A developer whose proposed project was thwarted last month on the basis of procedural rules may have found a way to resurrect it – on the basis of procedural rules.

Bill Christian has been trying for more than four years to get his Charterwood mixed-use development approved along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. He has changed large parts of his plan and tweaked smaller ones in his long attempt to configure the project to win the favor of the Town Council.

Last month Charterwood came up for a vote on its rezoning request. The vote was 5-3 in favor (one council member, Donna Bell, was absent).

A clear majority; even if Bell had been present and voted against, Charterwood still would have carried the day.

Victory for Charterwood, right?

Well, no. Neighbors had filed a protest petition with the town opposing the project. According to state law, when a valid protest petition has been filed, a proposal must get a super-majority of votes in order to win approval. In this case, that meant Charterwood needed one more vote.

Victory for the neighbors, right?

Again, not so fast. Christian has come up with a counter-move that might be able to checkmate the opponents who filed the protest petition.

He’s doing what’s called a recombination. In effect, he said, he’s created a new lot, a 105-foot-wide strip that runs between the Charterwood tract and its neighboring properties.

The new lot serves as a buffer between the development and the neighbors. And it appears to shield Charterwood from the threat of another protest petition.

The neighbors can’t file a protest petition against rezoning the new buffer lot, because Christian isn’t seeking a rezoning for that strip.

They can’t file a protest petition against the remaining Charterwood lot because the buffer means their property is no longer adjacent to it, and only owners of property within or “immediately adjacent” to the tract in question are allowed to file protest petitions.

A property is considered “adjacent” to another one if it is within 100 feet of it. By making the buffer lot 105 feet wide, Christian puts the Charterwood site just out of range.

It’s a pretty slick move. To the neighbors who oppose the project, it probably looks like an attempt to weasel out a win on a technicality.

One of the leading opponents, Del Snow (who is also chair of the Planning Board), criticized Christian for “gaming the system.”

You could call it that. Or you could call it using the existing rules in the way that best serves your purpose – like filing a protest petition to try to stop a project that a majority of the Town Council supports.

Charterwood hasn’t won yet. The town has to decide whether the Christian’s recombination is valid. If so, he can submit a new Special Use Permit application, which the council would have to approve.

For now, all we can say is that the reports of Charterwood’s demise were premature.