WALTHAM, MA — A Middlesex Superior Court judge ruled that the handful of priests who live on the Stigmatine property must leave by June 30. The court ruling enables the district to move forward with plans to build a new high school there, after years of back and forth about where to build in light of increased enrollment. It also comes after a months-long eminent domain battle with the Trustees of the Stigmatine Fathers religious order.

"The Trustees shall be required to vacate the Property as set forth in the City's notice to vacate letter dated May 1, 2019, which sets the final date to fully vacate the Property as no later than June 30," wrote Justice of the Supreme Court Valerie Yarashus in a court ruling late last month. The city voted to take the 43 acre property by eminent domain last summer and, after being asked by a judge, paid the Trustees of the Stigmatine Fathers, the small religious order which had owned the property for about a century, $18 million for it. But instead of leaving, the Stigmatines wrote a cease and desist letter, claiming the city did not follow proper procedure.

They also refused to let city surveyors and other workers on the property.

"No one is doubting or discounting the need for a new high school in Waltham," read a statement the Stigmatines posted to their website. "We just don't believe the City should be able to end our existence here in Waltham because it covets our land for its own use. Nor do we believe any Citizen of Waltham should ever be treated the way Stigmatines have been treated by the City throughout this process."

They implored residents to find a way not to take the land, calling the mayor's efforts to acquire the property coercive and relentless. Municipalities can buy private property at fair value through eminent domain if they can prove they've looked everywhere else and there's public interest in taking the land, such as building a new school. The process requires the city to not only pay a price that is deemed fair, but help relocate the occupant. The property was valued at $22.7 million, according to the assessor data. In May, the city worked with a relocator and came up with several options for the Stigmatines, none of which the order deemed suitable.

In September, a court ruled the Stigmatines had to allow the city on the property for the next four months. It ordered the court to pay the $18 million for the property and told the city to be respectful when visiting the property. When November rolled around, the city started sending communications to the Stigmatines about leaving the property, at least once a month through March. Then, on May 1, Waltham gave a final notice to the Stigmatines and ordered them out by the end of June.



The court agreed.