PARIS – Chris Stearns has asked a Superior Court justice to dismiss the civil suit the town has filed against him, claiming that two selectmen who voted to push the case to court have a conflict of interest in the issue.

The dispute centers on whether Stearns should pave the access road to his two-lot subdivision off Mason Drive.

Stearns argues that paving is an unreasonable request because his 650-foot access road is connected to two private dirt roads.

Now he has suggested that Selectman Gerald Kilgore, who is a neighbor, and Selectman Barbara Payne have possible biases in the case.

Kilgore has in the past denied any conflict, a view backed by Town Manager Sharon Jackson.

An attempt to reach Payne was unsuccessful Wednesday. Payne is Kilgore’s aunt, a blood tie that Stearns says biases her judgment.

According to town law, subdivision developers must pave the access roads to their properties. Jackson, Code Enforcement Officer Claude Rounds and selectmen have all acted to enforce the ordinance in Stearns’ case, whereas previous town administrations have been described as more lenient on development issues like this one.

The conflict has generated a lot of heat in town, attracting about 35 people to one meeting in Stearns’ defense. Even the appeals board granted Stearns a variance that allowed him to keep his road unpaved. Stearns has described his dilemma as getting “caught in the crossfire of changing times.”

Attempts to reach Stearns at his home were unsuccessful Wednesday. He is representing himself in the lawsuit.

Stearns argues in a court document that Kilgore has a conflict of interest because of his proximity to Stearns’ subdivision and a property conflict he has with an abutting land owner, Kalvin Mason. Kilgore lives at the end of Kilgore Road, which hooks up to Mason Drive, which then connects to Stearns’ subdivision access road. All of the roads are unpaved.

Stearns suggests in his court document that Kilgore voted to have him pave his road as an affront to Mason.

“Mr. Kilgore has clearly (for whatever reason) tied his dispute with the owner of the property involved in this suit, to his ability to force me into court over the paving of the same property,” Stearns wrote. Stearns bought his three-acre parcel from Mason last spring.

But Jackson has said town officials voted to enforce the ordinance because they will save taxpayers future dollars as more land is subdivided and sold in town. If subdivision owners pave roads that may eventually be adopted as town roads, townspeople will be spared paying for road upgrades.

Town attorney Geoffrey Hole is arguing the case on technicalities of whether Stearns can be legally granted a variance from the paving requirement based on four different criteria, including whether the variance is required for the owner to reasonably benefit from the use of the property. Hole has said that Stearns cannot be granted a variance, in part, because he has already garnered a return on the property; that is, he has built and rented a home on it.

Hole has two weeks to respond to Stearns’ claim, after which a judge will schedule a hearing on the case or make a ruling.