Housing project approved Rockport subdivision a two-year process

ROCKPORT – A housing subdivision project off West Street Extension finally won town approval last week after a review process that took 27 months.

The 11-lot development on a 46-acre lot, proposed by residents Lance and Holly Limoges, was controversial from the outset. The planning board deadlocked in a 2-2 vote over approval in July 2000. When the Limoges challenged one of the members who voted against the project with having a conflict of interest, he agreed that he had a conflict, then resigned from the board.

The matter was appealed in Knox County Superior Court, but then sent back to the town.

The town’s zoning board of appeals finally took over review of the project, acting as a planning board, town planner Tom Ford said Monday.

A key issue in the project was its proposed 2,500-foot-long dead-end road. The town zoning ordinance prohibits dead-end roads longer than 1,000-feet, unless the board grants a waiver.

The appeals board finally granted a waiver to the Limoges.

Ford said David Perkins, an attorney representing some neighbors who oppose the project, has requested that the board reconsider its approval vote. The ordinance allows the board to vote on a reconsideration.

If the appeals board votes to reconsider its action when it meets at 7 a.m. Thursday, a subsequent hearing would have to be scheduled, Ford said. If the board does not vote to reconsider, opponents could challenge the approval in Superior Court.

David Perkins was unavailable for comment on Monday.

The appeals board voted 3-1 to approve the subdivision, with member Geoffrey Parker casting the dissenting vote.

Ford said the review process has spanned 19 meetings, generating between 100 and 120 hours of videotape, 400 pages of meeting minutes, and 1,000 pages of documentation.