MINOT — Chuck Starbird will get his building permit after all.

After nearly two years of court wrangling, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court agreed with the latest appeal in a long line of them. In essence, the Minot developer was successful in arguing that a decision to grant him the permit in late 2010 — after an earlier appeal — should have been upheld.

The wrangle began on May 14, 2010, when Starbird submitted a building permit application for land he owns off the end of York Road. Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt denied the application the following June.

Starbird appealed on July 6 of that year, and two months later the Board of Appeals rejected his appeal.

At issue was the fact that Starbird’s property, at its closest point, was 135 feet from the end of York Road. The board wanted him to go to owners of the intervening land and secure a right of way across their land to the town-accepted York Road.

It looked like a deal breaker. However, the board agreed to reconsider its earlier denial and, on Nov. 9, reversed itself. Starbird won his appeal.

The permit was almost in his hand. But then, on Nov. 15, Minot selectmen appealed the matter to Superior Court, asking the court to order the Appeals Board to reconsider its Nov. 9 decision.

“It’s very unusual,” said Starbird’s lawyer, Scott Lynch, “for a town to appeal part of itself.”

Lynch had already called in experts in matters of real estate to testify in Starbird’s behalf. This past July, he filed yet another appeal, prompting one town official to comment on the growing complexity of the dispute.

“It’s an appeal of an appeal of an appeal and maybe more, if you can figure it out,” Dean Campbell, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said in July.

On Tuesday, the state’s highest court announced its final decision: Starbird should have been given the permit in November 2010 when his first appeal was won.

He’s got it now, at any rate. According to Lynch, the court agreed to grant an exemption to final judgment rules, which would have delayed the matter a little longer. Instead, Starbird can now begin building.

“He’s happy,” Lynch said Wednesday night. “He wants to put in homes. It’s good for Minot to have this kind of responsible development. We’re not talking about an industrial power plant; we’re talking about some houses.”

The really good news, for the lawyer and the builder, is that because of the structure of the appeals system, the decision announced Tuesday marks the end of the long case.

“This was the court of last resort,” Lynch said. “That means there will be no more appeals.”