After a hearing was held on Sept. 7, the Suffolk Country Superior Court has not yet issued a ruling over the City of Boston’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit by a group of abutters over the 64 Allandale St. project.
The hearing was the first pre-trial hearing in the Allandale Woods Coalition lawsuit against the Boston Planning and Development Authority (BPDA) and the Wonder Group, LLC, according to Tony LaCasse, involved in the opposition.
The motion to dismiss states that the plaintiffs are neither immediate abutters to the property, not abutters of abutters to the property, and are therefore not entitled to a presumption of standing. The statement also states that the plaintiffs fail to allege any specific harms that are not general to the entire neighborhood.
“Both attorneys drifted into what the judge considered merits arguments, and he asked them to stay focused on the procedural technicalities,” LaCasse said about the hearing. “Watching motions to dismiss based on procedural technicality versus merits is disquieting, but everyone appeared comfortable with the handling of the hearing.”
Jacqueline Nunez, the developer of the 64 Allandale St. project, said that they expect the ruling over the new couple of weeks.
The lawsuit is one of two court actions against the City’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) and Wonder Group, LLC over the controversial project and the variances that were granted for it. Springhouse Senior Living Community has filed the other lawsuit, which requests that the court declare that the ZBA went beyond its authority in granting the variances and that the zoning relief annulled. Springhouse Senior Living Community abuts the proposed project site.
Springhouse Senior Living Community and the group of abutters have also filed a motion to consolidate the two lawsuits, which was partially allowed by the court on June 22.