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Here are a few recent zoning/development articles we thought we'd share as we all enjoy the short work week. A hotel project in Lenox survived a motion to dismiss (with both sides surprisingly happy with the judge's ruling), and the case will proceed in the Land...
In my last post, I addressed how, between 2006 and 2011, the Supreme Judicial Court had made it easier for developers to challenge abutters' legal standing to maintain zoning appeals. However, while the Commonwealth's high court was making life easier for developers,...
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"...
A few years ago, we posted a piece on easement essentials and types of appurtenant easements. Expanding on that theme, this post focuses on the concept of appurtenance and the inherent limitations it places on such use rights. As the prior post informed, appurtenant...
A few weeks ago, the Appeals Court issued a decision that potentially affects several landlocked parcels in Aquinnah (Gay Head) on Martha's Vineyard. As a result of this decision (Kitras v. Town of Aquinnah, 87 Mass. App. Ct. 10 (2015)), which reversed and remanded a...
Initially, this post was going to be about the substantive portions of the disputed claims in Perry v. Nemira, 2015 WL 179045, 11 MISC 457157 (AHS) (Mass. Land Ct. Jan. 15, 2015), which focused primarily on claims of right via prescriptive easements and adverse...
"'It is a principle of general application in Anglo-American jurisprudence that one is not bound by a judgment in personam in a litigation in which he is not designated as a party or to which he has not been made a party by service of process.'" Taylor v. Sturgell,...
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,...
A couple weeks ago, it was reported that the Town of Barnstable will be added to the list of Massachusetts communities transitioning to online permit applications. Barnstable approved the $200K+ expenditure to pay for the software and related maintenance that will...