The Warren Planning Board on Monday rejected a plan to build a three-lot subdivision on one of the last stretches of undeveloped waterfront land in Touisset.

The board voted 4 to 1 Monday night to deny waivers needed by developer Jeffrey Karam, who had proposed building the homes on a 21.7-acre tract of land just south of Long Lane, upland from the Kickemuit River.

Fall River developer Jeffrey Karan does not own the property he planned to develop into three large house lots; rather, he said he would purchase the property from the owner, Long Lane Development LLC, if the Town of Warren approved his plans. But planning board chairman Fred Massie said his plan deviated too much from Warren’s Comprehensive Community Plan and state regulations to go forward as proposed.

“The (comprehensive) plan says that if you’ve got agricultural open space, you preserve it unless there’s a compelling reason not to,” Mr. Massie said. “It wasn’t like (Mr. Karan) had a significant investment in it. The plan also notes the protection of the Kickemuit. That was a key element (in the decision) as well.

The land in question lies just south of the intersection of Long Lane and Barton Avenue and is roughly sandwiched between two protected farms, the Kee farm at 60 acres and the Manchester farm at 43 acres. Under Mr. Karan’s plan the lots would have had no public road frontage but would be fed by a private gravel drive over an existing easement, with each lot potentially having a dock and a “view corridor” necessitating the clearing of acres of wooded land between the homes and the river. The easement cuts across two additional lots totaling 27.68 acres that Mr. Karan also proposed to purchase if the town granted him permission; however, he told the planning board at a meeting last month that he had no plans to develop those acres.

The board’s decision Monday rested on two findings Mr. Massie said were not met when members weighed its adherence to local and state lations which govern the subdivision of land.

First, he said, the proposed development was not consistent with the comprehensive plan. And second, board members concluded that there would be significant environmental impacts if the plan were to go forward.

That was clear, he said:

“If you go from the area of the Highlands all the way to Kickemuit Middle School, that is an almost unbroken stretch of undeveloped shoreline,” he said. “That’s easily a mile of shoreline that has not been developed, and where there is a fresh water inlet. So it is a perfect place ecologically, recreationally and commercially. Any development there would have a significant impact.”

The board’s rejection comes as good news to Scott and Daniela Roop, who own a home on property adjacent to where the proposed development would have been built. The Roops, who purchased their 1 Barton Road property five and a half years ago for $1.4 million, had strongly protested the plan and. Their attorney, Seth Handy, said his clients would have been harmed by the development and indeed tried to partner with the state and town to purchase the property before Mr. Karan became involved. But the LLC and it principal, Bristol developer Joseph Brito Jr., were simply asking for too much money for the property.

“If they were willing to sell it for something less (they) could certainly get a reasonable value for the property,” Mr. Handy said at the August planning board meeting. “There are people who are willing to pay very good money to obtain this land for conservation.”

Planning board members last month delayed their vote on the matter as officials wanted opinions on the proposal from the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) before proceeding. But Mr. Massie said the board moved forward after he was told by CRMC staffers that since the agency had no official development application on file, no input would be forthcoming.