Judge dismisses Spring Street ‘civil conspiracy’ lawsuit

A Dukes County Superior Court judge is dismissing a lawsuit brought by the developer behind a workforce housing development on Spring Street that claimed town officials were conspiring to attack his reputation and property rights. 

Developer Xerxes Aghassipour filed the complaint earlier this year that Tisbury officials violated his procedural due-process rights, and asked the court to grant him monetary compensation of nearly $1 million total. But Raffi N. Yessayan, the judge presiding over the case, wrote in his decision Monday that there were “no factual allegations to support” the claims. 

The lawsuit dismissal comes a few days after the project — intended to house around nine workers at 97 Spring St. in Tisbury — was approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in a split 7-5 vote. Two of those being sued by Aghassipour were not able to vote due to their involvement in the lawsuit and for conflicts of interest. 

Aghassipour sued primarily Tisbury planning board members and staff, including neighbor to the property Mary Budinger-Cormie and her husband Leigh Paul Cormie, planning board administrator Amy Upton, and planning board member Benjamin Robinson — who would’ve been the only elected Tisbury representative to vote on the project. The defendants have remained critics of the project, and have said that the single-family permit that Aghassipour received was not warranted due to the intended use for multi-bedroom workplace housing.

Upton and the Cormies’ lawyer, Casey Dobel, said those three defendants are looking forward to putting this lawsuit behind them and getting back to working for Tisbury residents. “The Cormies and Ms. Upton are gratified and relieved that the court was able to see this frivolous litigation for what it was,” she said in a statement to The Times. 

The project has been criticized by community members and Tisbury town employees for its focus on transient housing for workers; they fear it will be used to house various Vineyard Wind workers, without any year-round stipulations, and without adding much-needed housing stock for Islanders. 

In one form or another, most Tisbury town employees were under the microscope of the law and public opinion due to this project. And some say they’re glad to see it has all come to an end. 

“I’m happy to see it dismissed,” Robinson, also a commissioner at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, told The Times. 

Before the lawsuit was filed, unflattering texts between Upton and Robinson were publicized after a records request to the town from Aghassipour. 

In one instance, Upton made a comment using a profane term; she has since told The Times she didn’t understand what it meant.

The Cormies also sued Aghassipour back in a separate lawsuit in Massachusetts Land Court in November 2024, claiming he violated Tisbury zoning bylaws that single-family dwellings cannot be used for transient housing. That case is still ongoing.

All defendants moved to dismiss the lawsuit in April, and the courts approved the motions on Monday. The court found no burden of proof from the plaintiff that the defendants had engaged in civil conspiracy or abuse of power. 

“We are reviewing the judge’s decision and weighing our options and next steps,” Aghassipour said in a statement to the Times. “The judges decision seems predicated on the land court case that is still pending.”