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Zoning Laws MA Supreme Judicial Court

K&L Gates LLP

Understanding the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Decision in Attorney General v. Town of Milton

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Signed into law in January 2021, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Communities Act (the Communities Act) requires all 177 cities and towns with access to MBTA public transportation (e.g., commuter rail,...more

Bowditch & Dewey

Supreme Judicial Court Upholds MBTA Communities Act; Invalidates Noncompliant Guidelines

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On January 8, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a significant decision in Attorney General v. Town of Milton, SJC-13580, affirming the constitutionality of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation...more

Bowditch & Dewey

EOHLC Files Emergency Regulations to Implement the MBTA Communities Law

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On January 8, 2025, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued a significant decision in Attorney General v. Town of Milton, SJC-13580, affirming the constitutionality of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation...more

Bowditch & Dewey

Courts and Communities Grapple with Housing and Substance Abuse Crises and the Limits of Local Zoning

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Does G.L. c. 40A, § 3, ¶ 4 “impose[] a per se requirement that all sober homes be treated in all circumstances as would single family homes as a matter of law?” In anticipation of December 2024 oral arguments, the Supreme...more

Bowditch & Dewey

The Legal Battle Over Milton’s Noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Act – What Towns Need to Know

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On October 7, 2024, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) heard oral arguments from the Attorney General’s Office and the Town of Milton regarding the Town of Milton’s noncompliance with the so-called MBTA Communities Act. For...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Sullivan Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of NAIOP Massachusetts

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Sullivan was pleased to file an amicus brief on behalf of NAIOP Massachusetts – The Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP) in the case of Attorney General v. Town of Milton. The case involves the Town’s...more

Sullivan & Worcester

Clarifying the Availability of Zoning Appeal Bonds in Boston

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On July 20, 2024, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) decided Shoucair v. Board of Appeal of Boston, 494 Mass. 319 (2024), which clarified the standard for imposing a bond on a party who appeals the grant of...more

Pierce Atwood LLP

Breaking: Mass. high court confirms that in Boston, zoning appeal bond can be required without finding of bad faith or malice

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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...more

Bowditch & Dewey

SJC Issues Decision Encouraging Broad Application of Dover Amendment Protections

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In Hume Lake Christian Camps, Inc. v. Planning Board of Monterey, 492 Mass. 188 (2023), the SJC was tasked with deciding whether the Dover Amendment precluded the Town of Monterey from denying approval of a recreational...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Solar Energy System/Access Road: Massachusetts Appellate Court Addresses Zoning Issue

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (“Court”) addressed in a June 2nd Opinion application of the City of Waltham, Massachusetts, (“Waltham”) zoning code to the construction of a solar energy system. See 2022 WL...more

Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Issues Two Decisions Favorable to Marijuana Businesses

Two recent unanimous decisions from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirm the supremacy of the state’s marijuana laws over local zoning restrictions. The decisions also indicate a tendency of the Supreme Judicial...more

Conn Kavanaugh

Abutter Must Prove Particularized Injury to Confer Standing in Zoning Appeals

Conn Kavanaugh on

On March 6, 2020, just a day after hearing oral argument, the Supreme Judicial Court reaffirmed the longstanding principle that abutting landowners have standing to challenge the application of zoning bylaws only if they...more

Pierce Atwood LLP

Mass. SJC Says Chapter 40B Doesn’t Authorize Override Of Municipally-Held Property Restriction

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In its recent decision in 135 Wells Avenue, LLC v. Housing Appeals Committee (pdf), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) confirmed that a property restriction held by a municipality cannot be overridden by the...more

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