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 […]
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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 […]
Commercial Leases
October 4, 2023 by Peter Gelzinis | Leave a Comment
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Affordable Housing Land Use Zoning
December 20, 2022 / December 21, 2022 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
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 […]
Chapter 91
July 15, 2022 by Paula Devereaux | Leave a Comment
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 […]
Environmental Zoning
June 3, 2022 by Joel Quick | Leave a Comment
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 […]
