CHESTERVILLE — The Appeals Board on Tuesday voted unanimously to refer a road-name-change request back to the Planning Board, based on information from the Maine Municipal Association.

The Appeals Board took no action last month on the request from Scott and Megan Heikkinen to change the name of a right of way from Turner Interval Road to Heikkinen Lane.

The Heikkinens bought the large lot next to the intersection of Borough and Smith roads in 1997. The road is not included in their deed. 

At a public hearing in September, Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Medcoff said the town reviewed road names in 1997 as requested for the Enhanced 911 system. Only landowners on roads that had been newly named or those with suggested name changes were notified.

The road is not listed on 1999 tax maps but is on 2000 town maps.

The town’s E-911 Ordinance, adopted in 1996, mandates that all roads that serve two or more properties shall be named, regardless of whether the ownership is public or private. The ordinance further mandates that the emergency management director, along with the Planning Board, is authorized to assign road names and numbers to all properties.

The Planning Board in October denied the name change because first responders were familiar with the current name and the board did not want to set a precedent.

Last month, all concerned parties approved Megan Heikkinen’s suggestion of naming the road Huckleberry Stream Road. 

Appeals Board Chairwoman Kathy Gregory said that while the road may not have been officially named, the town can name a road without the permission of the people living on it.

 “According to MMA, we don’t have authority to act because it isn’t written into the (E-911) Ordinance,” Appeals Board member Scott Gray said.

Gregory said that even if the board had jurisdiction, it can reverse a Planning Board decision only if that board did something wrong. 

Scott Heikkinen said, “My frustration is we’ve given proof — facts — that are being discarded.”

Megan Heikkinen said, “We were never consulted. It was never done appropriately. It’s legally wrong.”

“There are a lot of roads in town with no record of when they were named, but everybody in town knows them,” Gregory said. 

Gregory said the request to change the road name to Huckleberry Stream Road could be brought back to the Planning Board at no additional expense to the Heikkinens. 

Megan Heikkinen said the Planning Board Chairman Linton Robinson should not have spoken for his family or been in the room when that board heard the request.

“There are bound to be instances when a board member has a direct conflict of interest,” Code Enforcement Officer Brenda Medcoff said. “Robinson recused himself from voting, but he did have the right to speak.”

The Planning Board next will meet Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m.

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