Massachusetts Dirt and Development Law

March 12, 2024

Mass. SJC adopts “totality of the circumstances” test to determine whether municipal land is held for a specific purpose

Article 97, Prior Public Use Doctrine, Real Estate

Authors:

Tess C. Edwards

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

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 […]

October 04, 2023

Massachusetts High Court Reaffirms “Single Look Doctrine” For Evaluating Liquidated Damages Clause in Commercial Leases

Commercial Leases

Authors:

Peter P. Gelzinis

Practice area:

Real Estate

Industries:

Real Estate

Last week the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC) held that, despite defaulting only one month into its five-year lease, a commercial tenant is bound by a liquidated damages clause requiring a lump-sum payment of all rent due during the remainder of the lease term. As set forth in Cummings Properties, LLC v. Hines, Massachusetts […]

April 20, 2023

Does the 9th Circuit’s rejection of Berkeley, CA’s municipal gas ban spell doom for Massachusetts’ own gas-banning “Demonstration Program”?

Land Use, Real Estate, Renewable Energy, Zoning

Authors:

Paula M. Devereaux

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

We bring to your attention this post by our colleague Randy Rich of Pierce Atwood’s Energy Infrastructure Group on the 9th Circuit’s decision earlier this week in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, No. 21-16278. The court decided that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6297(c), preempts the City of Berkeley’s […]

April 18, 2023

New Mass. AG continues hard line against local bylaws that hinder battery energy storage systems

Environmental, Renewable Energy, Zoning

Authors:

Tess C. Edwards

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

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 […]

March 02, 2023

Mass. AG Clamps Down on Local Solar and Battery Storage Moratoria

Environmental, Renewable Energy

Authors:

Tess C. Edwards

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

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 […]

January 19, 2023

Mass. SJC: $3.5 Million Payday for Torrent of Errant Golf Balls Not a Fore-Gone Conclusion

Easements, Land Use, Restrictions

Authors:

Michelle N. O'Brien

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

A Kingston couple was dealt a significant blow days before Christmas when the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) set aside a jury verdict awarding them $3.5 million in damages for errant golf balls hitting their property. In Tenczar v. Indian Pond Country Club, Inc. (pdf), the SJC ruled that the trial judge erred in his jury […]

January 10, 2023

And Environmental Justice for All? Mass. High Court Clarifies Application of EJ Policy

Environmental Justice, Land Use

Authors:

Tess C. Edwards

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

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 […]

December 20, 2022

Mass. High Court Clarifies Scope of New Zoning Act Bond Provision

Affordable Housing, Land Use, Zoning

Authors:

Donald R. Pinto, Jr.

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

The Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) last week gave real estate litigators an early holiday gift: an important, clarifying opinion on a recent amendment to Section 17 of M.G.L. c. 40A (the Zoning Act), which governs appeals to court from decisions of local zoning boards. The case is Marengi v. 6 Forest Road, LLC (pdf). In […]

July 15, 2022

Public Trust Doctrine – Mass. High Court Finds Municipal Harbor Plan Regulations Involve Unlawful Delegation of DEP Authority

Chapter 91

Authors:

Paula M. Devereaux

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

In this April 2021 blog post we discussed the Superior Court’s decision in Armstrong vs. Theoharides. Since then the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) took the case on direct appellate review and earlier this week the SJC issued a decision (pdf) affirming the Superior Court. The SJC found that the longstanding procedure for approving Municipal Harbor […]

June 03, 2022

Breaking: Mass. High Court Expansively Interprets Zoning Exemption for Solar Energy

Environmental, Zoning

Practice area:

Industries:

Real Estate

Massachusetts has committed to increasing the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources, such as solar power, through a series of laws and policies. As solar energy systems have proliferated, trial courts have been asked to determine the limits of local government power over where large ground-mounted solar energy facilities can be sited. For the […]