Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council abandons paper road ‘Communication Drive’ to clear sale of industrial-park parcels despite property owner objections
Summary
Tiverton councilors voted to abandon Communication Drive, a paper road in the industrial park, to allow a pending land sale and consolidation for development. Nearby landowner Jeff Kielbasa objected, saying the abandonment removes potential future access to the rear of his property.
The Tiverton Town Council voted to abandon Communication Drive on July 28, clearing a procedural hurdle for a pending purchase-and-sale of multiple industrial-park parcels that the town is negotiating. The abandonment was presented as necessary to finalize the sale to a developer that will consolidate several small lots.
Jeff Kielbasa, who owns land that abuts the paper road, told the council the town was removing the only practical way to reach the back of his property and said “there is no access on Fish Road” to the rear acreage. Kielbasa said the back of his lot is “swamp” and streams make connecting to Fish Road effectively impossible and urged the council to preserve the paper road so the town and abutters retain future access options.
Town officials and legal counsel explained the town is abandoning a road that exists only “on paper” — a recorded plan that was never built — to allow a developer under contract to combine parcels and obtain master-plan approval for a development that covers the paper road’s location. The solicitor told the council the most recent lot plan that created Communication Drive was recorded in February 2013 and that the town had previously contemplated merging small paper lots in the industrial park to make them developable.
Daniel Riley, counsel for the buyer identified as Longplex Ice and Golf LLC, said abandoning the two paper roads in question is a prerequisite for the site plan now before the planning board. Riley said the purchaser’s site plan overlaps the paper road, and the abandonment process has been anticipated in the negotiations.
Councilors and the solicitor said the town would not be building the road with public funds if a private owner later wanted to construct it; any new road or easement to reach backland would have to be developed by private parties. Councilors encouraged Kielbasa to discuss easement or access options with the prospective buyer. Councilor Paul moved to abandon Communication Drive “to accommodate the P&S” and the council approved the motion.
The solicitor said the abandonment does not leave the lot landlocked under state frontage rules because the lot as recorded has frontage on Fish Road. The action clears the way for the town to proceed with the sale and for the buyer to move forward with required planning-board approvals.
