The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is racking up another unexpected expense now that it has lost an eminent domain fight before the state’s highest court.
The Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday ruled that MassDOT improperly imposed an easement on a piece of land in a South Boston parcel in 2018 for testing new Red Line cars without reimbursing the parcel’s owner.
MassDOT’s legal team argued no payment was necessary because the parcel — bisected by Track 61, an old freight rail line that crosses South Boston and ends in the Seaport — was covered by a previous 1991 easement that allowed using the site for “railroad purposes.” A Superior Court judge agreed. But the SJC told MassDOT it should pay up, because the original easement’s language wasn’t broad enough to include uses such as subway-car testing.
The SJC ruling kicks the case back to Superior Court to determine how much money MassDOT must pay.
The legal fight between developer Core Investments, which controls the parcel through an affiliate called Smiley First LLC, and MassDOT is the latest twist in a long saga over Track 61′s future.
In 1991, what was then the state Department of Public Works took an easement across much of the 18,000-square-foot lot in question at the corner of B and Cypher streets — behind where the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center now stands — specifically to relocate Conrail’s freight rail operations for the construction of the South Boston Haul Road as part of the Big Dig.
That easement was still in place in 2015, when the Core affiliate bought the property. At that point, Track 61 hadn’t been used in years, but transportation planners were starting to discuss the track as a way to possibly provide passenger train service in and out of the increasingly crowded Seaport.
Then MassDOT decided to test Red Line cars along Track 61. After a challenge by Smiley First, MassDOT recorded a new easement, also by eminent domain, in 2018 to confirm it could use the property for a variety of specific railroad-related uses, including the testing and storage of rapid-transit subway cars. MassDOT argued that it didn’t need to reimburse Smiley First, because it held the rights to use the tracks through the original easement.
But the SJC ruled that this easement from the Big Dig era, filed specifically to accommodate a freight railroad, is far more limited in scope than MassDOT asserted, and that Smiley First should be paid for use of the parcel.
“It’s an object lesson for the Commonwealth: If it wants to make new use of a private property owner’s land, it has to pay for that right,” said Ben Robbins, an attorney with the New England Legal Foundation who filed a brief in support of Core’s argument. “[Testing train cars] is a legitimate exercise of eminent domain. But guess what? That requires just compensation of the private property owner. We would all like to save our T system, believe me, but you have to pay the property owner.”
Core, which has emerged as a major developer elsewhere in South Boston with projects in the works near Andrew Square, issued a brief statement about the SJC ruling, saying: “We are gratified that the Supreme Judicial Court has agreed with us in the eminent domain case. Core has long planned and still desires to design and construct a commercial building on the property that will be a distinct asset to the city of Boston, South Boston, and residents of the immediate neighborhood.”
MassDOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said state transportation officials are reviewing the court decision and evaluating their options.
“The test track is vital to the needs of the Red Line fleet as it is used for all Red Line car testing,” Goddard said in an e-mail. “The location is adjacent to the Red Line maintenance property which allows for efficient testing operations. The MBTA looks forward to future discussions with the City of Boston, advocacy groups and adjacent landowners on the use of Track 61 for passenger service to and from the Seaport.”
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.