New Haven Selectboard votes to discontinue North/South Highway; town attorney to issue quitclaim deeds

The New Haven Selectboard unanimously voted May 19 to discontinue the town’s portion of the North/South Highway (Road #37), a corridor that runs from Otter Creek Highway (Route 17 west) at the Mraz Apiary north to the Hallock Road and Maple Street intersection in Waltham.

Selectboard Chair John Roleau opened a public hearing and reported a site visit on May 9, 2026 that included all Selectboard members and most neighbors who border the former highway. According to the record, bordering property owners present at the site visit and hearing agreed with discontinuance and no one at the May 19 hearing voiced opposition.

Town Attorney Cindy Hill told the board that, under state statute, property owners who are landlocked have a right to access. Hill said that after the discontinuance process is completed the town will prepare quitclaim deeds conveying the strip of former roadway to adjacent landowners and that she will forward draft deeds to each landowner for review by their attorneys. The transcript notes one landlocked parcel along the former highway; the attorney did not provide a statute citation in the minutes.

Chair Roleau moved to discontinue only New Haven’s portion of Road #37; the motion was seconded by Selectboard member Bruce Many and passed 5–0. The Selectboard then closed the public hearing at 6:15 p.m. by a separate 5–0 vote.

The action affects only the New Haven portion of the road; the minutes record that the Selectboard mailed notices to the Weybridge and Waltham selectboards on April 7, 2026 and that both neighboring boards recorded receipt in their minutes and raised no objections. The next procedural step recorded in the minutes is the attorney’s preparation and distribution of quitclaim deeds to adjoining landowners for their review.