Marblehead veterinary clinic suit dropped

MARBLEHEAD – A neighborhood lawsuit against Dr. Jeff Rockwell, who plans to build a veterinary clinic at 8-12 Ocean Ave., has been dismissed.The trial was scheduled to begin Monday in the Boston Land Court.Details of the settlement were not made public Monday. Attorney William DiMento, who represented the neighbors, said his clients had asked him not to discuss the case due to confidentiality issues and Dr. Rockwell and his lawyer Attorney Paul Lynch could not be reached.Town Counsel Jeffrey Shribman, who represented the Board of Appeals, said he signed off on the dismissal Friday at DiMento and Lynch’s request and they did not discuss details with him."This isn’t the way we hoped it would work out," said Elizabeth Durkee, representing one of the 19 families who sued to overturn a 2008 appeals board approval of the veterinary clinic."We tried to fight this. Our hearts were in the right place and we tried to do the right thing for our neighborhood," she said."A trial of this type gets very expensive. It’s sad that in order to have the right thing done, it costs a lot of money," she said, noting that the neighborhood’s opposition to Dr. Rockwell was "never personal."Neighbors of the former Ocean Florist business site turned out in force at Board of Appeals meetings last spring to oppose construction of the veterinary clinic on the grounds that it would increase traffic and noise and lower the value of homes in the neighborhood. The board eventually voted 4-1 to allow the clinic.