Urban Renewal

Somerville Urban Renewal Taking Survives Challenge

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In Cobble Hill Center LLC v. Somerville Redevelopment Authority (pdf), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) upheld the eminent domain taking by the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA) of 3.99 acres of land located at 90 Washington Street in Somerville.

Cobble Hill, the owner of the parcel, argued that the taking was improper because there was no approved urban renewal plan that covered its property, and the SRA could only take by eminent domain property that is included within an approved urban renewal plan.  The SRA countered that the provisions of M.G.L. c. 121B, § 46(f) (§ 46(f)) authorized the taking.

Takings by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) under § 46(f) were the subject of a 2019 SJC opinion in Marchese v. Boston Redevelopment Authority, in which the court upheld the BRA’s taking of easement rights which rights were then transferred to the Boston Red Sox for use for Fenway Park.  While Marchese

UPDATE: Mass. High Court Takes Plaintiff Out of Game, Upholds Boston’s Transfer to Red Sox of Easement Rights Next to Fenway Park

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In my post last week on Pishev v. City of Somerville (pdf), I mentioned that the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) would be soon deciding another important urban renewal case, Marchese v. Boston Redevelopment Authority. It turns out “soon” was the next day.

Jersey Street, outside Fenway Park

In its September 13, 2019 decision (pdf) in Marchese, the SJC upheld actions taken by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) with respect to what is known as a “demonstration project” under the provisions of M.G.L. c. 121B, section 46(f). This case focused on a permanent taking by the BRA of easement rights in Yawkey Way (now known as Jersey Street), and the transfer of those easement rights to the Boston Red Sox for so long as baseball games are played at Fenway Park.

The plaintiff, Marchese, challenged the taking and the conveyance, alleging that the area was

Mass. Appeals Court Upholds Somerville’s Union Square Revitalization Plan

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In 2012, the City of Somerville, the Somerville Redevelopment Authority (SRA), and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development approved the Union Square Revitalization Plan (the Plan), an urban renewal plan to be administered by the SRA under M.G.L. c. 121B. A taxpayer group and a landowner (Pishev) appealed the approval of the Plan, alleging that it violates Chapter 121B. In late July the Appeals Court upheld the Plan’s approval in Pishev v. City of Somerville (pdf), 95 Mass. App. Ct. 678 (2019).

Pishev’s property is identified as a parcel subject to eminent domain taking by the SRA under the Plan pursuant to the powers granted to the SRA by Chapter 121B. The Appeals Court first addressed the issue of standing and found that the taxpayer group did not have standing, citing St. Botolph’s Citizens Committee, Inc. v. Boston Redevelopment Authority (pdf) and finding that “[n]o sufficient causal or connective link exists between the injuries or