Westwood MA
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Friday March 6 2026 1:31pm

Why is the Westwood Land Trust desperately seeking to have the lawsuit regarding the Conservation Restriction on 665 Clapboardtree Street dropped?

This post expresses the views and opinions of the author(s) and not necessarily that of Westwood Minute management or staff.

Why is the Westwood Land Trust desperately seeking to have the lawsuit regarding the Conservation Restriction on 665 Clapboardtree Street dropped?

In an effort to sway public opinion, the Westwood Land Trust (WLT) and their supporters have run full page ads in the local papers, created a video and sent mass mailings to Westwood’s residents explaining their position regarding the interpretation of the Conservation Restriction (CR) that is in place on 665 Clapboardtree Street. Leaving aside the question of whether this is a reasonable, valid expenditure of the Trust’s funds, why would they want the lawsuit dropped before the judge can rule on the suit?

If the WLT is correct in their interpretation of the CR, the judge will rule in their favor, and they will be allowed to maintain the land as a meadow and not allow it to be farmed. Like the Town, they have already expended the legal funds to defend their position. It makes no sense for the WLT to pressure the Town to drop the lawsuit (if the WLT believes their position is correct) as both the Town and the WLT would be back in the same position -- each believing that their interpretation of the CR is correct. Neither side would have a legally binding decision regarding what is the correct interpretation. Both sides will have wasted their funds on a lawsuit that was not allowed to proceed to its conclusion with a ruling by the judge.

Similarly, it makes no sense for Westwood to drop the lawsuit at this point; the funds (approximately $15,000) have been expended and cannot be recovered, and at this point, there are no significant on-going legal expenses. Westwood needs to know what its rights are (if any) with respect to 665 Clapboardtree Street and other lands which the Town owns, but on which the WLT holds Conservation Restrictions. The Select Board needs to stay the course and allow the judge to do her job.

In my opinion, common sense will tell you that the WLT believes that the judge will rule against them and, as such, is desperate to have the lawsuit dropped.

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3-07-2026 12:31pm

Andy, thank you for this article. It is informative and helpful in understanding the situation with the law suit regarding Bean Farm and the Westwood Land  Trust.  

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3-08-2026 9:16am

I thought we just had a special election, which cost money, to stop the town from spending anymore money on this lawsuit. What happened to that? Is the town going to court without an attorney? 

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3-09-2026 9:09pm

The last activity in Norfolk Superior Court in this matter was on January 23, when the Land Trust filed a Motion to Amend is Answer to the Town's Complaint, and the Town of Westwood filed an opposition memorandum. Judge Connolly still has not rendered a decision on the Land Trust's Motion to Dismiss the Complaint; the hearing on that was on December 3, 2025. The Town and the Land Trust signed a Stopulation that neither party would begin discovery (depositions, requests for documents) agaisnt the other side "until the Court decides
Defendant's pending Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings and Plaintiff's pending Cross Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings." 

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3-09-2026 5:46pm

Good question, Beth. If you would like to ask your question at the public comment segment o a Select Board meeting, the link is posted two days before each SB meeting, on the Town website's Calendar. 

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3-09-2026 9:22pm

The Special Town Meeting  on February 2, 2026 was purely advisory, because under  our system of town government, the voters cannot tell the Select Board how to act, so long as they are acting within the limits of their authority. The only way to stop them is to wait until the next election comes around and to vote them out. But the results of the STM show the extent to which a majority of voters want the Town to withdraw from the lawsuit and focus time and tax dollars  on more important matters, including the budget, the First Station 1, and much needed repairs to the Westwood schools.   

The lawsuit is still active, although at the moment quiet, waiting on the judge to address pending motions.
 
Neither the attorney for the Town of Westwood nor the Land Trust's attorney have withdrawn from the case--the court's docket sheet would otherwise show this. 

At the March 9, 2026  Select Board meeting, Chair Leblanc Cummings stated that no further attorney's fees have been paid out for this lawsuit, though it is unclear whether the first round of fees pertained only to work done through November 2025, or whether the bill for attorney time in December 2025  and January 2026 hasn't been presented to the Town yet.
You can view the March 9 Select Board meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhBwShVkRoY

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3-08-2026 10:42am

I’m not sure what the conspiracy is supposed to be, or why it’s being brought up over a month since any of this has happened, but it seems like the simple answer is just to raise public awareness?

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3-11-2026 9:35am

You are correct, Martha.  The purpose of  the Special Town Meeting was to provide an opportunity for Westwood residents to voice their opinions about the Town's suit against the Land Trust.  The Select Board was refusing, and still refuses, to explain their rationale for the lawsuit despite repeated questions from concerned citizens.   

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