Affordable Housing Land Use Zoning
January 8, 2025 / January 10, 2025 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In its eagerly anticipated decision issued this morning in Attorney General v. Town of Milton, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) has ruled that the MBTA Communities Act (the Act), which former Governor Charlie Baker signed into law in early 2021, is constitutional, and the Attorney General has the authority to enforce it. The court went […]
Read more »
Tagged
Article 97 Prior Public Use Doctrine Public Use Restrictions
October 7, 2024 by Michelle O'Brien | Leave a Comment
The Nahant Preservation Trust, the town of Nahant, and certain Nahant residents have suffered another loss in their years-long legal battle to stop Northeastern University from expanding its Marine Science Center, located on East Point in Nahant. The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently affirmed the dismissal of the legal actions, finding that the plaintiffs had no […]
Zoning
July 10, 2024 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In its decision this morning in Shoucair v. Board of Appeal of Boston, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) held that in court appeals under § 11 of the Boston Zoning Enabling Act (Section 11), the trial judge can require the plaintiff to post an appeal bond without a preliminary finding that the appeal has been […]
Land Use Zoning
June 27, 2024 by Gareth Orsmond | Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently addressed diminution of property value as a basis for standing to file a zoning appeal. In Pobeda RT II, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Watertown, the court affirmed that individual property value, by itself, isn’t a protected interest that can serve as a basis for standing to appeal […]
Land Use Regulatory Takings Subdivision Zoning
June 3, 2024 / June 5, 2024 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado may have a profound impact on inclusionary zoning ordinances and bylaws in Massachusetts. I suspect few of those regulations – if challenged – will pass constitutional muster under what’s now a quartet of crucial, related Supreme Court (SCOTUS) decisions: Nollan v. California […]
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 […]
Land Use Real Estate Renewable Energy Zoning
April 20, 2023 by Paula Devereaux | Leave a Comment
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 […]
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 […]
Easements Land Use Restrictions
January 19, 2023 by Michelle O'Brien | Leave a Comment
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 […]
