It seems that after 11 years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the saga of a 5.3 acre parcel of Swifts Beach has come to an end.

Town Meeting voters passed an item Tuesday that "permanently restricts for beach and recreational use” the property located off of Swifts Beach Road and Wankinco Avenue in Swifts Beach.

In 2003, Town Meeting gave Selectmen permission to acquire the land for “general municipal purposes.” By re-dedicating it from municipal purposes to beach and recreational use, town officials said the land will now be permanently used as it was intended.

In 2003, Selectmen expressed the desire to expand access to the public beach adjacent to the land. The previous owner of the parcel had expressed interest in building a two-family home on the property.

In the recent debate around this item, residents have said that according to the 2007 Town Meeting vote, a conservation restriction must be put on the land at some point. Previous attempts to place a conservation restriction on the land over the years have been unsuccessful.

Town Attorney Rich Bowen said that wasn't necessary because this rededication strengthened the intent of the 2007 vote.

"It doesn't change the prior vote. What it does is put it in a higher category of protection," he said.

Selectman Peter Teitelbaum said this rededication was stronger than a conservation restriction and that it would take a two-thirds vote in both houses of the state Legislature as well action from the governor to change the status of the land.

"Now is the time to protect this land with a use designation that meets the intent of the Fall 2003 Town Meeting article . . . so as to finally satisfy that body's desire to preserve the land from private development for the benefit of all to use as a public beach," he said.

Swifts Beach Improvement Association President Judy Capparicio said that the Association supported the rededication. Her statement was in stark contrast to Bruce Sauvageau, who was president of the Association as of August.

Sauvageau led a group of Association members in asking for Selectmen support in applying for a conservation restriction on the property this summer and had threatened legal action if the town did not comply.

After existing in limbo for the past 11 years, it took less than 15 minutes of discussion for voters to overwhelmingly support the rededication of the land on Tuesday night.