SUBCHAPTER 11

CURRENT USE VALUATION OF CERTAIN WORKING WATERFRONT LAND

§1141.__Purpose

It is declared that it is in the public interest to encourage the preservation of working waterfront land and to prevent the conversion of working waterfront land to other uses as the result of economic pressures caused by the assessment of that land, for purposes of property taxation, at values incompatible with its use as working waterfront land and that the necessity in the public interest of the enactment of this subchapter in accordance with the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 8 is a matter of legislative determination.

§1142.__Definitions

As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

1.__Commercial aquaculture production.__"Commercial aquaculture production" has the same meaning as in section 2013, subsection 1, paragraph A-1.

2.__Commercial fishing.__"Commercial fishing" means harvesting or processing, or both, of wild marine organisms with the intent of disposing of them for profit or trade in commercial channels.

3.__Commercial fishing activities.__"Commercial fishing activities" means commercial aquaculture production and commercial fishing.__"Commercial fishing activities" does not include retail sale to the general public of marine organisms or their byproducts, or other products or byproducts of commercial aquaculture production or commercial fishing.

4.__Excess valuation factor.__"Excess valuation factor" means a market-based influence on the determination of the just value of working waterfront land that would result in a valuation that is in excess of that land's current use value.__"Excess valuation factor" includes, but is not limited to, aesthetic factors, recreational water-use factors, residential housing factors and nonresidential development factors unrelated to working waterfront uses.

5.__Head of tide.__"Head of tide" means the inland or upstream limit of water affected by the tide.