Leominster Developers Hit With $200,000 Fine
A group of developers in Leominster have been ordered to pay $200,000 for allegedly hiring timber harvesters to illegally clear 100 acres of the Crown Point residential subdivision, causing the alteration of nearby vegetated wetlands, protected stream banks and 15 acres of the buffer zone around those protected sites, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced.
Developer James L. Xarras, property owners N.M.J. Realty Trust and Learned Hand Realty Trust, and trustees Margot Xarras and Debra Delaney were ordered to pay the civil penalty under order of Suffolk Superior Court. The court ruled the developers violated the Wetlands Protection Act, the Forest Cutting Practices Act and the state's Environmental Policy Act. They were ordered to restore the property to comply with state laws and regulations.
The site is a 235-acre parcel owned by the two trusts. The developers, led by James Xarras, proposed to build a 251-lot subdivision. In its order, the court found Xarras hired the timber harvesters to clear the land without seeking approval from town and state officials. The action, according to a statement from Coakley's office, altered about 2.5 acres of bordering vegetated wetlands, as well as the stream banks and the buffer zone.
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