NAHANT — The town’s case against the Coast Guard housing residents has been dismissed after requests from both parties to do so, according to court documents.
“Our attorney had filed a motion to dismiss because there was a number of procedural errors that the town made when they served us,” Coast Guard housing resident Lauren Barton said.
The residents were supposed to appear before a judge on Tuesday but their lawyer, Andrew du Bois de Vroylande of Northeast Legal Aid, let them know last week they would not have to.
In October 2022, the Board of Selectmen authorized Town Administrator Tony Barletta to begin the process of evicting Coast Guard housing tenants.
The property at Castle Road and Goddard Drive, known as Coast Guard housing, has been owned by the Town of Nahant since it was purchased from the federal government in 2004. The town has a loan of $1.8 million for this purchase due in 2024, Barletta told The Daily Item in October. The solution the board came up with to balance the loan was selling the property.
“[The town] served us with a 30-day notice to quit on September 1 and that meant ‘leave by October 1,’ and when we didn’t leave by October 1 we got a summons to court,” Barton told The Item in January.
Since October, the residents had appeared in court twice, once for a mediation session in December and then before a judge at the beginning of March.
Now with the case dismissed, Barton said the residents are not sure of the next steps because the town has not contacted them.
“Obviously I’m relieved, for my neighbors especially, but not knowing what the town is going to do kind of just makes me feel like they could file the eviction again,” Barton said. “I’m going to feel real relief when they have another plan and I know that me and my neighbors are safe.”
The entire situation feels bittersweet, she said.
“My neighborhood is still destroyed,” Barton said. “In a Disney movie we’d all hold a barbecue and be happy, but the toll it’s taken is real.”
When asked for comment, Barletta said litigation is still ongoing.
“On the advice of counsel, the town will have no comment until a resolution is found,” Barletta wrote in a statement to The Item.
