Boston College Files Lawsuit Against Newton About Webster Woods

NEWTON, MA — As promised, Boston College filed a civil lawsuit this month in Superior Court arguing the $15.2 million the City of Newton gave it in exchange for the 17 acres of Webster Woods a little more than a year ago was not a fair compensation.

"Not only were we expecting this complaint from BC, but also it is within their rights to make this claim and is not unusual in matters involving eminent domain takings," Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said in a statement.

The complaint does not challenge the actual taking itself.

Rather, the college is arguing that when Newton took the 17 acres of woodland, it diminished the value of the remaining portion of the property and that the $15.2 million dollars that the city paid was not a fair price.

Newton’s Law Department asserted that the city's position that the amount it gave the college for the land is fair and appropriate, according to the city.

City Councilors voted in late 2019 to seize the nearly 18 acres of woodland called "Webster Woods" by eminent domain. The mayor then signed the order and had two months to send a check to Boston College for $15.2 million for the value of the property.

The property was once part of a 25 acre parcel owned by Congregation Mishkan Tefila until it sold to Boston College in 2016 for around $20 million, complete with about 8 acres of land with synagogue, parking in addition to the woods. At that time, Boston College said it offered the land to Newton, but the city said at the time it didn't want it.

Neighbors —including the mayor— had been concerned that the woods, which sit along the state-owned Hammond Pond Parkway in Chestnut Hill and connect to the city owned Webster Conservation Area, the Hammond Pond Reservation and the Cohen Conservation Area, would be developed by the college.

In response, and despite protests from Boston College, the mayor announced in September 2019 she was taking steps to ensure that wouldn't happen.

The Newton Conservators now hold a conservation restriction on the land, to assure that it will be preserved in perpetuity.

Boston College officials said at the time they planned to challenge the seizure. The school had three years - or until 2022- to challenge the $15.2 million "fair market" price in court that City Council approved on Dec. 2, 2019.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).