An Act To Modify Franchise Territories for Personal Sports Mobile Dealerships
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §1244, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 473, §3, is amended to read:
If a manufacturer seeks to add a line make to a dealership the manufacturer has an agreement with and the dealership was in business as of January 1, 1997, the additional line make is not subject to the distribution restrictions under this section.
Within 30 days of receiving the notice or within 30 days after the end of any appeal procedure provided by the manufacturer, any such new personal sports mobile dealership may file a complaint in the Superior Court of the county in which the dealership is located, protesting the establishment or relocation of the proposed new personal sports mobile dealership. When such a complaint is filed, the manufacturer may not establish or relocate the proposed new personal sports mobile dealership until a hearing has been held on the merits, nor thereafter if the court determines that there is good cause for not permitting the proposed new personal sports mobile dealership.
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This bill exempts from the 30-mile radius requirement in current law that applies in most municipalities with respect to adding a new personal sports mobile dealership near an existing dealership the addition of a new personal sports mobile dealership or the relocation of an existing new personal sports mobile dealership when there are no existing dealerships selling all the same products within 15 miles around the new dealership to be added.