A “dedication” is an uncompensated transfer of an interest in private property to the public. Dedications can occur pursuant to statute or common law. Statutory dedications follow the path set forth in the Subdivision Map...more
In its decision last week in Town of Sudbury vs. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) declined to expand the reach of the common-law prior public use doctrine. As the...more
Objectors are always looking for new, low cost ways to stop or delay the offending development. Lobbying for town and village green designations used to achieve this...more
Article 97 of the Articles of Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution, approved by the Legislature and ratified by Massachusetts voters in 1972, provides that ‘[l]ands and easements taken or acquired’ for conservation...more