Stonington Selectmen face lawsuit over Fish Pier platform as access and safety concerns collide

The Selectmen of Stonington spent multiple meetings debating a loading platform at the Fish Pier after Sunshine Seafood filed suit challenging the town’s recent votes to remove or restrict the platform.

Town Manager Billings told the board the town had been served with a legal complaint from Sunshine Seafood related to earlier Harbor Committee and Selectmen actions regarding the platform and access arrangements. Selectmen discussed potential legal costs and agreed to increase the municipal legal budget to cover an anticipated defense.

The dispute surfaced at several meetings when fishermen, dealers and others described how the platform is used. Supporters said the platform is essential to load trucks and service commercial users; Jim Eaton and others argued it is beneficial to longstanding users. Opponents and some board members said the platform and associated personal property (trailers, totes) sometimes block access, create safety concerns, and complicate equitable allocation of limited pier space.

Selectmen and Harbor Committee members debated whether authority over daily pier operations should rest with the Harbor Committee, whether prior committee votes were reversed improperly, and how to make dinghy and commercial allocations more transparent. No final vote to restore the platform was recorded during the meetings summarized here; the board instead discussed remedies including returning rents, clearer harbor rules, and, separately, contingency plans for legal exposure.

The dispute has immediate budget implications: during budget preparation the board increased the legal appropriation to account for expected litigation costs and directed staff to work with counsel. The board also authorized, in executive session and subject to town-meeting approval, pursuing a purchase-and-sale agreement for adjacent parcels to support longer-term waterfront planning and possible fire-station relocation.

Next steps: the town is preparing a legal response to the lawsuit and intends to seek Harbor Committee recommendations on pier allocation rules and any ordinance changes needed to clarify dock and platform procedures.