NEWPORT – Despite what town officials felt was a productive meeting last Monday aimed at resolving a road access issue, the Whitaker family of Plymouth submitted an ultimatum Wednesday with demands town officials said they could not meet.

The mandate threatened town officials, saying if they did not sign the agreement – and acquiesce to its seven conditions – access to Whitaker Road will be closed, leaving 14 families with no way to get to or out of their homes.

The Whitaker family owns the road, which provides the only access to the homes on Whitaker Road and Downwind Boulevard. Besides promising to close the road by Nov. 30, the Whitakers threatened to cease all discussions with the town if any individual resident seeks legal action to block the road closure.

At an emergency meeting Thursday night, the selectmen voted unanimously not to sign the Whitaker edict, saying they had no authority to do so.

No member of the Whitaker family was present at Thursday’s meeting.

The Whitakers maintain that they have been trying to solve the trespassing issue with Newport officials for six years and finally felt that closing the road was the only solution.

The issue publicly surfaced last month when 14 families that live in the affected area received letters from the Whitaker family warning them that the family owned the road and no one had permission to use it. The Whitakers called the families trespassers and said the road would be closed.

Families living on Whitaker Road and Downwind Boulevard subsequently discovered that the developer had misled the Newport Planning Board when the original subdivision was approved and that people who bought property there were completely unaware that the road was privately owned.

The roads are near the Plymouth town line. Whitaker Road is also referred to as Town Line Road and possibly was once abandoned by the town of Plymouth.

Over the past month, angry residents pressed Newport officials to take responsibility for the planning board’s mistake. The selectmen, however, were advised by their attorney that the road issue was a private matter between the landowners and the road’s owners.

Newport selectmen called Thursday’s emergency meeting after receiving the Whitaker family’s demands a day earlier. The three-page letter outlined seven requirements. If the requirements were met, the letter stated, the closing of the road would be postponed.

The letter demanded that the selectmen:

. Provide quitclaim deeds from each affected resident.

. Agree to hold the Whitakers harmless for any damage incurred crossing their property.

. Institute a moratorium on all building in the disputed area.

. Open up the end of Nason Road within five weeks to provide alternative access for Downwind Boulevard residents.

. Construct a cul-de-sac to prevent access to Whitaker Road.

. Provide a driveway for a Whitaker Road resident within five weeks.

. Provide legal access for four residents whose homes border the Plymouth town line.

The letter gave the selectmen until 5 p.m. Thursday to act.

“We cannot sign this,” Chairman Al Worden said. He said it was impossible for the selectmen to sign such an agreement and act on behalf of the town, the residents and some people who do not even live on the affected roads.

He said that even if the board agreed with the mandate’s requirements, the board would have to call a special town meeting.

“At this time of year we would never get the 75 registered voters required [to legally hold a special town meeting],” he said.

Worden said he and Selectman Thomas Breitweg had “bent over backwards” last Monday when they met with Keith Whitaker and thought they had made progress toward a solution.

“We agreed to pursue connecting Nason and Downwind. We agreed to put in a cul-de-sac. But we wanted those on Whitaker to be able to continue to use the road,” Worden said.

“It can go to court now,” he concluded.

“Unfortunately, I agree with you,” Doug Thompson, one of the affected, and most outspoken, homeowners, told the board.

After the meeting, Town Manager James Ricker said he spoke with Newport town attorney Ed Bearor Thursday morning and at least one resident’s title insurer had contacted Bearor about seeking a temporary restraining order to keep the road open.

At a meeting on Oct. 17, Bearor advised a large group of homeowners to immediately seek a temporary restraining order, estimating that the 14 affected properties could obtain one easily through a privately hired attorney for an estimated $72 per family, or $1,000. He also advised them to contact their title insurers, who would take action on their behalf.

At that meeting, Keith Whitaker said he had been trying since 2001 to get the town to deal with the issue. He said he notified Newport officials that no landowner had legal access over the land and yet Newport planners continued to issue building and plumbing permits.

Blocking the road would force the town to take action, Whitaker maintained. “It seems the only way to get this resolved,” he said. “It is our land. They have been using it for 20 years, they can acquire it.”