Conway Lake settlement 11/13/01

Mill Street land dispute nearly resolvedTown to get half access strip, landowner retains other halfLoren BillingsCONWAY Next summer, with the state's approval, the public may once again have access to Conway Lake from the strip of land along the Mill Street bridge as they have for generations, with one difference: they may only use half of it. Under the terms of an agreement between the town and the landowner, made possible by a subdivision and lot consolidation conditionally approved by the planning board, the town gets a deed for half the disputed strip and the landowner keeps the other half, according to Peter Malia, town counsel.The agreement will become final once the subdivision is approved by N.H. Department of Environmental Services, which Malia said he had not reason to believe wouldn't be granted."A title search did reveal that Nancy LaMarche [of Lakeside Investment Trust] did own the strip, according to deed history," Malia said. "We had a right to continue to maintain it, and that was never really in dispute. The town maintained the public had a right to use it as it had in the past."The agreement between the town and the landowner, he said, was that if the planning board granted the subdivision, LaMarche would deed approximately half the strip to the town so the public could continue to access the lake over that portion. In addition, the landowner would agree to give the town a maintenance easement, and would be prohibited from making any alterations or improvements to it. The strip measures about 15 feet wide and 240 feet long. The planning board approved the subdivision and lot consolidation on Thursday night, according to Tom Irving, town planner, on the condition the state grant its approval. The conditional approval expires on Dec. 13, although it could be extended, if necessary.Essentially, there were three lots: two, one-acre lots, and LaMarche's lot, which was about 1.5 acres, which included the strip. In the end, those lots were consolidated, becoming two waterfront two lots. LaMarche's increased by one-half acre to 2 acres, minus half of the strip, and the second lot is 1.5 acres.Irving made no recommendation to planning board members, but informed them that the proposed configuration meant one of the lots would not meet the length-to-width ratio required by the town ordinances. Essentially the lot would be too long for its width: a five-to-one ratio as opposed to a three-to-one ratio.The rationale for not having lots of this shape, he said, is that deep lots have a lot of wasted space in the back and it's difficult to provide water and sewer service, among other things. In this case, Irving said, there was a valid argument that there wouldn't be any wasted space because one end of the lot would be on the lake and the other end would access Hill Drive. Based on this, the majority of the board voted in favor of a waiver of the three-to-one standard.Dick O'Brien, selectmen's representative to the board, abstained.It was the selectmen's position, said Earl Sires, town manager, that the board of selectmen would take no position on the approval of that project, but that if the planning board approved it, then the town would be willing to accept the lot line adjustment."From the town's position," Malia said, "this is a win-win situation."The public's access is preserved, he said, along with the town's ability to maintain the land and the dam without costly litigation.The state must now give its approval because the portion of the strip deeded to the town, which is closest to the beach is not actually contiguous, according to Irving. It is separated by Mill Brook and the dam. The public was barred from crossing the strip this summer after the new property owner put up private property/keep out signs, angering many long-time residents.