WAREHAM TAXPAYERS SUE TO PROTECT PARKLAND AND THEIR RIGHTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ONSET, MA October 28, 2018

Contact: Philip Schreffler, Esq.

Eno, Martin, Donahue LLP, Lowell, MA

978-452-8902

dmartin@enomartin.com general mailbox

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TAXPAYERS SUE TO PROTECT PARKLAND AND THEIR RIGHTS

Taxpayers in the Town of Wareham have filed a lawsuit in Plymouth County Superior Court to protect parkland in Onset decreed forever open and accessible to the public in a 1916 court decision and to stop the demolition of the coastal bluffs.

The taxpayers seek an injunction as the Buzzards Bay Corporation imminent demolition of the building and the coastal bluffs.

The lawsuit is over the town’s 99-year lease with the Buzzards Bay Coalition. The suit was filed against the town, the Coalition and David Warr, a Wareham resident who claimed an inherited right to assent to the lease.

The plaintiffs support the proposed Onset Bay Center, to be located at the site of the current bathhouse sitting on Onset Beach. For the past few years, the bath house has been leased to a kayak and boat rental company. The plaintiffs object to the scope of the lease and the manner in which it was executed.

Residents have fought to protect their rights for more than a century.

Onset as a village of Wareham was divided into home lots circa 1898 by a corporation, the Onset Bay Grove Association, Inc.. Not long after, the original purchasers of the house lots sued the OBGA for breach of contract, claiming that they were promised open parks and beaches that were consequently in development by the OBGA. They formed the Onset Protective League, Inc..

In 1916, the homeowners won, and the Supreme Judicial Court decreed the lands in Onset forever open and accessible to the general public, “never to be leased or sold.” The Town of Wareham accepted trusteeship of those lands in 1918.  

The ruling in the original case has survived many challenges and has been used throughout Massachusetts to protect public lands.  Onset residents have fought off clear cutting of trees and paving of coastal marsh using the decision of 1916.

The current court case arises from a town meeting article of the spring of 2016, exactly 100 years after the original SJC decision. The board of selectmen put before the voters an article to lease the bathhouse to the Coalition for 99 years, for the sum of $1, for rejuvenation and use as an educational center. This was approved by a majority vote. At the same meeting, voters approved $ 215,000 of Community Preservation Act money to “rejuvenate” the bathhouse. Subsequently, a number of actions by the Board of Selectmen, the Coalition and Mr. Warr revived the defunct OBGA corporation and resulted in an illegal lease that includes not only the bathhouse but more than 16,000 square feet of Onset Beach, the adjacent coastal bluffs, and part of the dedicated park land known as Bay View Park. Additionally, the town submitted a home rule petition, signed in 2017, by the governor, seeking to circumvent the SJC decision.

The Plaintiffs are represented by Attorney Philip Scheffler of Eno, Martin and Donahue LLP.

The public lands protected and not to be leased not sold must be fought for in this generation as in all others. The town meeting process must be transparent and 100% legal. We are not against progress. We support well thought out growth for Onset and a comprehensive plan that involves business owners, taxpayers, landlords, clergy and community service organizations.  We call for the Task Force on Onset Village to be created by the Selectmen immediately, with representation including all of the stakeholders.