The legal battle over an affordable housing initiative on Chappaquddick ended quietly late last month when a group of abutters who want to block the housing allowed a deadline to pass for a final appeal to the state Supreme Judicial Court.

No petition for further appellate review was filed, which means two young families may now build their homes on Sandy Road.

Town residents Andrea DelloRusso and Luke Riordan, Joe Spagnuolo and Cheryl Herrick, and Clinton Fisher applied in 2005 to build homes on the three substandard lots on Sandy Road. The town zoning board of appeals granted special permits to the homeowners under a special town bylaw adopted in 2001 that allows affordable housing on substandard lots that meet certain criteria.

The lawsuit, brought by ten neighbors, has delayed the real estate closings on the three homesites for more than two years.

Last year Mr. Spagnuolo and Ms. Herrick lost their lot after a purchase and sale agreement expired and one of the suing neighbors bought the lot.

Meanwhile, the neighbors lost their case against the town, first in land court and then in the state appeals court.

With the deadline past for petitioning the state’s highest court for further review, all legal avenues are now exhausted.