SWAMPSCOTT— The town has reached an agreement with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn in an eminent domain case.

In 2021, Swampscott began the process of developing its new elementary school on Whitman Road, which is slated to open this fall. Shortly after the project was approved, the town acquired permanent land easements from the church in order to create an exit from the new elementary school to Forest Avenue. In the summer of 2022, the church filed a claim with the Salem Superior Court, claiming they were not adequately compensated for their loss of property. Peter Flynn, an attorney for the church, said that the church was paid $500,000 at the time for the easements.

Nearly a year and a half later, Flynn believed it was time to “bury the hatchet.” He attributed the length of litigation solely because of “messy” language in the order of taking.

“As part of the settlement, we’re going to fix the order of taking so that the school is protected going forward with how they maintain their access and how they get to the school,” Flynn explained. “The church will be protected to the extent that going forward they don’t have to worry about in 10, 15, or 20 years if they can still sell portions of their property.”

Flynn emphasized that he feels no one on either side of the legal dispute ever acted in bad faith.

Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald gave credit to Select Board Chair David Grishman and Member Peter Spellios for their efforts in reaching the settlement from the town’s side, and is excited that the litigation has ended and the town can focus on the upcoming opening of the new school facility.

“The easement here will ensure that we can provide safe access to that new school and really support the pedestrian safety responsibilities that we need for it,” Fitzgerald said.