IPSWICH — The saga of the Heartbreak Road housing development isn't over by a long shot.
As expected, neighbors of Ed and Anna Fagan have filed suit in Superior Court seeking to overturn the Planning Board's approval of the Fagans' plan to subdivide their land.
The lawsuit was filed by Elizabeth Krafchuk, a Heartbreak Road resident, and the Buttonwood Nominee Trust (members of the Raymond family).
Among other things, they assert the Planning Board exceeded its authority by granting a waiver from the normal requirements for safe sightline distances at a proposed intersection at Heartbreak Road and a new road into the subdivision. They also contend the board granted another waiver that will subject the neighborhood to repeated flooding.
Along with the Fagans, past and present board members James Manzi Jr., Tim Purinton, Bob Weatherall, Brian Hone, Catherine Chadwich, Kathleen Milano and Suzanne Benfield are named in the lawsuit, in their capacity as board members.
It won't be long before 10 years will have passed since the Fagans first submitted a preliminary subdivision plan for their property, which included six new house lots along with their own existing home. The Planning Board turned them down but reversed itself later when the Fagans reduced the plan to five new lots.
The plaintiffs claim there's no evidence that reducing the subdivision by one home will make the proposed intersection any safer.
Krafchuk and a number of her neighbors attended last week's selectmen's meeting to lobby against the development.
Board Chairman Pat McNally said that if they wanted redress, the board couldn't help them, and they should instead seek legal counsel. Apparently, they already had.
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