Marlborough committee advances home rule petition on unaccepted subdivision roads

MARLBOROUGH — June 16, 2025 — Marlborough committee advances home rule petition to absorb roughly 50 unaccepted subdivision roads. The Public Services Committee voted 3-0 on June 16 to send a Planning Board-backed home rule petition to the city's legal department, a step toward letting Marlborough take ownership of subdivision streets built decades ago but never formally accepted. City Engineer Tom DiPersio said the city's street list shows about 50 such roads, plus 15 partially accepted ones, with original developers in most cases deceased or dissolved. "The paperwork didn't get finished," DiPersio said. Councilor Mark Oram pressed on uncollected costs from absent developers; Council President Michael Ossing said chasing them would be futile because "the process was broken," noting the Planning Board now holds bonds until streets are accepted. Accepted roads would compete in the city's roughly $5 million annual paving program.