Williamstown's Bee Hill Road Development Remains In Court
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Charles Fox has the right to appeal the Planning Board's decision that a development on Bee Hill Road is not permitable, according to a recent court ruling.The legal battle between Fox and residents in the Bee Hill Road neighborhood has been raging for about six years since Fox was initially approved a permit from the Planning Board for a multi-home development — known as Foxwoods Lane. The neighbors responded by filing a lawsuit claiming the decision was made without following subdivision regulations — particularly regarding traffic on the dirt road.
That trial went to Land Court in 2009 and in a jury-waived trial, Judge Kenneth Long dismissed the residents' complaints about following regulations but did send the case back to the Planning Board to address five areas that were not clearly addressed or waived. Fox previously said he had waivers from the 2006 Planning Board.
Shortly afterward, Fox went back to the Planning Board, which by then had changed members, and presented more information about water run-off and again asked for waivers to some of the issues. The Planning Board denied those.
In April 2011, Fox appealed that denial in court but the neighbors fought that, saying his appeal was too late. However, in another decision on June 14, 2012, Long ruled that Fox has a right to appeal and that the Planning Board's denial of waivers was not technically a decision on the case — rather a decision on the remand — and therefore the case was still ongoing and the 20-day time limit for appeals did not apply.
"Mr. Fox is allowed to object to the board's remand response. To do so, however, he must amend his pleadings to assert the precise basis for objection and must do so by no later than 30 days from this date," the decision's conclusion read. "The board and the plaintiffs then have 20 days therefore to file their substantiative response to the amended pleading. A status conference shall then be held to plan and schedule further evidentiary proceedings so that this case can fully be addressed and brought to conclusion and final judgment."
The recent decision could set the ground for a conclusion. The ruling calls for all of the information to be presented and handled in Land Court.
"Given all that has occurred in this case — a multi-day trial, a detailed decision and finding by this court, the remand of discrete issues and the need for only limited and focused additional testimony to supplement the record — discretion should be exercised to all this case to be decided on its merits," the ruling reads.
Neither Fox nor Elisabeth Goodman, the attorney representing the neighbors, were available for comment on Tuesday. The ruling itself is available below.
Bee Hill Road June 2012 Decision
Tags: Bee Hill, development, housing, Land Court, Planning Board,
