── Banevicius v. Barnstable ──
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Date: May 20, 2026
Category: General
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SJC-13845
HELEN BANEVICIUS, trustee,1 & others2 vs. TOWN OF BARNSTABLE
& another.3
Barnstable. February 4, 2026. – May 20, 2026.
Present: Budd, C.J., Gaziano, Wendlandt, Georges, Dewar,
& Wolohojian, JJ.
Real Property, Agricultural or horticultural use, Sale, Right of
first refusal. Practice, Civil, Standing, Declaratory
proceeding, Action in nature of mandamus, Summary judgment.
Declaratory Relief. Mandamus. Notice. Municipal
Corporations, Notice to municipality.
1 Of the Banevicius Revocable Living Trust.
2 Ronald F. Knight; Linda H. Knight; Robert A. LaBerge;
Ellen T. LaBerge; Keith W. McAteer and Sheila D. McAteer,
trustees of the Sheila D. McAteer 2018 Trust; John E. Murphy,
Jr., and Nancy E. Murphy, trustees of the 2 Longfellow Drive
Realty Trust; Hildegarde B.E. Paris and Andrea M. Goode,
trustees of the Hildegarde B.E. Paris & Andrea M. Goode
Revocable Trust; Matthew J. Dupuy; Cathleen Foley-Dupuy; Linda
J. Powers; Craig Frank Valenti and Barbara Russell Valenti,
trustees of the Craig F. and B.R. Valenti Joint Living Trust;
Robert L. Ward and Carol M. Ward, trustees of the Robert L. &
Carol M. Ward 2016 Living Trust; Amoret B. Zamarro; Paul A.
Zamarro; and Friends of the Centerville Cranberry Bog
Preservation, Inc.
3 Bog Partners LLC.
2
Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on
July 13, 2022.
The case was heard by Michael K. Callan, J., and Thomas J.
Perrino, J., on motions for summary judgment.
The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative
transferred the case from the Appeals Court.
Charles M. Sabatt (Matthew J. Dupuy & Robert A. LaBerge
also present) for the plaintiffs.
Allison M. Cogliano, Assistant Town Attorney, for town of
Barnstable.
Matthew T. McLaughlin (Aaron F. Nadich also present) for
Bog Partners LLC.
GAZIANO, J. This case arises from a dispute over the sale
of twenty-one acres of land located in Centerville, known
locally as the "Jenkins Bog" (bog). Susan L. Jenkins, in her
capacity as trustee of the Jenkins Nominee Trust, previously
held title to the bog. Since 1995, the land had been actively
farmed as a cranberry bog -- which the town of Barnstable (town)
recognized as a "horticultural use" for property tax purposes
pursuant to G. L. c. 61A, commonly referred to as the
Agricultural Classification Act. In March 2021, Jenkins
provided the town manager with notice pursuant to G. L. c. 61A,
§ 14, that she intended to sell the bog to Samuel Slater, who
planned to discontinue its horticultural use. However, Jenkins
did not provide notice to several other municipal entities as
required by the statute. See G. L. c. 61A, § 14, eighth par.
3
She sold the bog anyway, and transferred title to the bog to Bog
Partners LLC (Bog Partners), which Slater owns and manages.
After learning of the sale, the individual plaintiffs, who
own property abutting the bog, and a nonprofit corporation
formed to preserve the bog commenced an action in the Superior
Court against the town and Bog Partners.4 The plaintiffs sought
declaratory relief, as well as relief in the nature of mandamus,
arguing that the sale was invalid because Jenkins and Bog
Partners did not comply with G. L. c. 61A's notice requirements.
The town and Bog Partners each filed a motion for summary
ju