To the editor:
A recent visit to the Essex County Registry of Deeds in Salem revealed information that I believe changes the whole discussion about a Rockport-Gloucester connector road.
I obtained a copy of the deed from Babson to the Gloucester Board of Water Commissioners dated March 30, 1931, and a copy of the Plan of Land Takings related to the deed. I discovered that the Babson land does not include the Olde Rockport Road.
We have been deceived into thinking, by implication, that it was part of the Babson estate. The previous discussion about Olde Rockport Road was centered on the idea that it was part of that estate and therefore subject to the conditions in that deed.
Now we know that it is not. The deed states specifically the Babson property runs "along the northerly line of the Olde Rockport Road."
We should start a new discussion absent the influence of the terms of that deed. The old objections to developing Olde Rockport Road are so much grabbing at straws.
I propose that this new discussion begin with the idea that the road be developed as a state road.
A vote by the residents of Rockport should be the first step to determine the amount of actual interest. Therefore, the Board of Selectmen should get this question on a ballot at the earliest possibility.
JAMES LANE
Rockport
