Affordable Housing Real Estate Zoning
August 9, 2024 / August 21, 2024 by Tess Edwards | Leave a Comment
As has been widely reported, Governor Maura Healey on Tuesday signed into law the Affordable Homes Act (AHA), also known as the Housing Bond Bill (H.4977), which the Legislature passed in the wee hours of August 1, 2024. Among other important provisions, the AHA makes accessory dwelling units (ADUs) a by-right use in single-family zoning […]
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Article 97 Prior Public Use Doctrine Real Estate
March 12, 2024 by Tess Edwards | Leave a Comment
In its recent decision in Carroll v. Select Board of Norwell (pdf), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) reaffirmed that where town-owned land is held for a specific purpose, M.G.L. c. 40, § 15A dictates that it cannot be diverted to another inconsistent use until the “board or officer having charge” of the land determines […]
Environmental Renewable Energy Zoning
April 18, 2023 by Tess Edwards | Leave a Comment
On March 1, 2023, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s Municipal Law Department issued a decision (pdf) disapproving two sections of the Town of Wendell’s amended zoning bylaw, one of which prohibited stand-alone battery energy storage facilities in all districts. As previewed in our blog post last month, based on a footnote in the former […]
Environmental Renewable Energy
March 2, 2023 by Tess Edwards | Leave a Comment
Late last year, pursuant to her review authority under M.G.L. c. 40, § 32, then-Attorney General (now Governor) Maura Healey (the AG) issued a decision disapproving the Town of Carver’s moratoria on large-scale solar projects and battery storage systems. The grounds for the decision were straightforward and well-supported: citing the Supreme Judicial Court’s June, 2022 […]
Environmental Justice Land Use
January 10, 2023 by Tess Edwards | Leave a Comment
In GreenRoots, Inc. v. Energy Facilities Siting Board, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), for only the second time, had an opportunity to interpret the Environmental Justice Policy (EJ Policy) promulgated by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EOEEA). The first time, in the 2014 case City of Brockton v. Energy Facilities Siting […]
