HOLLISTON ATTEMPTS ONE MORE SWING

Well friends HOLLISTON wants to try again. On October 6, 2011 the Town of Holliston ignored the rules of baseball and is attempting to take a 0 for 3 record (Three strikes and you are out!) and attempt one more chance to overturn the Housing Appeals Committee decision to issue a Comprehensive Permit to the Cedar Ridge Estates project. It will either come out 0 for 4 without getting a walk or another chance to defeat us in the courts.

This is a petition for a review of the Appeals Court Order before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Customarily the Supreme Court will hear issues that are novel, ground breaking or landmark issues that affect the entire State of Massachusetts.

While I can understand the desperation of a death row inmate to desire a hearing before the SJC in hopes for a miracle decision, I wonder if the Town Government will ever recognize that so long as Green View Realty adheres to the Law, the Law  permits the project to pursue its objectives of developing and building on the Land.

As expected the Town has requested that the SJC hear the matter. The Town makes three arguments that the Town suggests are "novel" legal issues which should be heard. These are:

1. Did the HAC apply the correct standard in determining that GVR met its prima facie case requirement;

2. Did the appeals court err in determining that the HAC properly determined that the local bylaws were not applicable; and

3. Did the appeals court err in determining that the ZBA did not present evidence to show any harm from GVR's request for waivers.

None of these issues are questions that the ZBA has not already tried to raise. We do not believe that they raise any novel issue or any issue that was not already properly addressed. We will draft an opposition to the request and file it next week. The opposition will explain why each issue is not novel, how the Town continues to twist the issues each time they lose and show our position on the facts of the case to the SJC. As stated a response from the SJC can come as early as 30 days so we can look for something in early November from the SJC.

No longer is the fight based upon the technical issues of the required remediation it apparently has become a political battles of wills.

Apparently Holliston is more concerned about the infringement of their Wet Land By Laws than they are concerned about meeting their Affordable Housing Mandate.