The Edgecomb Planning Board reluctantly approved a permit Jan. 19 for extending an Emerson Farm subdivision road. The board ultimately voted unanimously to approve the request after several members voiced opposition. Usually the planning board’s simplest ruling is deciding whether an application is complete. But only two of five members ruled the application complete. Two others abstained and one voted against it.

But Chairman Jack French advised his fellow board members that they had no choice other than finding the application complete and granting a permit. The board followed French’s advice and voted 5-0, granting the permit.

Board members David Nutt and Pat Jeremiah abstained from the vote. Nutt said, “ I can’t vote for these people.” Jeremiah said, “It’s complete, but I don’t want it to be.” Board member Barry Hathorne voted against finding the application complete, but later said he should’ve abstained instead.

French advised the board it needed a reason for not finding the application complete, which would then allow the Rioux family 60 days to provide additional documentation. But nobody issued any reasons why the application should be deemed incomplete or denied.

“If we deny it, after deeming it complete, they will sue. There needs to be a concrete reason for denial such as the road’s too long or the hill is too steep. So the way I see it we have no choice, but to approve,” he said.

Wiscasset consultant Karl Olson of Olson and Associates represented the Rioux family. He explained the request would create Osprey Pass onto a lot just off the Emerson Farm subdivision road.

“The road will be built probably in the spring. It’s going to be a gift to their children. Right now, only one family member is interested in building on the lot,” Olson said.

The Rioux family purchased the subdivision in 2010. The Maine Department of Environmental of Protection questioned the subdivision’s legality in August 2015. The agency asked the planning board and owner to rethink the decision. The planning board and owner clarified the original subdivision proposal by conveying three of the subdivision’s 17 lots back to the family. Despite approving the changes, several board members still believed the subdivision didn’t comply with town ordinances.

In December 2014, the board asked selectmen to take action against what it perceives as an illegal subdivision. The planning board presented information to selectmen and town attorney Bill Dale on Dec. 29, 2014 regarding the subdivision. It was originally approved as 14 single family lots and three additional lots were set aside for the family. The board also approved a community dock and mandated that the access road not be improved, and that the three family-owned lots not be sold for five years.

The planning board presented documentation to selectmen that it believes showed the subdivision violated all three requirements. French said the board became aware of the alleged violations after it approved a building permit in November 2015 for a pier on the subdivision.

A few days later, the board learned the pier wasn’t for one of the original 14 subdivisions approved, but rather one of the three plots set aside for the family.

According to French, the sale violated the five-year provision, and the sale created a fifteenth lot, which didn’t meet more stringent town and DEP subdivision standards. The board also alleged that the access road had received significant improvements, which also violated the original plan.

The board will meet next at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2, in the municipal building.