The state Supreme Judicial Court handed the developer of the Westwood Station project a victory on Tuesday by deciding that the town of Canton missed a deadline to appeal a key state approval for the massive project.
But Jay Doherty, CEO of Boston-based developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, said the court ruling is secondary to ongoing efforts to obtain state and federal funding for improvements to the Dedham Street corridor that would address concerns raised by Canton officials in their suit.
Doherty said he’s hopeful that Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration can craft a funding package that can address the traffic issues raised in the Canton lawsuit.
“Our goal is to collaborate with the state and all of the surrounding towns – Westwood, Norwood, Canton and Dedham – to get that ... roadwork updated,” Doherty said. “The disposition of the court case has been supplanted by that effort.”
The town of Canton sued the state and Cabot, Cabot & Forbes in October 2008 to seek judicial review of state permits for Westwood Station. But Cabot, Cabot & Forbes argued that the suit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations for such a complaint expired 30 days after the state issued a sewer permit for the project in January 2008.
A Superior Court judge approved the developer’s motion to dismiss, and the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the lower court judge’s decision on Tuesday.
“We’re disappointed with the decision,” said Doug McGarrah, a partner at the law firm of Foley Hoag in Boston who represents Canton. “(But) we’re still hopeful that our efforts to obtain commitments from the state on infrastructure funding ... are going to be successful.”
McGarrah said the improvements along Dedham Street that town officials would like to see include a new ramp off Interstate 95, a widened five-lane bridge over the interstate and a widening of Dedham Street from two lanes to four lanes.
“The town is not opposed to the Westwood Station project,” McGarrah said. “The town has only been concerned that there is an adequate roadway infrastructure to handle the increased level of traffic on what is already a congested roadway.”
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes is working with partners New England Development and Commonfund Realty to develop about 150 acres in Westwood near Interstate 95 where it joins with the Route 128 beltway. The project was initially envisioned as a 4.5-million-square-foot redevelopment, with roughly one-third devoted to retail space, one-third devoted to office space and one-third for residential units.
Doherty said the first part of the project will likely focus on retail uses because it will take longer for the local housing and office markets to recover from the recession. Wegmans, a Rochester, N.Y.-based grocery chain, would be one of the anchors. Doherty declined to specify which retailers have committed to the project.
“We do have considerable retail interest in the form of executed leases, but these roads have to be done before we can finalize construction financing to go with these leases,” Doherty said.
Doherty said the Supreme Judicial Court decision could have had far-reaching effects for major developments in the state – despite its limited impact on Westwood Station’s progress.
If Canton’s lawsuit wasn’t dismissed, Doherty said a widening interpretation of when permit appeals could be filed would have opened the doors for a new range of lawsuits against big projects.
“Had the suit succeeded, I don’t know if you would have been able to build any major project in Massachusetts,” Doherty said.
Jon Chesto may be reached at jchesto@ledger.com
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