The town of Cape Elizabeth has ordered Mary Page, owner of Two Lights General Store, to restore an area of approximately 2,000 square feet to its “former natural state.”

Page cleared the area to make room for seating next to her new ice cream window. She covered a portion of the area with bark mulch and small rocks and put a couple of chairs there for people to sit in and enjoy their ice cream.

Cape Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Smith issued Page a “notice of violation and order to correct” July 13, giving her a deadline of Monday, Aug. 15, to remove any “foreign material that will not support the re-growth of the natural vegetation.”

If she does not comply, Page could face legal action and fines of $100 to $2,500 per day as long as the violation continues.

The store the area Page “disturbed” are within a critical wetland buffer zone, where town ordinance prohibits clearing natural vegetation, excavating, grading and filling within a 250-foot buffer zone. State standards call for a 100-foot buffer zone.

When Page and her husband bought the property in 2003 the nearby wetlands were thought to be RP-2 wetlands, which are not as valuable as RP-1 wetlands and therefore less protected. But, when Page decided to sell a piece of her property to a local developer, soil tests found that the wetlands were actually the more critical type and a more restrictive buffer zone was imposed. Page opposed the new buffer and requested an amendment to the ordinance.

The violation notice was sent two days after the Town Council’s July 11 rejection of the amendment, which would have reduced the 250-foot wetland buffer zone in the Business A District, where Two Lights General Store is, to a 100-foot buffer zone.

Councilors Paul McKenney, Michael Mowles and Mary Ann Lynch supported the amendment, as did a unanimous Planning Board. But the amendment failed because Councilors Jack Roberts, Carolyn Fritz and Chairman Anne Swift-Kayatta voted against the change. The Conservation Commission had also voiced its opposition. Councilor David Backer recused himself from the debate because his law firm has represented Page in the past.

“It’s ridiculous that the Planning Board can unanimously be in favor of changing the ordinance, but three people on the Town Council can determine my world,” Page said.

A major concern Page voiced when requesting the amendment was to allow her to go into a 100- by 40-foot area of her property adjacent to the store and clear large pieces of trash and dying trees she sees as potentially falling on her business. In order to do that, Page said she would need to clear some of the natural vegetation.

“It’s sad you can invest your life in a business, but can’t make it better,” Page said. Without the ordinance, Page said her business is suffering because she can’t enhance the area and make it look nice.

Smith included in the violation notice a clarification that Page does “have the right to maintain [her] property by removing trash and other items from within the wetland buffer and to remove dead, diseased or dying trees and trees that pose a safety hazard after consultation with this office.”

As of Aug. 9, the area had still not been cleared of the “foreign material,” but Page said she intends to comply with the notice. “I have no other choice. Otherwise, I’ll go to wetland prison.”