How much does it cost to litigate a 40B project decision?

Although it is a drop in the bucket to Weston’s annual operating budget, the price tag associated with working through the legal processes associated with Chapter 40B projects, both at Town Hall and in the courtroom, can begin to add up.

Since 2017, Weston has spent $714,740 in legal fees on 104 Boston Post Road and the “Weston Whopper” at 518 South Ave., with $304,444 spent on the former and $410,296 on the latter (from 2020 to present), according to Town Manager Leon Gaumond. The annual operating budget for fiscal year 2027 approved by voters at Town Meeting is about $106.7 million.

These costs encompass every aspect of 40B projects requiring town counsel KP Law’s service, including attending hearings, reviewing documents, joining the Select Board in executive session discussions and, more recently, working on behalf of the town in lawsuits. Even before lawsuits are filed, meetings can add up. The Zoning Board of Appeals held more than a dozen hearings and meetings to work through 518 South Ave.’s application, which was ultimately denied and appealed in court.

Although these costs continue to rise each year, appeals are tangled up in court, Finance Committee members Bharath Venkataraman and Chair Maija Cirulius-Gooch said they are not unusual.

“I don’t think we’ve really had a deep look at the legal costs because they haven’t risen to a level where we have the concern,” Venkataraman said. “It continues to be at a very low level of concern here – or no level of concern, to be honest – because, again, I don’t think Leon is asking for large increases in this budget.”

From FY22 to FY27, legal expenses in the town budget remained relatively stable, hovering between $240,000 to $275,000 annually, except for FY24, in which $462,828 was spent. In FY24, the town spent $192,369 on the two 40B projects, with other legal costs including a lawsuit with First Parish church regarding property at 41 Ripley Lane.

Both projects are still in active litigation, with each one now in state Appeals Court. The Select Board on July 21 authorized an appeal of a Middlesex Superior Court judge’s decision to permit 518 South Ave. The appeal of 104 Boston Post Road is currently under advisement following oral arguments on May 6.

Venkataraman said it is up to the Select Board to make decisions about appealing these cases, often based upon confidential information and discussions in executive session meetings.

“The Select Board has the most information and decides what’s in the best interests of the town,” he said. “I think we tend to trust them when deciding what path to take.

Select Board Chair John McDonald, speaking in general terms because of the active litigation, said the board decided to appeal the 518 South Ave. decision following an executive session meeting with town counsel.

“They felt we had, certainly, a reasonable case to be made,” McDonald said previously.