Construction Real Estate
May 6, 2020 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
Late yesterday Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office announced a new protocol for re-starting city construction projects deemed “essential.” In mid-March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walsh ordered most construction in the city to cease. Since April 27, 2020, all projects involving essential construction have been required to file with the city a COVID-19 Safety […]
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SLAPP Suits Zoning
April 27, 2020 / March 3, 2026 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
A decision late last year from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), 477 Harrison Ave., LLC v. JACE Boston, LLC (pdf), gives real estate developers a surprising new weapon when confronted by litigious neighbors. The dispute began in 2012, when the plaintiff developer obtained zoning relief to redevelop a residential property in Boston’s South End. […]
Zoning
March 9, 2020 / March 11, 2020 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In what passes for high drama in the world of Massachusetts land use law, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), after hearing oral argument last Thursday in an important case involving standing in zoning appeals, entered an order the next day reversing the Appeals Court decision under review and reinstating the trial court’s decision dismissing the […]
Adverse Possession Eminent Domain Prescriptive Easement
February 24, 2020 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In a rescript opinion issued this morning in Gentili v. Town of Sturbridge (pdf), the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that a municipality’s acquisition of a prescriptive easement over private property is not an eminent domain taking. In prior proceedings in Gentili, the Land Court ruled that the defendant town had acquired a prescriptive easement […]
Registered Land
December 12, 2019 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
The Appeals Court’s decision yesterday in Johnson v. Christ Apostle Church, Mt. Bethel (pdf) is a useful reminder that the Land Court’s jurisdiction over cases affecting title to registered land is exclusive. Johnson involved a dispute between the plaintiff homeowner and a neighboring church over Johnson’s longstanding use of a driveway on the church’s property for […]
Land Use Zoning
September 23, 2019 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In a noteworthy decision today, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) reaffirmed that the exemption in the state’s Zoning Act, M.G.L. c. 40A, for uses deemed to be “for educational purposes,” is construed very broadly. That exemption, which appears in Section 3 of Chapter 40A and is known as the Dover Amendment, provides in relevant part […]
June 28, 2019 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In its recent decision in RCA Development, Inc. v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Brockton (pdf), Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) considered whether a division of land into two lots accomplished solely by deeds describing the new lots, with no plan having been drawn or approved by the local planning board, is valid. Without hesitation the […]
March 1, 2019 / March 1, 2019 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In a decision of great importance to property owners, developers, architects, engineers, and contractors, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) this morning ruled that the state’s six-year statute of repose, M.G.L. c. 260, § 2B, applies to tort claims based on asbestos exposure and other diseases with long latency periods. The decision is Stearns v. […]
December 13, 2018 / December 14, 2018 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Appeals Court’s recent decision in McIntyre v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Braintree demonstrates the importance of subject matter jurisdiction in the context of administrative proceedings. The plaintiffs appealed the issuance of a building permit authorizing construction of a single-family house on an abutting lot. Though they knew immediately that the permit had issued, the […]
May 23, 2018 / June 14, 2018 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
It’s about time! Not since the notable 1961 adverse possession case Kershaw v. Zecchini have real estate litigators had an important decision inspired by circus performers. In its recent decision in Murrow v. ESH Circus Arts, LLC, the Appeals Court answers a question that concurring Justice Peter J. Rubin notes “has vexed the judges of the trial court, who have reached different conclusions about […]
