Northeastern scores legal win in fight over Nahant research center

An appeals judge sided with Northeastern University over a North Shore town fighting expansion of the university’s marine science research center.

Northeastern has operated its Marine Science Center since the 1960s on around 20 acres on East Point in Nahant, a coastal town north of Boston with a population of around 3,000. Twelve of those acres, which are undeveloped, were in dispute, Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice Ariane Vuono wrote in the court’s decision Monday.

In 2018, Northeastern announced plans to build a new 55,000 square foot research facility in the undeveloped area. Officials in Nahant pushed back, saying the university had promised those acres for public use as an ecological preserve back in the 1960s. 

“We conclude that the plaintiffs have no reasonable expectation of establishing that Northeastern dedicated the twelve acres at issue to the public for use as an ecological preserve. As a result, the land is still privately held by Northeastern,” Vuono wrote.

Nahant and Northeastern officials react to judge’s decision

Renata Nyul, vice president of communications for Northeastern, said the university is “gratified” by the Appeals Court’s decision.

“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 fulfill its vital research and teaching mission,” Nyul said in a statement.

The Nahant Board of Selectmen said in a statement it is not backing down from protecting “Nahant’s very limited and precious open spaces.” In 1991, town voters zoned the area as a protected natural resource, according to the town officials.

In 2021, Nahant tried to take the land through eminent domain, but was denied by Essex Superior Court, The Boston Globe reported. The town is appealing that decision.

“The ongoing effort to place a conservation restriction on 12.5 acres of this property through eminent domain is a continuance of a multiple decades-long commitment to protect this area,” the board said. “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.”

Dispute in Nahant dates back to 1964

The court’s opinion outlines a 1964 annual town meeting in Nahant when the town declined to purchase the property. The following year, the town supported the transfer of the property from the federal government to Northeastern.

The university’s proposal at the time “did not exclude further construction. Nor did it indicate any intention to preserve any portion of the property for public access or recreation,” Vuono wrote. While it mentioned creating a wildlife preserve, it was contingent on the university acquiring all of East Point.

Northeastern was granted around 20 acres of the land, and the town created Lodge Park on an eight-acre parcel in the early 1970s, according to the opinion. 

Since then, the land targeted for the center’s expansion has been open to some public use and has been an informal wildlife sanctuary. 

There were conflicting records about the wildlife sanctuary, Vuono wrote. Northeastern referred to the area as a wildlife sanctuary on its website between 1999 and 2007, and Nahant also zoned the area as a natural resource district.

However, while members of the public did use the land, the court found that “the town has failed to show that Northeastern made a promise in the contractual sense to preserve a portion of its land as a wildlife preserve or open space.”

Vuono said the town made its decisions on an “impression, (and) that impression does not permit an inference, let alone a conclusion.”