Litigation Was Not in the 20 Year Plan

By Sue Bass

Litigation was not the plan when we considered forming what became the Belmont Citizens Forum. McLean Hospital blindsided us by filing for a Massachusetts Land Court declaratory judgment that the rezoning of its land was not “illegal contract zoning.” The initial BCF board members—none of whom were lawyers—had never heard of contract zoning, much less that it might be illegal. It turned out that Belmont’s deal met the textbook definition of contract zoning. The courts agreed but the Appeals Court ruled in November 2002 that Belmont’s contract was not illegal.

Meanwhile, in June 2001, 20 Belmont residents appealed a Belmont Conservation Commission decision that Junction Brook, which flows down from the McLean campus to Pleasant Street, was an intermittent stream deserving less protection under the state Wetlands Protection Act than a perennial one. With BCF support, the residents took the case to an administrative law judge, who ruled against them in 2005. BCF decided not to appeal.

Another batch of litigation was inspired by the late Walter McLaughlin, a McLean supporter, who complained about BCF at one Selectmen’s meeting: “What will they do next, challenge a sewer connection permit?” Who knew that you could challenge a sewer connection permit, which all major developments are required to get? Not us. We filed against the first project to get started at McLean, Northland Residential Corp.’s Woodlands. In June 2004, Northland settled, giving BCF $300,000 for community improvements. We used some of it to buy the “Duddy parcel” land along the railroad tracks, behind Channing Road, for the future community path. The settlement language also may facilitate future shuttle bus service from the McLean land.

BCF also challenged the sewer connection permit for American Retirement Corp, the senior complex planned for McLean but since dropped, and challenged aspects of the Uplands development at Alewife. In general, we have been known for hiring technical experts and litigating when there’s a reasonable prospect of success.

Sue Bass was the first president of the Belmont Citizens Forum and remained on the board for about a decade. She has continued to participate on the Newsletter Committee.