Opinion ID: 2310700
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: dead end street limitation

Text: [¶ 12] Phase I of the Fairway Villas subdivision will use the existing streets within The Woodlands, without modification. No new streets will be added. The Springborns claim that the street configuration constitutes a dead end street which exceeds the 1500-foot length limitation set forth in the Town's subdivision ordinance. See Falmouth, Me., Land Subdivision Ordinance, App. 5, § E(5)(c) (1997). [4] The streets form two circular drives, connected by a length of roadway in between, with cul-de-sacs branching off the configuration at various points. In addition to a single entrance to the subdivision, two emergency access roads lead from the main roads outside the subdivision to the streets within The Woodlands, one on the east side, and the other in the northwest corner. The emergency access roads are gated and locked, but the Town has possession of the keys and plows the access areas in the winter in the event an emergency vehicle needs to gain access. [¶ 13] Section E(5)(c) of the subdivision ordinance requires a dead end street to be measured from the centerline of feeder street to the center of turnaround. It also addresses those cases where on or off-site street configurations create an effective dead end condition, stating that the measurement in that situation must be made from the point where only one means of access exists to the point of turnaround. Id. The term dead end itself is not defined in the ordinance. The Springborns contend that the distance measured from the regular access entrance to the cul-de-sacs located at the furthest points of the circular drives exceeds the 1500  foot limit. Review of the record indicates that even if the street were measured from the point at which Woodlands Drive intersects with itself to the furthest point of its larger western loop, this length of roadway would be in excess of 1500 feet. [¶ 14] However, the streets do not constitute an effective dead end condition as addressed in the subdivision ordinance. The streets do not have a single point of turnaround; instead, they circle around, without a definite terminus. This looping design allows each individual lot to be approached from two directions such that the configuration does not create a dead end condition under section E(5)(c). See Richert v. City of South Portland, 1999 ME 179, ¶ 7, 740 A.2d 1000, 1002 (stating [e]ach undefined term is given its common and generally accepted meaning unless the context of the statute clearly indicates otherwise) (citation omitted). The Board's decision is consistent with the purpose of the ordinance to protect public safety by assuring multiple means of access to any property more than 1500 feet from an intersection. Thus, the Board did not err in determining that the streets to be used by the Fairway Villas subdivision complied with dead end street limitations in the Town's ordinances. The entry is: Judgment affirmed.