By Katie Farrell
Staff writer
September 02, 2008 03:53 am NEWBURYPORT — Ward 1 Councilor Larry McCavitt continues his fight against the city's Zoning Board of Appeals for granting a special permit allowing a former clam shack at 269 Water St. to become a single-family home. McCavitt filed a second lawsuit last week that asks the state Land Court to overturn the city's decision, saying it gives away public land, and he has "no choice other than to take it to court" and the city followed "improper procedure, improper methods." "It's wrong as far as I'm concerned," McCavitt said. A tentative court date has been scheduled for Sept. 17, but that is subject to change. McCavitt, his wife, Karen Swanson, Newburyport resident and former ZBA member Bill Abbott and the Newburyport Citizens Chapter 91 Committee have disputed the city's decision for some time. The long-standing dispute started a year ago as Mark Roland sought to make the 948-square-foot building into a single-family home. Built in 1920, it sits almost directly over the Merrimack River and a foot from Water Street. It is the only remaining shanty of at least a dozen that once lined Water Street that were used for clam shucking by local clam diggers in the Joppa neighborhood. Roland went through numerous ZBA hearings and was granted a special permit last spring. That decision was followed by complaints from McCavitt and others that the city worked behind closed doors to ensure Roland was granted the special permit. "The underlying issue (is) I'm a huge defender of public interest," McCavitt said last week. In the filing on Aug. 22, McCavitt and the other plaintiffs asked the court to "order the city to judicially recover public land and property from a private individual." "The city has a specific duty to maintain and protect the city's rights to public land and property," it reads. "The city did not step forward and assert the public's rights." On Aug. 26, McCavitt and Swanson also filed a joint affidavit, in response to a motion to dismiss the case filed by Roland. They argued the loss of open space on the land impacts public safety, noting they are bicycle riders. Mayor John Moak did not have a copy of the most recent filings last week and said he could not comment on the documents. "I haven't even seen it yet," he said. "I'm not aware of it." Robert Brennan, Roland's attorney, issued a statement Friday. Brennan said he had not yet received copies of all of the recent filings by McCavitt and could not comment on those documents. "We will again respond to Mr. McCavitt's latest filings as we have all his prior papers and allegations, quickly, decisively and on firm legal footing," he said in a press release. Roland stated in the press release, "It's absolutely ridiculous that after the Zoning Board spent six months weighing this matter, and voted to approve my application with the support of the Planning Department and Historic Commission, we have a sitting Newburyport city councilor suing his own government and wasting my money and precious city budget dollars on yet another off-the-wall lawsuit. This has to stop! McCavitt should be forced to pay my legal bills and personally reimburse the city for money that should be spent on our teachers, public services and senior citizen programs — not on the city's attorneys." McCavitt said last week the city granted the special permit without meeting proper procedure. "It's an unusual case for a city councilor to be suing his own city to protect public land, but I don't know any other way of doing it. I have no choice," he said. "We maintain that the city has no right to disclose of the land in such a fashion." Brennan said his client has instructed the attorneys to explore all potential counter-claims that could force McCavitt to reimburse Roland's legal bills. "Again, Mr. McCavitt and his wife, through an attorney who spent 2007 suspended from the practice of law, have filed rambling papers with the court that are full of reckless misstatements and irrelevant rants. The collective memos, letters, lawsuits and affidavits from McCavitt in this matter resemble a bizarre manifesto," Brennan stated. "Regarding McCavitt's styling of his lawsuits in the name of 'Lawrence McCavitt, Ward 1 City Councilor '... in these circumstances, Massachusetts law does not recognize any special standing — or right to file a lawsuit — based on municipal board membership," Brennan noted in his press release. "The court could care less whether McCavitt claims to be doing this as 'Ward 1 City Councilor' or whether he dubs himself the 'Duke of Lemonade' and lists that title on his filings."
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