| State environmental officials face a new lawsuit challenging its approval of waterfront development in Boston. The Conservation Law Foundation announced the suit’s filing on Wednesday, calling into question the state’s approval of the city’s Downtown Waterfront Municipal Harbor Plan and the municipal harbor planning process.
“This plan illegally put the interests of developers ahead of the public’s rights on the waterfront,” CLF President Bradley Campbell said in a statement. “Approval of this plan not only violates decades-old laws governing the waterfront but also sets a dangerous precedent by signaling to developers that they can buy their way out of rules that have balanced public and private development interests for years.”
The lawsuit alleges the state ignored laws designed to ensure public rights on the waterfront and abandons standards that ensure waterfront buildings step down in height as they near the water’s edge.
