Ruling finds popular venue at Heritage Museums & Gardens is 'unlawful use.'

BARNSTABLE — A Barnstable Superior Court judge has ordered Heritage Museums & Gardens to cease operation of its aerial adventure park after ruling that the building permit should never have been granted.

Judge Cornelius Moriarty II wrote that the adventure park was not sufficiently educational or related to museum operations to qualify for protection from zoning laws that would have prohibited its establishment in what is otherwise designated a residential area.

After Sandwich Building Inspector Thomas Spiro granted the building permit, Heritage neighbor Thomas Stanton appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals. The board denied his appeal in October 2014, and one month later four neighbors filed a lawsuit against the board and the museum in Superior Court, alleging the adventure park, operated by Connecticut-based Outdoor Venture Group, reduced property values, created unwanted traffic and congestion and was out of character with the surrounding neighborhood.

The case went to trial in November and December, and Moriarty issued his ruling Monday.

The judge wrote that the zoning board acted "arbitrarily and capriciously and on legally untenable grounds" and annulled its decision upholding the permit.

He also ruled that the aerial adventure park was "an unlawful use" and wrote that "defendant Heritage Plantation of Sandwich Inc. is hereby permanently enjoined from the continued operation of said aerial park.”

According to estimates included in Moriarty’s decision, the park, which includes seven zip lines and tree-to-tree bridges, brought in 35,000 climbers in 2017 and projected 50,000 total climbers in 2018.