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Select Board refers landowner request to decommission Legal Trail 27 to planning commission
Summary
A landowner asked the town to 'throw up' (decommission) a 300-foot remnant of Legal Trail 27 that crosses his parcel; the Select Board voted to send the request to the Jamaica Planning Commission for review rather than decide immediately, citing precedent and process concerns.
A Jamaica landowner requested that the town decommission Legal Trail 27 — a short legal trail that now sits on the owner’s parcel after a bridge washed out — arguing the trail reduced his usable acreage and complicates financing and resale.
The Chair summarized the owner's letter and emphasized the practical impact on the parcel’s survey: “When you're, either selling or financing on a property, it's not a cloud on title, but it is an encumbrance,” the Chair said, describing why the homeowner considers it a hardship. Several board members, however, cautioned about setting a precedent for removing public legal trails to accommodate private interests and said similar prior decisions had been made only where tracts were surrounded entirely by public land.
After discussion the Chair withdrew an initially worded motion and instead moved to refer the request to the Jamaica Planning Commission (JPC) for review and recommendation; the board voted in favor of that referral. Members asked the JPC to assess legal, survey and policy implications and to consider whether other similar trail stubs in town warrant a consistent approach.
The referral does not change ownership immediately; it initiates a formal review process that could include site visits, public notice and input from planning and legal staff.
