Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By C. Eugene Emery Jr.
Journal Staff Writer

SOMERSET, Mass. -- A long-running controversy over property once owned by a former town official came to an end today. A Superior Court judge ruled that Somerset's building inspector correctly granted permits to build homes on four parcels.

Judge Richard T. Moses rejected allegations by the Planning Board that the permits were illegal because special permission should have been sought to put the homes in the town's water resource protection district. The decision means homeowners on the North Street properties will not have to seek retroactive approval from the Planning Board.

Board Chairman Timothy Turner said he would not seek to appeal the ruling, but said his board was right to challenge the legality of the development. Former Zoning Board member Arthur Gagnon, the developer, used a loophole in the bylaw to bypass water resource protection district rules, he said.

Gagnon, whose interpretation of the bylaw has now been supported by both his former colleagues on the Zoning Board of Appeals and by Judge Moses, said this afternoon he was not surprised by the ruling.

"It should never have gone to court. The building inspector was the authority, he said the land was good, and he gave permits," said Gagnon. "It was all political."

 Tags  Massachusetts property dispute Superior CourtSomerset

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