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Massachusetts law has permitted neighbors to appeal zoning decisions for many decades. Like any civil action, abutter plaintiffs in zoning appeals must demonstrate that they have a substantive stake in the outcome-that they will be harmed if their neighbors' permits...
Today we offer a quick refresher of sorts. When it comes to real estate development-whether it be incorporating a new use, building a structure, or somehow otherwise modifying the existing conditions on site-there are several sources of laws and other "restrictions"...
It's always interesting to read zoning appeal cases that focus on the question of standing, and which, if any, of the plaintiff's alleged harms or injuries will convince the judge that the substantive portion of the case can move ahead.A recent Land Court case,...
It is a basic and oft-cited principle of Massachusetts zoning law that the courts give "'some measure of deference' to the local board's interpretation of its own zoning by-law." Britton v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Gloucester, 59 Mass. App. Ct. 68, 73 (2003), quoting...
Here are a few recent zoning and land-use related headlines/articles from around the region. Plymouth's upcoming Town Meeting has a few zoning-related items on the Warrant, the most interesting of which is Article 31, which seeks to add a "demolition delay" bylaw...
Conditions upon land use permits are so ubiquitous that the authority for imposing them can easily be taken for granted. The Supreme Court's decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Mgmt. Dist., 133 S.Ct. 2586 (2013), however, places a significant constitutional...
Summer is usually a pretty quiet time of the year for many lawyers, policy folks, and local zoning boards, but there have been a few interesting zoning-related headlines in the past few weeks.A few media outlets have recently published op-ed commentaries related to...
A few weeks ago, we blogged about some of the wind turbine zoning regulations--as they pertain to shadow flicker in particular-spinning about within Massachusetts. As you might recall from that post, Kingston had recently put a two-year moratorium in place (through...
Increasingly, it seems, municipalities are dealing with permit requests for wind turbines, both for residential and industrial/commercial use. Like any other kind of development, wind energy has its detractors, with shadow flicker being one of the biggest complaints...
Municipal zoning regulations are in a constant state of flux - especially when considered in relation to the long life span of many Massachusetts' residential and commercial structures. As such, many homes and commercial properties do not conform to current zoning...