‘Let the Cloverleaf Proceed’
To the editor:
In response to last week’s letter from Dan Katz [“Aggrieved by the Cloverleaf,” page A2]:
Ted Malone does not build “monstrosities.” He builds high-quality housing that blends nicely with the surroundings. Mr. Katz’s beliefs about the wastewater treatment system are pure conjecture. The town boards and engineers have done their jobs, and only time will reveal the efficacy of the system.
I have practiced dentistry in Truro since 1982. Over the years, I have watched friends and patients move away because housing was scarce. People need places to live, and we need people. It is virtually impossible to find anyone local to fill job openings. Truro has become a little too exclusive. It is now time to reverse that trend and develop much needed affordable housing.
I would also urge the plaintiffs in the court proceedings to drop their suit. Let the Cloverleaf proceed. We will be a richer community with it. Any inconveniences that arise will be far outweighed by the vibrancy Truro will reap.
Gerard J. Kinahan
North Truro
Cloverleaf and Its Challengers
To the editor:
Dan Katz’s “Aggrieved by the Cloverleaf” describes as “myopic” and “misfeasant” Land Court Judge Diane Rubin’s recent observation that “only one [plaintiff] is an actual abutter to the project … entitled to the presumption of standing.”
It is neither, but is instead an accurate statement of Massachusetts law. In the service of judicial efficiency, our statutory law strictly limits the right to appeal zoning decisions to persons “aggrieved,” or the individuals whose property interests will be directly affected by the project.
Direct abutters have a rebuttable presumption of standing, and if unchallenged by the defendant an abutter’s appeal may proceed. If a project owner objects, however, any plaintiff, including an abutter, must prove facts establishing aggrievement, and cannot rely on mere opinion that the development will cause harm.
Generally, courts require plaintiffs to meet this burden by submitting expert testimony. The judge’s recent order noted that, although the case was at an early stage, the Cloverleaf challengers had yet to engage any experts “… such that their alleged concerns about potential traffic and wastewater harms were unsupported by engineering analysis and largely speculative.”
The law also requires that any harm alleged by one seeking standing must be “particularized” to that individual, and separate and distinct from the general concerns of the community. In the case of the Cloverleaf appeal, the project’s challengers have yet to submit the type of expert analysis sufficient to establish that wastewater and traffic from the Cloverleaf will harm their properties.
It’s not too late, but Judge Rubin has signaled clearly what will be required of them if their appeal is to continue.
Michael Fee
Truro
The writer, an attorney, is the author of Massachusetts Real Estate Litigation (LexisNexis 2018).
For Dick Aiken, an Old Friend
To the editor:
Dick Aiken and I were classmates at the South Kent School in Connecticut and played football together there. We remained friends here on Cape Cod until his death earlier this year. As you noted in his obituary, he was a star on Trinity College’s undefeated 1949 football team before attending divinity school and being ordained as an Episcopal priest.
I composed the following poem in Dick’s memory:
The Paul Bunyan of Cape Cod
Dick Aiken was a teammate of mine
Many years back in time
He played a magnificent right end
That seldom let the opposition in
Often, we kicked the ball to each other
His punts sent me back to recover
Some of his actions in school were suspect
But he learned, and he gained much respect
In college, he continued his athletic prowess
Not to continue would lead to regress
Jessie, at Trinity, said he should continue
For the pros could present a very nice menu
But another trinity altered his view
He became a catalyst to guide me and you
On Cape Cod, he did seem to regress
Turned to other fuels to enhance our progress
Gasoline would propel our machines
And lumber in winter would help our dreams
Now he is united with his God
So ends the Paul Bunyan of Cape Cod!
Bill “Birdie” Edwards
West Simsbury, Conn. and North Eastham
Church and State
To the editor:
I stopped at Friends’ Market in Orleans on Thursday hoping to buy some beer, only to realize that the purchase of such libations is illegal on Thanksgiving Day. This and other so-called Blue Laws (such as restricting alcohol purchases on Sundays) date back to the oppressive theocracy of Puritans long since dead and buried.
These laws are inconvenient, but the resentment they inspire in me has less to do with my desire to sip a mimosa at brunch than it does with the fact that they have a religious derivation and are thus an obvious violation of the separation of church and state.
Such laws do not reflect modern values. Allowing them to remain in place sends a corrosive message: it suggests that “the law” is a fossilized artifact of the past, not an ongoing process available for living people to shape our communities today and preserve individual liberties.
Alex Brewer
Wellfleet
A Crisis Well Handled
To the editor:
We would like to extend sincere thanks to the Wellfleet Police Dept. and especially to Sgt. Mike Turner. They handled a crisis in our household with sensitivity and professionalism.
We are glad to know that community policing really does work in Wellfleet.
Madeleine Entel and Bruce Hurter
Wellfleet
