Groton Open Space Association

GOSA Appeal Of Planning Decision On Merritt Land Goes To Judge

NEW LONDON–Judge D. Michael Hurley heard oral arguments in Superior Court May 20, 2004, on GOSA’s appeal against the Groton Planning Commission’s approval of a 48-house subdivision for the Merritt property on Fort Hill.

Judge Hurley is expected to rule on the appeal within the next one to four months after weighing both oral arguments and written evidence.

The appeal, lodged in March 2002 by GOSA and eight individuals, contends, among other things, that the approval:

–was environmentally unsound

–didn’t heed town limits on the number of houses that may be built on dead end streets

–improperly failed to specify which 4 lots should be cut when ordering a reduction in the number of lots to 48 from 52.

In addition, GOSA questioned the legal standing of MacPherson-Johnston Corp. to make its original application for subdivision approval.

The hearing made public the name of the company by which William Bentley, a principal of the Groton engineering firm of DiCesare-Bentley, participates as an entrepreneur in the Merritt project. The name of the company is Talyn LLC, and it was described in papers filed with the court as a partner in Mystic Estates Partners, successor company to MacPherson-Johnston Corp.

As background, Mystic Estates Partners and would-be developer Ravenswood Construction LLC launched a “SLAPP suit” against GOSA and nine individuals last June 5. The suit contended that the Merritt-case appeal represented an abuse of the legal process and an interference with contractual rights. Mystic Estates Partners and Ravenswood withdrew the suit July 11 when threatened with a countersuit. The term “SLAPP” stands for “Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation.” Such litigation is used by some developers in an attempt to control citizens and groups that oppose their development plans in public proceedings.

The appeal and the now-dropped SLAPP suit are separate from the legal dispute in Superior Court between Merritt and GOSA, on the one hand, and Ravenswood, on the other, over which party has the right to buy the Merritt property. Merritt’s pro bono lawyer, William Kroll of Noank, has filed a counterclaim seeking damages from Ravenswood and is moving to bring the whole matter before a jury as quickly as possible. GOSA has voluntarily joined Merritt as a defendant in the suit, which originally was brought by Ravenswood against Merritt.