Are the lawsuits of Gordon C. Andrews v. the Town of Halifax finally over? They may well be.
The Massachusetts Land Court ruled in favor of Andrews on all counts in a decision that came down last week on Aug. 23.
Since 2014, Andrews, an Elm St. resident and abutter to the Amanda’s Estates property, has questioned the legality of the building permits issued for its development, claiming that Halifax By-Laws were not being followed.
Andrews alleged in numerous pleas to the Building Inspector and the Zoning Board of Appeals that Amanda’s Estates should not be granted the building permits it was seeking, to develop the 12-acre property.
The 17-page decision from the Land Court details the various steps that Andrews took in response to actions by the town and concluded that the Zoning Board of Appeals failed to apply the by-laws equally when it comes to special permits and variances, ruling in Andrews’s favor.
Andrews claimed that had the former building inspector and the Zoning Board of Appeals listened to the town’s land use attorney, Richard Hucksam, in July and August of 2017, none of these lawsuits would have taken place.
“Moving forward,” Andrews said, “I hope the Planning Board and Zoning Board will implement the town’s land use attorney’s advice while making decisions on this project and others before them, attend conflicts of interest, open meeting law, and land use trainings (seminars) offered by the state and other associations the town belongs to.”
The project presently has three buildings and one certificate of occupancy associated with it. These, according to the decision of the Land Court on Aug. 24, 2022, are annulled.
Andrews urges people to look up the online, recorded board and committee meetings for a first hand view of the workings of the town’s governing bodies.
“I heard a lot about my lawsuits being a reason not to vote for me during the last election in May. I thought to the contrary, that my lawsuits showed the people what I stand for,” Andrews said. “I have knowledge, willpower, to take on a heavy burden, relentlessly pursue a cause and hold people accountable. I spoke out numerous times about how the town’s defense was a waste of money for the taxpayer. My family and I paid a heavy toll for standing up and doing the right thing,” Andrews concluded.