The access road to the Sebago Lake boat launch in Standish will not be widened, following a ruling by the Maine Supreme Court Monday.

The town maintains an access road to Sebago Lake that extends from Northeast Road and attempted to claim ownership of two strips of land bordering that road in able to widen the road. Town attorney Ken Cole said a wider road would have allowed more vehicles with boat trailers to park perpendicularly.

However, the land on either side of the road belongs to the Portland Water District. In 2004 the water district tried to build a park that would cut off the access road and isolated the boat launch.

“I’m not happy about it at all,” said Louis Stack, chairman of the town council. “That right of way has been there since the 1700s.”

The Northeast Road Extension was established in 1767 and was eight rods wide; a rod being about 16 1/2 feet in length. In 1933 the road was built by the county and the dimensions were cut down, with a rod on either side not considered part of the road. The Portland Water District obtained rights to the land on either side of the road in 1935 and in 2004 tried to build a park, but the permit was denied. In June 2004 the water district took the issue to the Maine Supreme Court.

The Maine Supreme Court previously ruled that the town has the right to keep the access road, but would not allow the town to widen it back to the width proposed in 1767.

“We are very pleased with the decision,” said Portland Water District

General Manager Ronald Miller. “Of course, it is disappointing that the issue had to be resolved in the courts, but we took necessary actions to defend our landowner rights and protect our customers’ source of drinking water.”

Cole said Miller incorrectly implied that the boat launch, the busiest in Southern Maine, harms the drinking water supply.

“That problem doesn’t exist,” said Cole.