Brookline Man Sued for Letting Protected Sandwich Land be Degraded: AG

A Brookline man and his two real estate companies are being sued for allegedly abandoning protected agricultural land in Sandwich known as Windstar Farm, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Thursday.

The complaint, filed Wednesday in Suffolk County Superior Court, alleged that Brookline's Amit Kanodia allowed trespassers to vandalize Windstar Farm for 16 years. Kanodia owns SNK Corp. and Washington Street LP, which is the property’s listed owner.

It is alleged the state’s Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) was violated. The AG's Office says the 223-acre property failed to be maintained and preserved as an agricultural resource.

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources paid nearly $1 million in 1982 to acquire an APR for Windstar Farm.

Under the APR, the defendants are paid to keep Windstar Farm "in a condition suitable for active farming use to protect natural resources, benefit farmers, and boost the state’s agricultural industry and economy," a release from the AG's Office said.

It is alleged the defendants allowed trespassers to vandalize the property by setting fires, dumping trash, and riding dirt bikes on it, among other things. Windstar Farms is no longer suitable for agricultural use, the AG's Office said.

“These defendants had an obligation to maintain Windstar Farm as a vital agricultural resource for Massachusetts but instead effectively abandoned the land for years,” said Healey. “Nearly one million dollars of taxpayer money was used to protect this property so that it could be used for farming for generations to come. We need to restore Windstar Farm, and hold its operators accountable, so it once again can be available as productive agricultural land and Massachusetts taxpayers can get the benefit of their investment.”

Windstar Farm worked as a successful large-scale fruit and vegetable farm when it was originally protected by the APR, the AG's office said.

Healey's complaint seeks a court order requiring Windstar Farm be restored and secured so it may be maintained as a suitable source of agriculture once again.