GREAT DIAMOND ISLAND – Residents of this usually tranquil seaside community have reached a compromise on a dispute that divided its year-round and summer residents.

Since last summer, some Great Diamond residents have been unhappy with the growing number of golf carts on an island that has seen its population boom in the past decade.

A City Council committee voted 2-1 on Thursday to endorse a trial measure that will apply existing restrictions on golf carts from April 15 through Columbus Day, and allow residents to have the run of the island during the off-season.

“They’ll basically have six months on and six months off,” said Thomas Fortier, the city’s island liaison. The committee expects to hear back from islanders in September to see how the summer goes.

According to a city ordinance and other regulations, residents of a pricey new development on the island’s northern end are not supposed to drive their golf carts into the center of town. But they do.

Residents on the island’s southern end also drive golf carts, cars and trucks to the store and restaurant in Diamond Cove.

Fortier said the Diamond Island Association voted 22 to 10 in favor of the compromise. The Diamond Cove Homeowners Association, which represents many summer residents, voted 62-17 in favor of the compromise. And the Great Diamond Island Civic Association voted 13-8 against it.

There are more than 100 golf carts and 17 cars and trucks on the island, Fortier said.