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 […]
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
May 20, 2022 by Kathleen Heyer | Leave a Comment
Today the Appeals Court decided Markham v. Pittsfield Cellular Telephone Company (pdf), holding that the 90-day appeal period under M.G.L. c. 40A, § 17 for zoning appeals alleging procedural defects is not tolled where a zoning board failed to give notice of a special permit hearing by mail, but did provide notice by publication and […]
December 9, 2021 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment
In its recent decision in Allegaert v. Harbor View Hotel Owner, LLC, the Massachusetts Appeals Court reversed in part two Superior Court judgments dismissing the plaintiffs’ zoning appeals. In the process the Appeals Court helpfully clarified some procedural issues that often arise in such cases. The plaintiffs in Allegaert are neighbors of the Harbor View Hotel in […]
June 7, 2021 by Kathleen Heyer | Leave a Comment
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) today weighed in on the zoning permissibility of short-term rentals, a much-contested and important area of concern. In its decision in Styller v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Lynnfield (pdf), the SJC affirmed a Land Court decision concerning an appeal from a decision of the Lynnfield Zoning Board of […]
