Spring Street developer suing commissioners, neighbors for damages

The developer of 97 Spring St. is alleging a conspiracy to attack his reputation and property rights.

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Ninety-seven Spring Street in Vineyard Haven. —Daniel Greenman

After nearly a year of scrutiny over his 97 Spring St. housing project, developer Xerxes Aghassipour is suing some of his biggest critics — public officials and his next-door neighbors — for conspiring to attack his reputation and property rights. He is also asking the court to determine an amount of damages that he is entitled to.

The move follows months of pushback against Aghassipour’s property, where he intends to house workers for Vineyard Wind in a Tisbury residential district, and comes as the M.V. Commission is set to review the project later this month.

Defendants listed in the case consider the recent filing bullying, and say it won’t succeed.

The complaint, made last week in Dukes County Superior Court, names Aghassipour and his 97 Spring Street, LLC, as plaintiffs.

The defendants are direct abutters Mary Bernadette Budinger-Cormie — a Martha’s Vineyard commissioner — and her husband Leigh Cormie, as well as Martha’s Vineyard commissioner and Tisbury planning board member Ben Robinson, and town planning board administrator Amy Upton.

The four-count complaint alleges that the defendants worked together on an ongoing suit filed against him in Massachusetts Land Court by Mrs. Budinger-Cormie. That suit asks the court to nullify a town zoning board decision that upheld the removal of a stop-work order on his property.

The new complaint states also that defendants’ actions violated Aghassipour’s procedural due-process rights, and asks the court to grant him monetary compensation from all defendants for damages they allegedly caused to him and his project.

“The Defendants collectively, concocted a scheme, to malign the Plaintiff’s reputation, injure the Plaintiff’s property rights, and abuse judicial process,” the filing begins. “This conspiratorial scheme included: (1.) filing a Civil Complaint in the Land Court that is devoid of any basis in law or fact; and (2.) violating the Plaintiff’s civil rights.”

Aghassipour also states that the defendants are acting on a distaste for Vineyard Wind. “The Defendants’ conduct and relentless attacks have become a personal vendetta against the Plaintiff,” the suit also states.

In a recent letter to planning board chair Connie Alexander to notify her of the suit, Aghassipour stated that he views Vineyard Wind strictly as a potential tenant.

Aghassipour also attached four exhibits to the filing to support his claims. One is a collection of private texts between Upton and Robinson in which Upton uses pointed language to criticize a closed-doors meeting this spring between Aghassipour and town officials. The town building inspector has cited the meeting as his reason for lifting the stop-work order, as he understood after talking to Aghassipour that the property’s could be regulated after construction was complete.

Aghassipour himself leaked the texts in October after obtaining them from Upton via a records request.

Budinger-Cormie told The Times that her work against 97 Spring St. does not come from opposition to Vineyard Wind. She called the countersuit an attempt to discourage her rights as an abutter to fight the building next door.

“This is strategic litigation against public participation,” she wrote. “This lawsuit charges my husband Leigh and I with exercising our rights under Massachusetts General Laws as an abutter to 97 Spring St., and should be frightening to all average people who live next to a property owned by the ultra-wealthy. We will not let this developer or his attorneys use his deep pockets to intimidate our family.

“This has never been about Vineyard Wind; however this developer seems to want to keep dragging them into the issue. Neither Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Avangrid, nor Vineyard Wind have ever publicly supported this project. This is about zoning, and following the process and the law,” her statement reads.

Upton’s lawyer Casey Dobel wrote to The Times that the recent suit amounts to bullying, and will not succeed. 

“Ms. Upton will not be bullied by Mr. Aghassipour through this meritless litigation or otherwise,” wrote Attorney Dobel. “This deep-pocket developer has targeted a small-town civil servant because she believes in equally and fairly applying town bylaws. This transparent attempt to intimidate Ms. Upton into silence will not be successful, and she will continue to stand up for the people of Tisbury and Martha’s Vineyard, as she has always done.”

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission regional planning agency is set to review the project on Jan. 23, acting on the planning board’s referral.