THE BOSTON GLOBE reported on Sunday that New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell could derail the long-awaited South Coast Rail project by threatening to file a lawsuit challenging the legality of an MBTA eminent domain taking of five pieces of property in the city.
According to the Globe, New Bedford officials even sent a draft legal complaint to the MBTA making a number of allegations, including the assertion that the transit authority’s seizure of the land was invalid because, when the takings occurred in 2020, the city was not part of the MBTA’s service territory.
Outrage ensued, as lawmakers and transit advocates slammed Mitchell for throwing a wrench in the works just as South Coast Rail is scheduled to begin service later this year. Rep. Chris Markey from Dartmouth told the Globe he was shocked. Rep. William Straus of Mattapoisett, the House chair of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, was even more worked up.
“If you’re threatening a lawsuit, it’s hard to see how that benefits New Bedford’s long-sought goal — and I’m talking 30, 40 years — to reconnect to the commuter rail,” he told the Globe. “I hope [the T] does not entertain this as a serious demand.”
Mitchell has not commented, but New Bedford City Solicitor Eric Jaikes issued a statement on Monday suggesting the dispute is all about money. He indicated New Bedford believes the T’s eminent domain payments are way too low, and says the city is not alone in that belief. Jaikes said four property owners, including two in New Bedford, have sued the T, challenging the compensation they received when the transit authority seized their land for the South Coast Rail project.
In one case, according to a February report in South Coast Today, a Michigan company that paid $2.1 million for a four-acre property on Church Street in 2018 received a $2.32 million eminent domain payment from the T in late 2019, a gain of a little over $200,000. The company challenged the payment, and a jury last year awarded the company nearly $1.2 million more than it was originally paid.
Jaikes said another property owner settled with the T, presumably for a higher payment. He said two other property owners are still in litigation.
In New Bedford’s case, the transit authority acquired three parcels and two easements for $486,627. The MBTA said in a statement that it “appropriately exercised its eminent domain powers as provided by the Legislature and paid fair market value for all the properties taken.”
New Bedford officials had an appraisal done of most of the property the T took by eminent domain and came to the conclusion that the property was worth at least several million dollars more than what the T paid.
Sources say New Bedford officials shared the appraisal with the MBTA and tried to reach a settlement to no avail. With the statute of limitations running out for a legal challenge, the T shared its draft complaint with the T and again asked for more compensation. The sources say the T agreed to suspend the statute of limitations and extend negotiations, but then someone leaked the draft complaint to the Globe.
In his statement, Jaikes dismissed any suggestion that New Bedford was trying to undermine South Coast Rail. “The Mitchell administration has long advocated for the South Coast Rail Project and remains unwavering in its support for it,” Jaikes said. “Like the other property owners, the administration believes the taxpayers of New Bedford should be fairly compensated for city land taken by the MBTA. We are hopeful that ongoing discussions with the MBTA concerning the city land ultimately will secure their interests.”