Plain meaning of ‘expand’ is to ‘make greater in size.’
Leigh Saufley 2000, Judge on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, 10/27/2000, “Bangs v. Town of Wells,” 2000 ME 186
Wells's interpretation of subsection 3(M) is not consistent with the plain language of the statute. See Kimball, 2000 ME 20, P18, 745 A.2d at 392 (explaining the rules of statutory construction). HN13 The plain meaning of the word "expand" [***14] means "to make or become greater in size." 9Link to the text of the note Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary 241 (1996). Further, the language of the statute requires that municipalities give reasonable consideration to the expansion of existing "mobile home parks" as opposed to allowing "mobile home park lots" or "mobile home park density" to expand. Therefore, a logical and consistent reading of the statute encompasses mobile home parks' growth in physical area rather than merely in density. See Town of Madison, Dep't of Elec. Works v. Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 682 A.2d 231, 234 (Me. 1996).