It’s taken 12 years and innumerable iterations for Bay Watch Realty to get the go ahead for an affordable housing development in Marion. Now, a new conflict – involving an agreement between Bay Watch, abutters, and the Sippican Lands Trust may affect the future of the Marion Bike Path.

The Board of Selectmen is uneasy with restrictions included in a legal document that would provide an easement for the bike patch across a small strip of privately owned land adjacent to the Bay Watch project.

“There are a lot of things in that private agreement that are not necessarily going to be acceptable to us,” said Town Administrator Paul Dawson.

Any issue with the agreement is the Selectmen’s problem, says Sherman Briggs, one of the owners of the private land.

“The Selectmen weren’t paying attention enough to know what the deal was,” said Briggs. “It was never a hidden secret. It was negotiated over ten years.”

The agreement ensured that a .12-acre strip of land, owned by three people and located next to The Wave, be preserved for the Marion portion of the South Coast Bikeway through a perpetual right of way given to the town. A crucial piece of the bike path puzzle, the property gets the path up to Route 105 where it can connect with Washburn Park.

If all goes as planned, the South Coast Bikeway will eventually connect with Rhode Island and extend to Bourne.

The bike path is part of a larger agreement that has allowed Bay Watch’s affordable housing project to move forward. The citizens and lands trust negotiated with Bay Watch on the 34-acre parcel adjacent to The Wave on Route 106, reducing the scope of the project from 192 units down to 96.

As part of the agreement, 12-acres on the Bay Watch property are to be sold for $300,000 with either the town or the trust taking the title and the other holding a conservation restriction to protect the land.

“The whole goal here is to reduce the number of homes in the development and get the right of way on the bike path,” said Chris Bryant, a member of the lands trust.

In exchange for the concessions, the neighbors agreed not to oppose Bay Watch’s application to the Department of Transportation for a waiver that requires a widening of Route 105 in front of the development. Currently, Bay Watch is in the process of finalizing its building plans and is preparing to file building permits.

Based on the 2011 Special Town Meeting vote that granted $300,000 of conservation funding for the 12-acre purchase, Selectmen can choose whether or not the town will own the title or the conservation restriction.

But a sticking point in the process is a portion of the agreement to do with the bike path parcel, with several “onerous” restrictions, according to Dawson.

The agreement states that each abutter must approve the design of the path and the maintenance and management plan for it. The town will have only five years from the signing of the agreement to complete the path or the easement will be nullified.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have the wool pulled right over our eyes,” said Selectman Stephen Cushing at a recent board meeting. “The last thing I want to do is throw another monkey wrench in this process.”

Briggs said that comment was unfounded and that the Selectmen had every opportunity to know more about the agreement.

But as the permitting agent for the Bay Watch development, Dawson said it would have been a conflict of interest for the town to be a party to the formation of the contract.

Selectmen are not willing to sign the document until they discuss it with all sides.

Dawson said trying to complete the path within a five-year time limit is unreasonable.

“We’re looking to lock in huge grants from the federal government, and these things take time,” he said.

An estimated $2 million will be needed to complete the path.

The proposed 4-mile bike path, which will eventually connect with Mattapoisett and Wareham, also requires special permits that take time, Dawson said.

“You can’t apply for a grant to build anything until you have control of the property,” Dawson added.

But Briggs said the restrictions are practical. After spending 10 years in negotiations, verbally agreeing to give the town easement on the land, and spending $5,000 to survey his piece of the bike path, he has “no sympathy” for the town.

“If I was the only one in the equation, I’d cut the deal and tell them to go [expletive] in a hat,” he said. “I’ve never worked so hard to give something away in my whole life.”

While Dawson is concerned that getting approval from abutters for each aspect of the project and maintenance could lead to a standstill, Briggs said it is necessary to protect the property.

Briggs said Marion’s poor treatment of town properties justifies the need for a maintenance requirement in the agreement.

“With the maintenance and how things fall apart in this town, would you want your lot to be trashed and not maintained?” said Briggs.

Margie Baldwin, of Baldwin Brothers, said her husband Michael and his business partner David Croll were instrumental in developing the agreement. She was confused at the stance the Selectmen have taken.

“How it got flummoxed here, I don’t understand,” she said. “As far as Baldwin Brothers is concerned, they’re open for land being used for the bike path.”

Selectmen, abutters, and Bay Watch Realty will soon meet to discuss the terms of the agreement. “The devil is in the details, and we have to work it out,” Dawson said.

Calls made to Bay Watch Realty were not returned.