SCARBOROUGH — The residents of Cranberry Pines Road are hoping to end at least 30 years of debate over what to do about the private road.

The 13 homeowners have asked the town to loan them $210,000 to repair the road, an amount that will be split up and paid back to the town with interest over 15 years.

Additionally, the residents have asked the town to pay off a Small Business Association loan of approximately $34,000 that the association took out in 1996 to repair flood damage, in exchange for easement rights to town-owned property nearby.

“This is strange set of circumstances,” Town Manager Tom Hall said, “but I’m glad we came up with an agreement that did not relax the road acceptance policy. We didn’t want to set a precedence that would come back and haunt us.”

The dead-end private road off Broadturn Road was built in the late 1970s by developer Terry Brown Construction. The developer went bankrupt while the road was under construction and never completed the project, leaving the residents with a poorly built gravel road.

The homeowners have consistently paid to maintain the road, paving it and installing a guardrail at the town’s request, and have entered into yearly contracts with the town for winter plowing.

“They don’t get any break on their taxes, but they’re not enjoying the same level of services as other taxpayers in town,” Hall said.

This new agreement would convert the road to a public way and turn over maintenance and plowing responsibilities permanently to the town.

“This is really a step in the direction the town’s policy should be going,” Hall said. “We want to convert private ways to public streets. We’re so pleased we were able to deliver an agreement that does not relax our standards.”

The Council will vote on the matter at its Nov. 17 meeting.

Emily Parkhurst can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 125 or eparkhurst@theforecaster.net

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