At the Jan. 3 meeting of the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen, Wiscasset Police Chief Jeff Lange will propose a “disorderly house” ordinance that would give police and the town broader powers to address problems at properties where police are called numerous times in a month or year.

Lange said that there are at least five properties in Wiscasset the proposed ordinance might address.

His proposal comes in the wake of an incident on Ward Brook Road on Dec. 7, when two pit bulls belonging to Nicholas Martinez, 39, and Robin Standring, 50, of Wiscasset escaped their backyard pen, ran across the street and mauled a smaller dog on a leash, according to police. The pit bulls also bit a woman who tried to intervene, sending her to the hospital. The dog that was attacked required extensive veterinary care, totaling $575.25, which Standring offered to pay. The woman who intervened was bitten on the wrist and was treated for lacerations.

The next day, the pair received summonses for keeping dangerous dogs and allowing dogs to be at large, both civil violations, which could lead to as much as $1,000 for the dangerous dog charge and $50-$250 for the dog at large charge. The court could also order the dogs euthanized or require that they wear muzzles and be on three-foot leashes when off-premises.

Standring maintained that this was the first time the animals had been at large, but neighbors disputed that claim, and expressed concern about the neighborhood children. 

In his letter to the selectmen, Lange wrote that the residents of the neighborhood have been terrorized by the family who owns the pit bulls, and that the residents complained about loud noise, disruptive parties, drug use, and fights at the residence. “I attended a meeting with some of the residents of the neighborhood and learned that they are frightened to call the police department because they fear retaliation from this disruptive family,” Lange wrote. 

Lange recommended in the letter that Wiscasset follow the lead of several other towns in Maine that have enacted disorderly house ordinances. If police are required to visit one of these properties three times in a given month for a building with five or fewer units, four times for a building with six to 10 units, and five times for a building with 11 units or more, the building would be designated a disorderly house. Conduct that would label the property a disorderly house includes, but is not limited to, loud music or parties, use or sale of illegal drugs, fights, any incident that leads to the arrest of the owner or tenants or their guests for crimes or infractions, or any other activity that disturbs the peace of the neighborhood.

If a house fits the ordinance definition of a disorderly house, a hearing will be held and for the owner or his agent will have to appear to defend the property. If the selectmen determine the property is a disorderly house, the owner may enter into a consent agreement to explain how he or she will improve the situation, or the selectmen may refer the house to the town attorney for legal action.  Violations include refusing to attend the hearing, reneging on the consent agreement, or allowing activities to occur after the disorderly house is referred to the town’s attorney, and each of these carries a stiff penalty, between $250 - $2,500, plus attorney’s fees. The town can also seek injunctive relief in court.

Other towns that have enacted such an ordinance have additional penalties, including allowing the selectmen to post the building against occupancy. This is one of the remedies in the Rockland ordinance, for example. The Wilton ordinance forbids an owner from renting to anyone after a building has been designated as a disorderly house.

“As Chief of Police and you as Selectmen, we are charged with protecting all the citizens of Wiscasset,” Lange wrote. “By enacting this ordinance, the Wiscasset Police Department (believes) we will be acting in the best interest of all our citizens, in order for them to feel protected and live in this community without fear.”

Lange will appear at the Jan. 3 selectmen’s meeting to discuss the proposed ordinance.