A new twist in Regis dispute

A newly discovered videotape. Dueling lawsuits. And angry neighbors. It's not an episode on Court TV -- it's the latest twist in the year-old row between the town of Weston and Regis College over a proposed retirement community.

A neighbors group says videotapes made by a resident at two 1999 meetings show the Regis president at the time, Sister Sheila Megley, disavowing rumors that the college planned a "nontraditional development" on land it owns across Wellesley Street from its main campus. Last year, the college proposed building Regis East on that site, a complex that would include classrooms and 365 units of retirement housing in buildings as tall as 11 stories.

Citing transcripts of those tapes, the town last week filed a counterclaim in Land Court against Regis College. The college is suing the town on the grounds that state law allows educational institutions to bypass local zoning laws.

Megley's comments came as the college was seeking permission to run a sewer line through town-owned land in order to tie into the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority system in Waltham.

At a May 18, 1999, selectmen's meeting, Megley assured residents and town officials that only athletic fields would be built on the parcel.

A resident asked if Regis would ever consider using the land for something beyond "strictly educational or conventionally educational" uses.

Megley responded by asking if the resident was referring to a project such as Lasell College's on-campus retirement community, Lasell Village. The resident replied yes.

To which Megley said: "There was a rumor that we were going to build a whole development area; we are not. And I've said no to that for about eight months now. We are not."

Megley reassured residents again at a December 1999 Town Meeting when they were asked to vote on the sewer easement. "We are not building anything on that land," she said, according to a transcript of the videotape. "We intend to preserve that natural beauty that's along Wellesley Street."

In its counterclaim, Weston argues that Regis misled the town to get the easement, which saved the college from having to spend $3.5 million on a new septic system.

Town Manager Donna VanderClock said that officials were unaware of the tapes' existence until they heard from the resident who had recorded them with a home video camera.

Opponents of Regis East argue that it would increase traffic congestion and that the buildings would be out of scale with the surrounding neighborhood.

Since May, the town and Regis have been trying to reach a compromise with the help of an outside mediator. VanderClock said they still are.

Regis spokeswoman Marjorie Arons-Barron said that the college would not be commenting on any aspect of its legal dealings, citing a confidentiality agreement.