Plymouth family obstructs roadway Town forced to create new access route

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NEWPORT – Twenty-four hours after Newport selectmen refused to sign a three-page ultimatum from the Whitaker family of Plymouth, the family removed a massive culvert and dug a deep trench, cutting off access to 14 homes.

“It’s unbelievable,” resident James Winn said Friday morning. “There’s a crater in the road.”

Within an hour, Newport officials had opened up an alternative roadway and by 4 p.m. – with a court order in hand – town employees were putting the Whitaker Road back together again.

Newport’s attorney, Ed Bearor, said the court order prohibits the Whitaker family from touching the road until a court hearing next week.

The deconstruction Friday morning took everyone by surprise.

“I panicked,” Cindy Piper said. She was bringing two children to school Friday morning and drove up to the massive trench.

Mary Vaillancourt was getting ready to take Arnold Fox to the doctor. “I don’t know what we should do,” she said, clearly frightened. Fox suffers from leukemia and both Fox and Vaillancourt have heart problems.

Piper and the other landowners knew there was an ongoing access dispute between the Whitaker family, the town of Newport and the homeowners, but they believed they had until Nov. 30 to come up with a solution.

The Whitaker family claims ownership of the road and said they never gave anyone permission to use it. They had notified landowners and the town that Nov. 30 was the cut-off date for closing the road. No one, however, expected it to be closed Friday.

“Why would he do that?” David Herrick said, referring to Keith Whitaker who has been the Whitaker family spokesman. Herrick’s home is located near the end of Downwind Boulevard where he and Piper live with their four children.

“He put us all in danger,” Herrick said. “It’s like nobody cares anymore.”

Within an hour after receiving the first 911 call for help Friday, Newport officials had obtained permission from a nearby landowner to build a temporary road to allow residents from Whitaker Road and Downwind Boulevard to get in and out over Nason Road.

Newport Public Works Director Larry Merrithew brought a bulldozer, a backhoe and a truckload of gravel to the site and in one hour had a new road built. The 30-foot road connects two cul-de-sacs, one on the end of Downwind Boulevard and the other at the end of Nason Road.

The three roads form a large L-shape. The long leg of the L consists of Nason Road and Downwind Boulevard, which until Friday were not connected and are separated by brush and undergrowth. The short leg of the L is Whitaker Road, which the Whitaker family maintains is privately owned and that no one has permission to use. Whitaker Road is actually in Plymouth along the town line with Newport and four homes are on Whitaker Road.

At the site of the new, temporary road Friday morning, Town Manager James Ricker was incensed that the Whitaker family chose to close the road.

“My primary concern is the welfare of the people down here,” he said. “Mr. Whitaker knew there was a venue for court action and yet he chose to put these people in danger.”

Ricker said he did not know what the legal ramifications were to opening up the end of Nason Road. “But we do have the landowner’s permission,” he said. The property is owned by Jesse Pingree, he said.

Police Chief Leonard Macdaid was at the end of Nason Road Friday morning with the town’s mobile command trailer.

“We set up the command van because the most important issue was the safety of the people trapped on that road,” he said. Macdaid said he went door to door to reassure everyone the road would be opened, and notified all emergency responders, such as fire and ambulance crews, to use Nason Road to reach any emergency on Whitaker Road or Downwind Boulevard.

The road access issue is just another setback for the 14 families that purchased property in what is known as Sky Park Estates from William and Barbara Gourley of Dexter. William Gourley, 65, is serving a five-year prison sentence for what state prosecutors called the largest real estate fraud in recent state history. Assistant Attorney General Lara Nomani, who prosecuted the case, estimated last year that Gourley had bilked 170 people out of nearly $5 million.

All of the properties in Sky Park Estates were sold by the Gourleys.

“We all bought our land with the belief that the road was a right of way,” Piper said. “The Whitaker family knew there were homes and a cul-de-sac down here in 1996 and they did nothing.”

He said the neighbors had been talking about the access issue, but “a lot of people down here can’t afford a lawyer. Whitaker never tried to work with us. He just sent us a letter with a deadline.”

That deadline was Nov. 30 but when Newport selectmen refused Thursday night to sign a seven-point agreement with the Whitaker family, Keith Whitaker said action would be taken. No member of the Whitaker family attended Thursday’s board meeting.

“That meeting provided us with indications that the town was not willing to talk about solutions at all,” he said Friday. “The road is closed and as far as we are concerned, that’s the end of it.”

When asked whether he felt the Whitaker family had any moral responsibility to keep the road open for safety purposes, Whitaker said, “I guess not. It was closed,” adding, “A lot of those people knew that was coming.”

The ultimatum presented to Newport officials would have been illegal for them to sign, they said at Thursday night’s emergency meeting. The seven conditions could not be accomplished without a special town meeting.

The mandate also threatened town officials, saying if they did not sign the agreement – and acquiesce to its seven conditions – access to Whitaker Road will be closed. The vote not to sign the agreement was made about 7 p.m. Thursday and the first 911 calls began at 7:45 a.m.

Some residents were happy that the road was closed and the town took action. Doug Thompson, who has been outspoken against the town, said he will press for a permanent connection to Nason Road at next March’s town meeting.

“I’m tired of the town jerking us around,” he said. “Today’s closure forced the town to do what they needed to do for years.” Thompson and other residents pressed Newport officials to take responsibility for the planning board’s apparent mistake of allowing building in the subdivision without finding out whether there was legal road access. The selectmen, however, were advised by their attorney that the road issue was a private matter between the landowners and the road’s owners.

Thompson said he wants both planning board Chairman Fred Hickey and Town Manager James Ricker replaced. “They created this mess and they lied,” he said.

“Ricker’s been using us as a pawn,” Thompson said. “This is good ol’ boy country and somebody took care of somebody.”

Thompson said that the Gourleys cost him “tens of thousands of dollars because of the hidden liens on my property,” and the Newport Planning Board never should have approved a subdivision without access.

Bearor said late Friday that Justice Jeffrey Helm approved the temporary restraining order, and that a hearing on the access is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 2, in Penobscot County Superior Court.

DETAILS OF WHITAKER FAMILY DEMANDS

The letter sent by the Whitaker family to the town of Newport outlined seven demands. They were:

. Provide quitclaim deeds from each affected resident.

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

. 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 residents and 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.

The selectmen determined at their emergency meeting Thursday night that they legally could not sign the document without a special town meeting, and suggested the issue be settled in court by the private parties involved.