MASHPEE, Mass. — May 28, 2014 — Attorneys for the town and opponents of a planned Popponesset Bay oyster farm will teleconference next week to discuss the fate of a Massachusetts Land Court case stemming from the ongoing legal challenges to the project.
Richard Cook, a Mashpee shellfisherman, has been fighting for three years with homeowners who have called his plans for a 1.9-acre oyster farm a nuisance and safety hazard.
On May 20, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled against the residents in two legal challenges linked to votes by the town's Board of Selectmen and Conservation Commission to approve the project.
In the ruling, the three-judge panel briefly discussed the Land Court case, in which the residents claim the project's approval ran afoul of the town's zoning laws. Even though the zoning matter was irrelevant to the two cases before them, the judges called the claim "without merit" because the project would be located beyond the extreme low-water mark in the bay, putting it outside the town's zoning authority.
Read the full story from The Cape Cod Times