Old Lyme couple recruits reinforcements in Tantummaheag Landing fight

Aug. 7--OLD LYME -- Amid a local property dispute that has been likened by aggrieved homeowner George Frampton to Russia's annexation of Ukraine, the career litigator has brought in big guns from a New York City-based law firm with threats of a federal lawsuit.

The issue revolves around a strip of land bisecting Frampton's property on its way to Lord Cove. Frampton calls it his back driveway. Locals know it as Tantummaheag Landing, a public spot where people have come for generations to launch kayaks or watch birds.

First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker on Wednesday said the town has brought in its insurance provider, the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, or CIRMA, to address issues raised in a letter and accompanying draft lawsuit sent late last month by Jonathan D. Schiller of the New York City-based Boies Schiller Flexner firm.

Frampton a former partner with Boies Schiller Flexner.

Shoemaker has not yet spoken with the attorney assigned by the insurance company, she said.

The draft lawsuit against the town of Old Lyme, several officials and one private citizen alleges they violated the constitutional rights of Frampton and his wife, Carla D'Arista Frampton, by attempting to "exercise control" over land the town doesn't own. It calls for a jury trial to address claims including unlawful seizure of property, conspiracy, trespass and defamation.

Schiller's letter said the couple is willing to allow continued foot traffic on the site. But the attorney emphasized the lawsuit will be filed and the landing permanently closed to the public if a compromise agreement is not reached "that fully protects the Framptons' property rights and represents a fair and just accounting for the Town's continuing illegal conduct."

The situation has escalated over the years to threats, public harassment and physical invasions of the property, according to Schiller.

"These violations will no longer be tolerated," he wrote.

Town attorney Jack Collins in 2022 acknowledged there was "no evidence in support of the proposition that Old Lyme owns the subject property."

Instead, Collins and a consulting title attorney argued the road was established in the 1700s as a "highway" between Route 156 and the cove, and has been used by the public ever since.

George Frampton a year and a half ago warned selectmen any argument citing historic use to justify a current land dispute must be settled in court. That's when he drew the comparison to Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that historic interests in the smaller country of Ukraine give Russia the right to take it over.

But he said Putin didn't go to court "he went to war."

George Frampton on Wednesday had no comment on the status of the threatened litigation.

Shoemaker declined to comment further until she consults with the CIRMA-designated attorney.

Among the issues up for discussion with the attorney is a stalled plan she announced in June to bring in a licensed surveyor to map the property and then to remove any obstructions on what the town considers to be its land.

Prospective defendants

The officials named in the draft lawsuit in both their official and individual capacities are Shoemaker, Selectwoman Jude Read, former First Selectman Tim Griswold and Harbor Management Commission members Teri Lewis and Michael Barnes. Also named is John Mesham, a private citizen.

The remaining sitting selectman, Jim Lampos, was not named in the prospective lawsuit.

A previous compromise was scuttled in April when a deal negotiated by Lampos was rejected by Shoemaker and Read. The agreement would have allowed people to use the road on foot from 8 a.m. to sunset while limiting cars to the paved cul-de-sac at the entrance to the landing.

A petition started one week before the vote on change.org by Mesham, a former Republican first selectman candidate, had amassed 355 signatures at the time of the vote. The petition urged town leaders to reject the agreement that could alter access to a "cherished local landmark."

The draft lawsuit claims Griswold, Shoemaker, Read, Barnes, Lewis and Mesham over the past three years have trespassed on the property "to inspect the area and intimidate the plaintiffs."

The document claims the same people, minus Shoemaker, made defamatory statements to others in town and on social media that harmed the couple's reputation.

George Frampton served as an assistant special prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice during the Watergate hearings before turning his focus to environmental policy.

The self-described elite litigation firm founded by David Boies and Schiller in 1997 is known for its role in the U.S. government's successful antitrust case against Microsoft in 2000 and on the losing side of Bush v. Gore, the Supreme Court case that ended a Florida recount and assured President George W. Bush's victory.

On the firm's website, Schiller is credited as co-lead counsel in a $1.05 billion class action settlement for an international price fixing conspiracy involving vitamins. His clients include Major League Baseball teams, international gambling companies and Goldman Sachs.

Bulldozing effort

The draft lawsuit alleges officials have continued to promote public access to the site, install signage and remove plantings despite the couple's assertion there is no evidence the land belongs to the town.

"As the Framptons have repeatedly communicated to Town officials, extensive research carried out by the Framptons at their own expense has established that the Town has no basis at all for claiming any ownership interest in, or right to use, the Framptons' property," Schiller wrote.

The couple has documented a paper trail going back to the 18th century that shows the town hasn't had a rightful claim to the land for almost 300 years.

The Framptons called out Griswold, the former first selectman, for his role in bringing in bulldozing equipment to clear plantings and invasive aquatic weeds from the site while accompanied by police cruisers.

Griswold on Wednesday said Shoemaker told him a meeting will be scheduled to include the Board of Selectmen and others named in the draft lawsuit.

He said he'd like to hear from the CIRMA attorney as well as from Collins and the consulting title attorney.

"It would be interesting to see if they all come out on the same page," he said. "I guess that conversation needs to happen."

Griswold questioned the Framptons' move to include Mesham in the prospective lawsuit.

"Having no direct board or commission activity, you'd think he's just a citizen and he would be entitled to his own opinion," he said.

Mesham, through Griswold, declined to comment.

Shoemaker said any meetings with the prospective defendants are on hold until she consults with the insurance company attorney.

e.regan@theday.com

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