Planning board finds Lakeside Boulevard paper-street vacation consistent with master plan

The Clark Planning Board voted to approve a consistency resolution for ordinance 26-21, which would vacate a portion of a paper street known as Lakeside Boulevard and (if finalized) transfer portions of the unused right-of-way to adjacent owners. Counsel told the board the matter has a long history and that state law allows towns to offer unused, never-developed paper streets to neighboring property owners when the municipality has no public maintenance need.

"There is a state law that says basically paper streets that are not being used, have never been developed as streets, so the town doesn't want to maintain them, has no republic need for them, that they can be offered to the neighboring property owner," counsel said during the board's overview. The board also discussed that, as presented, roughly half the property would go to the adjacent homeowner and half to the county. The chair moved and the board approved the consistency resolution on a roll-call vote recorded as affirmative.