NAHANT — Massachusetts’ smallest town made history Saturday when its residents voted 647-271 to enact eminent domain over Northeastern University’s East Point property.
The Town Meeting results were met with roaring cheers from residents, who celebrated Nahant’s latest win in the effort to prevent the school from following through on a proposed expansion to its existing Marine Science Center situated east of Murphy Bunker.
“If we don’t save this land as a conservation area, the bulldozers are coming,” Board of Selectmen Chair Joshua Antrim told the crowd prior to the vote. “This is it. There are no second chances.”
In April, the selectmen voted to place an article on the annual Town Meeting warrant that, if passed, would allow Nahant to enact eminent domain over East Point — which was granted to the university by the federal government in 1966 — and declare the property a wildlife preserve, thus protecting it from future development.
Citing concern about an expansion’s impact on the local environment, as well as the desire to keep nearby Canoe Beach a public area, the board declared it would seek public approval to designate $1.5 million of the Massachusetts Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds — which are used for public areas of need, including affordable housing, historic resources, and recreational spaces — to finance the motion.
The move, which was supported by Nahant’s finance committee, was met with mixed reactions from residents, some of whom expressed concerns Saturday that by enacting eminent domain, the town was unnecessarily inviting upon itself years of legal litigation and headaches, while at the same time ignoring Northeastern’s years of positive contributions to the community.
“By allowing eminent domain, the town will actually lose its ability to negotiate. We will lose the leverage that we have had and could have taken advantage of,” resident Bea Rogers said. “Northeastern has worked hard to respond to our concerns. They’ve gotten nothing for it.”
Northeastern itself has been outspoken in opposing the motion, with Ralph Martin, the school’s senior vice president and general counsel, arguing last month that if the town were to seek to enact eminent domain but ultimately choose to abandon the effort due to cost, the financial burden to taxpayers could potentially be in the hundreds of thousands.
He also estimated the land at East Point to actually be valued closer to $6 million — more than double the selectmen’s estimate of $2.5 million.
“If the town walks away from the taking, it will owe Northeastern the damages Northeastern will suffer from delaying its expansion project,” Martin said. “In a litigation process the selectmen themselves say will last two to three years, those delayed damages will be substantial, in the range of $6-9 million.”
The selectmen later fought back at those claims, calling Northeastern’s assertion “scary talk,” and arguing some of the school’s comments included “inaccurate and unsubstantiated” statements about legal costs associated with the proposal.
When drafting the article, Selectmen Mark Cullinan previously said the board chose to use Massachusetts General Law Chapter 80A instead of MGL Chapter 70 for the taking.
Unlike a Chapter 79 taking, which is irreversible, Chapter 80A allows the town to discontinue and withdraw from the taking if the process becomes too expensive or if the town and Northeastern come to an agreement.
Many residents who attended the meeting expressed their support for the motion.
“Universities are corporations now. They do whatever they like,” resident Mary Jane Cusack told The Item. “It doesn’t seem to me that Northeastern has been very forthcoming. They haven’t come up with any plans to speak of or a diagram to see, so on the basis of that, I would vote for eminent domain.”
Under the Board of Selectmen’s proposal, Northeastern will retain ownership of the remaining land, its existing buildings and parking areas, and the historical bunkers located on the property.
“While today’s vote is a setback for environmental research and coastal communities everywhere, it is but one step in an ongoing process,” the university said in a statement. “The university will continue to review all of its options, as well as any ideas the Board of Selectmen can offer to reach a mutually agreeable solution.
“Combatting the environmental threats facing our planet should be everyone’s top priority.”
