February 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 28

L AW R E V I E W

Public Park Dedication Evident in LWCF Grant
By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

T

he ability of local government to divert existing parkland to other public purposes may depend on whether a particular parcel has been dedicated as a public park under state or federal law. If so, as illustrated by the case described
herein, local government may have to strictly comply with procedural restrictions imposed by state and federal law before any diversion of public parkland can occur.
In the case of Smith v. City of Westfield, 278 Mass. 49 (Mass. 10/2/2017),
the state Supreme Court considered that
applicability of state and federal law to
a planned conversion of a public park
and playground (the Cross Street Playground) to an elementary school. Cross
Street Playground contained 5.3 acres of
land and included two little league baseball fields and a playground.
On August 18, 2011, the Westfield city
council voted to transfer the entire Cross
Street Playground from the city's parks
and recreation department to its school
department for the purpose of constructing a new elementary school on the land.
In 2012, the city began a demolition

26

Parks & Recreation

process that included taking down century-old trees and removing a portion of
the playground.
A group of city residents, including
the mayor and city council, sued the
city claiming a provision of the state
constitution (Article 97) required approval by the state legislature prior to
any construction or operation of a new
school on any part of the Cross Street
Playground. (As was the case here, typically, it is a group of concerned citizens
and/or a local " Friends of the Park "
group, which challenge their own local
government's attempts to divert existing parkland to other public purposes
or private development.)

| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

Article 97 and LWCF Grant
In 1972, Article 97 was added to the
Massachusetts Constitution to protect
" lands and easements taken or acquired
for conservation purposes. " In particular, Article 97 provided these resources
" shall not be used for other purposes or
otherwise disposed of without the approval of a two-thirds roll call vote of
each branch of the Legislature. "
In 1979, working in cooperation with
the state government, the city of Westfield had applied for and received a grant
from the federal government (as well as
matching funds from the state) to rehabilitate several of its playgrounds, including
the Cross Street Playground. The federal
conservation funds that the city received
were made available by the Land and
Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965.
The grant agreement for rehabilitation of the Cross Street Playground
indicated that the grant was expressly



February 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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