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OLD LYME — The history, ownership and use of Tantummaheag Landing, a grassy strip of land leading down to the Connecticut River, remain in dispute, but the town and homeowners George Frampton and Carla D’Arista have reached a tentative agreement that would exclude vehicular traffic, while allowing pedestrian access.
On Monday, the Board of Selectmen announced a potential renewable one-year agreement between the town and the owners of 12 and 19 Tantummaheag Road that would permit pedestrian access between 8 a.m. and sunset, but prohibit access to vehicles other than police and emergency services.
Limited public parking will be available outside of the stone gates on town-owned property. Boaters would be able to unload at the parking area and portage or wheel their small boats to the put-in area.
After purchasing the property in 2020 from the estate of Diana Atwood Johnson, Frampton and D’Arista sought to exclude traffic along the road that runs between their two parcels and leads to a path down to Lord Cove and the Connecticut River, claiming fear for their personal safety.
The town, with Tim Griswold as first selectman, maintained that Tantummaheag Landing was a public road, maintained by the town, dating back to 1701. The town’s view was supported by a legal opinion commissioned by the town attorney.
Frampton and D’Arista have claimed they have evidence that a previous survey of the parcels was fraudulent, and that they are the owners of the landing, removing signage, placing boulders along the landing area where the public had previously parked, and later planting shrubs to block access to the area.
On at least one occasion the town recleared the path, asserting its rights and maintaining public access.
On Monday, Selectman Jim Lampos, who negotiated the agreement with Frampton and D’Arista, underscored that the agreement states explicitly that neither side is giving up any stated or implied rights.
“The primary purpose of this agreement is to guarantee public access, reduce conflict and acrimony, and create an atmosphere where a reasoned assessment and potential permanent resolution can take place. For both sides, all options remain available to them and all rights are retained,” Lampsos said in a statement.
The tentative agreement calls for the automatic renewal of the one-year pact unless either the town or the homeowners notify the other at least 30 days in advance.
At Monday’s meeting, Frampton said in a statement that Lampos had engaged the them in “substantive discussions in a mutually respectful fashion with the goal of finding a satisfactory way forward in resolving our dispute over the public use of Tantummaheag Landing.”
Frampton said that he and D’Arista are “the owners in fee simple of Tantummaheag Landing and maintain that the Town’s own official documents conclusively establish that it has no public access rights of any kind,” while also agreeing to public pedestrian access during specified hours.
He said that while “neither party cedes any rights they claim for themselves” in the agreement, “we have established a framework by which we hope further discussions move toward a resolution of our dispute. Both parties believe that in this less divisive environment discussions to move toward a more permanent resolution of all issues are likely to be more fruitful.”
The town will enforce the limitations in the agreement and will assist the Framptons as necessary, according to a press release from Old Lyme.
The agreement also states that a good faith effort will be made to find an impartial mutually-agreed upon mediator from the community, at little or modest cost, to hear arguments from both parties for the purpose of rendering a “non-binding opinion on the status of Tantummaheag Landing and public access,” according to a draft of the agreement.
Also, “in light of threatened litigation,” the agreement states, the homeowners will be granted an opportunity to explain their case before the Board of Selectmen “as a whole in executive session, or if he chooses, with members of the Board individually. It is agreed that the Town’s legal representatives will be permitted to attend these meetings, but will not be required to do so.”
The agreement has not yet been signed.
At the end of Monday’s meeting, First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker said it was important for the public to consider the agreement.
“We are going to let the public sit on it for a couple of weeks so that they can think about it. Then we will call a special Board of Selectmen meeting where we will discuss it in full and listen to public comment, etc., and then we can move forward and discuss it further. But we will not discuss it today,” she said.