Celeste Edwards of Wiscasset said Tuesday, she has put her Fort Hill house up for sale because of the actions of the Wiscasset Historic Preservation Commission.

Edwards said that after she was not granted a certificate of appropriateness last month for her already extant fence, some members of the commission began to try to obtain documents allegedly from abutters, complaining about her property.

According to Edwards, members John Reinhardt, James Kochan and Susan Blagden asked Codes Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz for copies of letters from Edwards’ neighbors, whom they said were complaining about the “encroachment” of Edwards’ fence.

Waltz said the three commissioners had appeared in his office April 28 to speak to him and Town Planner Ben Averill about Edwards and also about general documents regarding the commission. Waltz said there were no letters in the 4 Fort Hill Street file at all regarding any complaints against Edwards or her property.  He also told the three commissioners that in order to get copies of all the minutes and other documents regarding the commission, they would have to file a Freedom of Access Act request, since it would take time to obtain the documents and make copies.

Reinhardt said he was present to obtain copies of all the documentation related to the commission, especially the certificates of appropriateness the commission has approved. He said he did not know anything about requests for the alleged letters from the neighbors, and said he couldn’t speak for the other commissioners. A call to Blagden was not immediately returned, and Kochan was out of town. Reinhardt also said that at a recent Select Board meeting, he publicly apologized to Edwards for her perception that she was being unfairly treated by the commission. “We’re still a very young commission,” he said. “We’ve still got pimples and everything. We’d like to hear from people who think that we’ve not been fair to them. It’s our goal to uphold the Historic Preservation Ordinance, and to help people. But the ordinance was enacted by the people, so we want to do our best to honor that.”

Edwards said she also spoke to the abutting neighbors and none of them said they sent letters to the town. They are all trying to encourage her not to move, she said.

“I really don’t want to move,” she said. “I’m disabled, and it will cost me a lot to move. I’d have to start all over.  I like it here, I love the house, and I’ve made friends, but I don’t want to be harassed by the members of this commission for just trying to live my life here.” Edwards said that because she is disabled, she is no longer working, and can’t afford to replace the fence, which was put in to contain her dogs and screen off a steep cliff on one side of the property. She said that it is almost humorous in some ways; people several towns away know about her and her fence and most of the people who speak to her about it are sympathetic to her situation. “I just want the commission to know that their actions can be hurtful and are driving people away,” she said.

Voters passed the ordinance in 2015. The Board of Selectmen has moved to abolish it, which would also do away with the commission. Abolishing it would take public hearings and a town vote.

Edwards said she is filing an appeal with the Board of Selectmen in the next several days.