PORTLAND

A judge may soon decide whether the Brunswick Town Council acted lawfully when it voted to sell land at 946 Mere Point Road without considering a citizens’ petition to turn the property into a public park.

David Lourie, attorney for the plaintiffs, known collectively as Brunswick Citizens for Collaborative Government, said on Friday that Justice Lance Walker has the case in his chamber and it is a matter of time before a decision is reached.

An oral argument on the merits of the case may not be scheduled, as the justice may make a decision on the briefs already submitted, Lourie said.

The property was sold in May for more than a half million dollars to a couple from California.

The waterfront land was tax-acquired by the town in 2011, and a petition was circulated last year to put to referendum the option of creating a park with the land. The petition garnered 1,100 signatures.

The council narrowly voted to sell the land, and Brunswick Citizens for Collaborative Government filed a lawsuit in Cumberland County Superior Court in February, claiming the town council violated municipal law by failing to set a referendum vote after a petition was circulated and presented to the council.

Lourie said in a previous interview he will take the case to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court if necessary, adding the town destroyed the right to citizens’ initiative.

The suit alleges the town’s narrow reading of the town charter has a chilling effect on citizens’ First Amendment rights to initiate an ordinance.

The thrust of the town’s argument centers around the fact that a council can act in two ways — either through an ordinance, which is an ongoing law and subject to challenge via petition; or through an order, which is a one-time action and not open to petition.

Town Attorney Stephen Langsdorf argues the decision to sell the property was an order, and therefore, not subject to be overturned by referendum. The only way for the order to be changed, he said, is for the council to voluntarily put the decision to a citizen vote, which they are not obligated to do.

The land was sold to Daniel and Kathryn Frost of Irvine, California, for $550,000. The deal closed Thursday. The asking price for the land was $335,000.

According to Brunswick Code Officer Jeffrey Hutchinson, the land could be divided into two parcels.

Although the civil action is pending in court, there is no way for the town to recoup the land after the sale, regardless of the court’s decision. The merits of the case, whether town officials interpreted the town charter incorrectly, have yet to be decided.