Environmental Renewable Energy

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

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 […]

Read more »

Environmental Zoning

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

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 […]

Read more »

Land Use Zoning

Mass. SJC Reaffirms that Zoning Exemption for Educational Uses is Expansive; Residential Psychiatric Program for Adolescents Easily Qualifies

September 23, 2019 by Donald R. Pinto, Jr. | Leave a Comment

In a noteworthy decision today, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) reaffirmed that the exemption in the state’s Zoning Act, M.G.L. c. 40A, for uses deemed to be “for educational purposes,” is construed very broadly.  That exemption, which appears in Section 3 of Chapter 40A and is known as the Dover Amendment, provides in relevant part […]

Read more »