By Erin Tiernan — Erin@concordbridge.org
Long-simmering tensions between Estabrook trail visitors and the neighboring residents who want them out have bubbled up in the police log — and the letters section of The Concord Bridge — amid a recent court decision affirming public access.
On October 19, just two days before the decision was handed down, an Estabrook Road resident called police over cars “not parking properly” in a designated area at the edge of the wooded right-of-way.
Concord Police Capt. Brian Goldman said officers issued “courtesy” warnings to two illegally parked cars.
The episode is emblematic of the yearslong dispute that prompted the town to sue neighboring landowners in 2017 after they barred the public from entering the northernmost 1.8-mile stretch of Estabrook Road.
The unpaved portion of the road was formally discontinued in 1932. Still, the town has asserted that the public has always kept its interest in the land, which has become a popular destination for hikers, bikers, and dog walkers.
Over the years, landowners have built fences, mounted cameras, hung tarps, and erected signs to keep people off what they considered private property.
Select Board Chair Mary Hartman said she hoped the timing of the late-fall court decision might “let things cool down.”
“I hope people will be respectful and stay on the right-of-way,” she recently told The Concord Bridge. “This is not a green light for the townspeople to go run amok.”
Town Manager Kerry Lafleur said Concord wouldn’t ask Estabrook residents to remove signs on their private property and would continue enforcement and management as usual.
Since filing the lawsuit, Concord has hired a seasonal ranger to patrol the area and worked “to make sure that any and all use rules are being adhered to, including parking.”
“The rules of use are posted and enforced. No changes are anticipated following the decision of the Appeals Court,” Lafleur said.
