MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • February 11, 2024
A strip of land off Ryefield Street – a so-called paper street – has been the site of weddings, afternoon picnics and play dates for decades. But one island family has filed an ownership claim that others worry could cut the public off. The owners of 1 Ryefield say they have never tried to block anyone from the land and want to create a permanent public easement. They say they filed an ownership claim to the paper street next to their home as part of an agreement with the city to settle a problem with an unpermitted deck.Maine cities and towns were supposed to decide by 1997 whether they would accept paper roads that were recorded in subdivision plans before 1987, but the law allowed them to delay these decisions for a staggering 40 years. As a result, many municipalities, including Portland, have yet to take action on all of them.