A house being built on a road no longer maintained by the town has raised questions about the legal status of part of a town zoning ordinance.
A partially built house is being constructed on Bennett Road, which is considered a “discontinued road” by the town and should be unavailable for new building, Bob Eger of Warren Pond Road told the Planning Board recently.
Eger, who owns a piece of land along this road, told the board Oct. 22 he has noticed new construction on Bennett Road, “which sort of surprised me.” He had been under the impression no buildings could get permits on Bennett Road – or other roads certified as “discontinued” – until the roads are brought up to town standards, he said.
When he asked town Code Enforcement Officer Jenifer McCabe if the building in question is being built illegally, Eger said, he was told she had gotten a legal opinion that there is a problem with the ordinance relating to discontinued roads, and that she had in fact issued a building permit there.
“That is a change in the way the ordinance has been interpreted for the last 40 years,” Eger said, noting his own Warren Pond Road had to be upgraded before he could build there. “I know this because in 1986 we were the first house affected by the ordinance.”
The ordinance apparently was adopted after a fire truck got stuck responding to a fire on Bennett Road, Eger recalled.
“If this new interpretation is correct,” he said, “it seems like something the Planning Board should be aware of.”
Eger acknowledged to the board he’s in the “odd position” of questioning the building permit’s legality even though he could potentially benefit from it. His land and other parcels along Bennett Road have been assessed as if they were not buildable, he said, and these parcels would be worth a lot more if it turned out they could be built on.
“If my property is buildable, it just increased [in value] by about $100,000,” he estimated.
Other discontinued town roads in town are Punkintown Road, Clarks Lane, part of Old Country Road, and Dennett Road. Each has been given a Certificate of Discontinuance that is filed with the York Registry of Deeds.
The new interpretation could open up new areas for development, even without any road improvement, Eger said.
The relevant ordinance, 140-70H, states among other things that “no building permits shall be issued to erect a new principal building and no new principal buildings shall be erected on any lot unless such lot abuts a road [that] must be: a public way maintained by the Town of South Berwick or the State of Maine.”
DeCarlo Brown, town director of planning and economic development, said in an email that he approached McCabe after the meeting for details of the Bennett Road case and is waiting to see if it’s a “one-off, or a systemic problem.”
“If it’s systemic, you guys will have to take it up,” Brown told the Planning Board.
McCabe did not respond to South Berwick Reporter inquiries by press time, and Brown said Friday he had not yet gotten clarification on the issue.
