NAHANT — The Massachusetts Appeals Court announced it has sided in favor of Northeastern University in an appellate case filed by the town in which it argued NU had previously dedicated 12 acres of the land it owns on East Point to the public for use as an “ecological preserve.”

In April, the court sided with Northeastern’s defense in the original petition filed by Nahant to take 12.5 acres of land from the school through eminent domain. NU argued Nahant’s “dominant” reason for wanting to take the land, which is owned by Northeastern, was to block the university from expanding its Marine Science Center or any other potential development, as opposed to preserving open space, recreation, or wildlife area. 

This most recent appeal was filed using the argument of Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which “establishes a right to a clean environment including its natural, scenic, historical, and aesthetic qualities for the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

The decision detailed its conclusion, which stated the town did not have sufficient evidence to establish that Northeastern had previously dedicated the 12 acres in question for public use. 

“We conclude that the town has no reasonable expectation of proving that Northeastern made an ‘unambiguous promise’ to preserve any of its land as an ecological preserve, a wildlife refuge, or as open space,” the court’s decision stated.

Resident and former member of the Board of Selectmen Francis Barile said he and wife, former Town Clerk Margaret Barile, said they tried to find evidence that the University had previously intended to dedicate the land for public use.

“We looked into it extensively and found nowhere in any Town Meeting where it was dedicated for public use,” Francis Barile said.

In a joint statement from the current Board of Selectmen, the group asserted its mission to protect natural resource areas is undeterred.

“The Town of Nahant, through its voters at Open Town Meeting in 1991, zoned this area as a Natural Resource to protect it in perpetuity. 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.”