or without such fine may order such nuisance to be discontinue…

1. Common nuisances. The following are common nuisances. A. All places used as houses of ill fame or for the illegal sale or keeping of intoxicating liquors or scheduled drugs or resorted to for lewdness or gambling; [PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. I, §45 (NEW); PL 2003, c. 452, Pt. X, §2 …

If any tenant or occupant, under any lawful title, of any building or tenement not owned by the tenant or occupant uses the building or tenement or any part of the building or tenement for any purpose named in section 2741, the tenant or occupant forfeits all rights to the buildi…

Persons engaged in blasting lime rock or other rocks shall before each explosion give seasonable notice thereof, so that all persons or teams approaching shall have time to retire to a safe distance from the place of said explosion. No such explosion shall be made after sunset. W…

No person shall place or maintain upon or in view of any highway any light so that its beams or rays are directed at any portion of a public street or highway when the light is of such brilliance and so positioned as to blind, dazzle or otherwise impair the vision of the driver o…

Oil, and a petroleum base, or materials containing significant quantities of such oil shall not be intentionally placed or deposited directly into or on banks of any river or stream, permanent or temporary, lake, pond or tidal waters or on the ice thereof where such material may …

No stationary, internal combustion or steam engine shall be erected in a town until the municipal officers have granted license therefor, designating the place where the buildings therefor shall be erected, the materials and mode of construction, the size of the boiler and furnac…

If any person manufactures gunpowder, or mixes or grinds the composition therefor, in any building within 80 rods of any valuable building not owned by such person or his lessor, which was erected when such business was commenced, the former building shall be deemed a public nuis…

The erection and maintenance of watermills and dams to raise water for working them upon or across streams not navigable as provided in Title 38, chapter 5, shall not be deemed a nuisance, unless they become offensive to the neighborhood, or injurious to the public health, or unl…

The possession of poisonous snakes shall be a public nuisance, except where poisonous snakes shall be continuously confined in such type of enclosure as may be determined to be escape proof.

Whoever hereafter erects a dam on any of the public waters of this State shall, within 3 years after a head of water is held and flowage created thereby, remove from the flowed area all trees, bushes and stumps that he can legally remove therefrom, to such an extent that the tops…

Any fence or other structure in the nature of a fence, unnecessarily exceeding 6 feet in height, maliciously kept and maintained for the purpose of annoying the owners or occupants of adjoining property, shall be deemed a private nuisance.

The erection, continuance or use of any building or place for the exercise of a trade, employment or manufacture that, by noxious exhalations, offensive smells or other annoyances, becomes injurious and dangerous to the health, comfort or property of individuals or of the public;…

The municipal officers of a town, when they judge it necessary, may assign places therein for the exercise of any trades, employments or manufactures described in section 2802, and may forbid their exercise in other places, under penalty of being deemed public or common nuisances…

When a place or building so assigned becomes a nuisance, offensive to the neighborhood or injurious to the public health, any person may complain thereof to the Superior Court and if, after notice to the party complained of, the truth of the complaint is admitted by default or ma…

1. Acquisition of property near existing range. Except as provided in this subsection, a person may not maintain a nuisance action, including for noise, against a shooting range located in the vicinity of that person's property if the shooting range was established as of the date…

1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. A. "Commercial fishing activity" means an activity directly related to a commercial fisheries business as defined in Title 12, section 6001, subsectio…

Unreasonable use of land that results in altered flow of surface water that unreasonably injures another's land or that unreasonably interferes with the reasonable use of another's land is a nuisance. [PL 2005, c. 564, §1 (NEW); PL 2005, c. 564, §3 (AFF).] An action under this se…

The municipal officers in the case of a municipality or the county commissioners in the case of the unorganized or deorganized areas in their county may after notice pursuant to section 2857 and hearing adjudge a building to be a nuisance or dangerous, in accordance with subsecti…

An appeal from a decision of the municipal officers or county commissioners under section 2851 or section 2856 must be to the Superior Court, pursuant to the provisions of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 80B.

All expenses incurred by a municipality or county related to an order issued under section 2851, including, but not limited to, expenses relating to the abatement or removal of a building, must be repaid to the municipality or county by the owner within 30 days after demand, or a…

In addition to other proceedings authorized by this subchapter, a municipality has the right to secure buildings that pose a serious threat to the public health and safety and to recover its expenses in so doing as provided in section 2853. If a building is secured under this sec…

Notice required under section 2851 or section 2856 must be served on the owner and parties in interest in the same way service of process is made in accordance with the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure. When the name or address of an owner or party in interest is unknown or is not …

The owner or a party in interest of a dangerous building may consent to its removal and to the recovery of the expenses incurred by a municipality or county by means of a special tax as set forth in this subchapter. Notices of the consent must be recorded in the Registry of Deeds…

In cases involving an immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety or welfare, in addition to any other remedies, a municipality or a county may obtain an order of demolition by summary process in Superior Court, in accordance with this section. [PL 2019, c. 557, §3 …