Neighbors of a proposed development in Cape Elizabeth are encouraged by support for a gate barring outside traffic from using the new road as a shortcut street.

Members of the neighborhood group opposing the development said they are heartened by statements from some members of the Planning Board supporting the proposal to install a gate.

“We’ve talked and felt like we weren’t being heard,” said Richard Bryant, the spokesman for the neighborhood group opposing the Spurwink Woods development. “Now we’ve got some validation that the Planning Board is listening and giving some credence to the unanimous voice,” of the neighbors.

Spurwink Woods, a proposed 42-unit subdivision between Killdeer Road and Dermot Drive, would link Mitchell Road to Spurwink Avenue through two dead-end neighborhoods.

As a condition of preliminary subdivision approval, developers Jim McFarlane, Craig Cooper and Skip Murray were required to meet with the neighborhood group, The Neighbors for Sensible Development, to discuss traffic calming measures. At that meeting in late March, there was a unanimous call from neighbors to erect a gate.

In a memo to the Planning Board dated April 24, Bryant said he felt the meeting was unsuccessful. “The developer proposes the least expensive steps rather than the most effective and appropriate measures consistent with…neighborhood input.”

The developers proposed installing additional stop signs, a private-way sign, trees and a raised crosswalk to deter motorists from using the road as a shortcut.

Four Planning Board members voiced support for a gate at last week’s meeting, while three opposed it.

Board member Jack Kennealy said he favored a gate because he felt it would preserve neighborhood integrity, while board member Peter Hadem favored the developers’ proposal to monitor traffic and install a gate later if traffic proves problematic.

Neighbors oppose connecting dead-end streets because they feel the increased traffic compromises the quality of their quiet neighborhoods by reducing safety and lowering housing values.

However, connecting neighborhoods is part of Cape Elizabeth’s comprehensive town plan.

There will be a town-wide vote June 13, which will decide the fate of the plan to connect neighborhoods. The Neighbors for Sensible Development petitioned the town late January in an attempt to ban shortcut streets, streets connecting major roads through existing neighborhoods. The Town Council set the petition to a town-wide vote.

However, if the measure fails at the polls, neighbors have asked the developers and the Planning Board to consider putting up a gate preventing commuters from using the road as another throughway in town.

Developers have returned that proposal with a “gate later” proposal, which neighbors oppose. Rather than construct a gate when the project is launched, the developers have proposed testing the traffic projections. If increased traffic exceeds 250 more cars daily when 75 percent of the project is completed, the developers will then build a gate.

Bryant said this solution is unacceptable on many fronts. He believes that the support for the gate will not extend beyond the present. “If a gate is not put in now, it will not be put in later,” he said.

There are several reasons for this, Bryant said. For one, Bryant feels that though this Planning Board may include the gate as a condition of approval, the next board could repeal the condition.

Ultimately, Bryant said the final decision regarding the gate goes to the Town Council and their position cannot be predicted down the line. “The huge political hurdles make this an illusory option,” said Bryant.

Bryant is also convinced that the town planner’s opposition to the gate could persuade a future planning board to think twice about installing a gate. “The hostility of the town administration will…preclude a gate from ever being installed,” Bryant wrote in the April 24 memo.

Town Planner Maureen O’Meara said that Spurwink Woods, as a connector neighborhood, abides by the town’s planning goals.

O’Meara said the solution to traffic management is “solid roadway design,” not a gate. “I still believe it’s poor planning to put a gate in,” she said. A gate is problematic for emergency vehicles, like fire, rescue and police, she said.

The final public hearing on the Spurwink Woods development will be May 16 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.