Boulders Blocking Private Road Responsible For A Rocky Planning Board Meeting
The Falmouth Planning Board had a rather rocky meeting on Tuesday evening, July 27, dealing with an issue that even Town Planner Thomas Bott said he has never before encountered in his career.
The issue at hand sounds rather simple: large boulders had been placed across Luciano Botelho Way, a private road that, in conjunction with Southview Way, connects Old Meetinghouse and John Parker roads. The board was in agreement that the boulders, which were allegedly placed to deter drivers from cutting through the private residential neighborhood, needed to be removed.
“I don’t know what the big discussion is,” board member Robert Leary said. “There are rocks in the road and they shouldn’t be there.”
The problem that arose is that no one is entirely sure which of the various governing bodies is responsible for enforcing the code violation that would result in the removal of the rocks from this privately owned stretch of road. Despite unanimous agreement on removal, the planners still had some uncertainty as to whether the issue falls within their jurisdiction.
“I think this is the wrong venue,” board member Jim Fox said. “Why is it our issue if it’s a private road?”
Among other reasons, board members cited emergency vehicle access as one of the principal motivators for removing the rocks. They also noted that there are no warnings or posted signs of the road coming to a dead end, so there is a safety concern for drivers who are likely not expecting to find large boulders blocking the road.
The problem was brought before the board to make members aware of the issue, but the board is not expecting to take immediate action.
“In the opinion of the town counsel, the town planner, the DPW director, this is clearly some sort of violation,” Mr. Bott said. “Who has that right to say we think there is some sort of violation and some sort of action needs to be taken? The town counsel isn’t quite sure how to initiate action.”
Mr. Bott said that residents of the neighborhood have written in and called regarding the rocks, and four members of the neighborhood were present at Tuesday’s meeting to speak on the issue.
Karen and Peter Hargraves of Southview Way questioned the authority of the property owners to place the rocks there in the first place. Mr. Hargraves said the neighborhood association has been working on finding the right channels to go through in order to expedite the removal of the boulders, to no avail.
“I really would like to know where to go next,” he said.
As of Tuesday, the planning board had little more to offer in terms of helping Mr. Hargraves find the answers he is seeking.
“This is not our job,” Mr. Fox said. “If we open this up, we have hundreds of private roads with rocks in the road. We start having hearings on them, we’re going to have a whole new business clearing streets. It’s not what we do. We have zoning enforcement, and it’s not us.”
While there was some disagreement about whether the authority of enforcement falls on the building commissioner, Mr. Bott said there is a possibility it could come down to the planning board to enforce action.
“There isn’t a clear mechanism for how to address a violation of the subdivision regulations,” Mr. Bott said. “That was the discussion that [Town Counsel] Frank Duffy and [Town Manager] Julian Suso and the DPW director and the police and the fire chief had: Who initiates the complaint in the event that the issue isn’t resolved? And that body is likely the planning board. But as I said, I’ve been here for 23 years in Massachusetts and I’ve never come across something like this.”
On Wednesday afternoon, the Enterprise sent a photographer to Luciano Botelho Way and found that the boulders had been moved mostly off of the road, but not removed from the area. It is unclear who moved the boulders and when. Falmouth’s Planning Department was unaware that the boulders had been moved and has said that they will look into the situation.