A Massachusetts appeals court ruled in favor of Northeastern’s proposed expansion of its Marine Science Center in Nahant Sept. 16, delivering another win for the university after nearly six years of legal pushback from the local government and town residents. 

Northeastern’s most recent victory came after Nahant appealed an April decision by the Essex Superior Court that denied the town government’s attempt to claim 12 acres of Northeastern’s 20.4 acre plot in the North Shore town by eminent domain, a power which allows the government to take private land for public use with proper compensation.

The defeat marks the second case that Nahant has lost against Northeastern after a judge sided with the university in 2022. Residents of the town say they are frustrated with the result and concerned about the exorbitant legal fees Nahant has racked up throughout the years. 

“Everyone is just really fed up and has had enough, and we can’t go back now and change things. We’ve lost and now we’ve got to come up with the money,” said one Nahant resident in favor of Northeastern’s expansion, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because her husband is employed by Nahant’s town’s government, which has taken a stance against the university’s proposed  expansion. She has lived in the community for more than 50 years. “I just know that the people that didn’t fight the fight are now likely going to have to somehow pay the consequences.”

In the most recent case, the town argued that Northeastern had dedicated the disputed 12 acres for use by the public as an ecological preserve. But the court ruled that because there is no known written record of this dedication — and the town had no hope of proving it — Northeastern has a valid claim to the land.

Northeastern’s original proposal for the Marine Science Center, or MSC, did not eliminate the possibility of further construction or show any intention to preserve part of the land for public recreation as the town claimed in the lawsuit.  

“We are gratified that the Appeals Court affirmed that Northeastern never dedicated its Nahant property for public use,” Vice President for Communications Renata Nyul said in an email to The News. “[The Sept. 16] decision follows Judge [Jeffrey] Karp’s April ruling that the Town’s attempt to take Northeastern’s Nahant property by eminent domain was invalid and improper. We hope Nahant taxpayers will urge the Board of Selectmen to forego further costly litigation and seek a resolution that benefits the Town and allows Northeastern to fulfil its vital research and teaching mission.”

The relationship between Northeastern and Nahant had been amicable for over half a century, from when Northeastern first acquired the parcel in 1965 until 2018, when the university revealed its plans for expansion. At the outset, the majority of the town was displeased, and some felt like Northeastern had been deliberately hiding their intentions. 

“It was jaw dropping,” said the anonymous 50-year resident. “We felt like it had been in progress for a long time and we knew nothing about it.”

In response to the announcement of the expansion in 2018, Nahant residents delivered a letter to Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun and 30 residents protested on the Boston campus in opposition to the proposal. This effort was organized by the former nonprofit Keep Nahant Wild, which has since been shut down. The group was a part of the Nahant Preservation Trust, the organization that originally brought the lawsuit against Northeastern.

“This is the beginning of an effort that will not end until Northeastern rethinks their actions,” Keep Nahant Wild member Jim Wilde told The News in 2018. 

But over time, public opinion in Nahant shifted. 

“The more that people knew about what was actually going to happen and what Northeastern was willing to do for us, the more they were on board with it,” said the anonymous resident, referring to Northeastern’s offer, made prior to the eminent domain case, to provide funding for Nahant’s infrastructure, give paid internships at the MSC and award scholarships to students from the town who wished to attend Northeastern. These concessions would cost Northeastern approximately $6 million, The News previously reported. 

The university also offered the placement of a conservative restriction, which would permanently prevent any further development, on around 90% of its Nahant parcel. 

In December 2018, the university, having said it negotiated with the town’s residents, revealed three revised proposals for the expansion. Despite this, some residents were still concerned. 

“The crowd was fairly hostile from the beginning, regardless of what Northeastern was saying. They jumped to what they were afraid of, as opposed to hearing what Northeastern was trying to present,” said Ken Carangelo, a Nahant resident who belonged to a group that opposed the eminent domain case. “In the eminent domain case, the judge notes that it’s clear what the town had in mind from the beginning.”

At the 2021 Nahant Annual Town Meeting, members voted to try to take the land by eminent domain, with 647 votes for and 271 against the proposed legal action, achieving the required two-thirds majority by 35 votes. At the meeting, Chairman of the Board of Selectman Josh Antrim cited a $3 million fund from “private donors” and an additional $1.5 million bond that would be used for any legal fees incurred. 

Carangelo said he had long harbored concerns about the possibility of exceeding this budget. 

“There’s the possibility that some of these private donors will come up with more money,” Carangelo told The News. “But the worst case scenario is that the town has to pay the [excess] damages. Depending on the number, that could be fairly intense.”

Now that Northeastern has won multiple legal battles in Nahant, residents’ financial concerns are more acute. Carangelo inquired about the legal budget at a Sept. 18 Board of Selectmen Meeting.

Carengelo asked Antrim what the plan would be if damages exceed the money in the planned fund and if any excess money would be a taxpayer burden. Antrim responded,“We’re not going to get into that.”

Currently, it appears that total fees will exceed the $4.5 million the town has allocated to fund the lawsuit. Earlier this year, Northeastern requested that Nahant reimburse them $25 million for financial costs, which the town is countering.

“[The town] wasn’t anticipating damages higher than three, $4.5 million. The representatives of the Nahant Preservation Trust and others assured people it would never be higher than that, so don’t worry about it,” Carangelo said. “Somebody says don’t worry about it, it will never happen. … Well, things have happened.”

Town Administrator Antonio Barletta declined an interview but emailed a statement to The News.  

“Protection of, and unrestricted public access to, Nahant’s very limited and precious open spaces is critically important, now and forever. Although the decision on the appeal to the Article 97 case is disappointing, the Town’s decision to protect their Natural Resource areas is undeterred. We hope that Northeastern University can come to realize the value in preserving this area as conservation land for wildlife, birds, plants and the public to enjoy,” the statement reads. 

Carangelo said he is skeptical about the motivations of those who oppose the expansion. Despite the emphasis put on environmental concerns by the town, Carangelo said Northeastern’s expansion “had nothing to do with the environment. There’s an element of being exclusionary. If they build, then there’ll be more students coming in, and there will be traffic.”

In April, Judge Karp ruled that the town’s order to take the land was “in bad faith for an improper reason,” and the court determined the town’s major motivation for retaking the land was not environmental concerns but purely a desire to block the expansion. The court found that the town had allowed “private citizens to commandeer its eminent domain authority to benefit themselves and not the Town.”

“I think at this point it’s taken the form of a crusade,” Carangelo said. “The one thing that hasn’t happened, is Nahant has not tried to actually talk to Northeastern. … At this point the best outcome for the town would be to say, ‘We’re not going to win this. That’s obvious to everyone at this point, but instead of paying you $25 million can we work something out’ … it’s a last opportunity to negotiate.”

In a 2019 interview with The News, Nahant resident Peter Rogal called the dispute a “David and Goliath” story.

“Don’t get me wrong, nobody I know is enthusiastic about Northeastern’s project,” said third-year biochemistry student at Northeastern and Massachusetts resident Sami Awad, who has family living in the town. “But most people accept that it’s over.”