Education
University of Massachusetts
- B. S., summa cum laude, 1978
- Honors Thesis: The Impact of Energy Constraints on Land Use Patterns
Boston College Law School
- J.D., 1984
Bar and Court Admissions
- Commonwealth of Massachsusetts
Practice Focus
Sandy works in and among the fields of real estate development, enviornmental protection and land use control. He provides advice and counsel:
- to the full range of parties involved in private development and public improvement projects, including project proponents, competing businesses, public authorities, neighboring landowners, ad hoc opposition groups, and public interest organizations;
- on a broad array of projects, including retail centers, office parks, hotels, theatres, marinas, golf courses, R&D facilities, power generation plants, solid waste facilities, superfund sites, rock quarries, asphalt batch plants, school campuses, and youth camps;
- in all subject areas that are part of project planning and permitting, including zoning and subdivision, air and water pollution control, wetland and waterways regulation, endangered species protection, environmental impact review, highway access and traffic mitigation, cleanup and reclamation of contaminated properties and preservation of public trust lands;
- through various activities, including negotiating real estate contracts, formulating permitting strategy, coordinating technical consultants, paticipating in public-private partnerships, prosecuting and defending appeals from permit decisions, engaging in dispute resolution, crafting settlement agreements and effecting transactions.
Representative clients include National Amusements, Lockheed Martin, Duke Energy, The Flatley Company, Ahead, Quirk Auto, Roseland Property, Winthrop Financial, GTE Realty, YMCA Southcoast, and Friends of Thoreau Country.
Notable Experience
The following is a short description of select cases in which Sandy has served as lead counsel.
- Permitting the development of stadium seating cinemas and lifestyle retail centers at more than a dozen locations throughout Massachusetts;
- Multiple civil and administrative proceedings to defend against third party attacks on permits for the expansion of national defense R&D facilities in Chelmsford, MA;
- Privately-sponsored community coalition in opposition to a state-planned haul road and rail to serve a bulk cargo seaport terminal in Charlestown, MA;
- Large-scale land assembly, master planning and project permitting for a 2500 unit residential complex at a former quarry in Revere and Malden, MA;
- Regulatory enforcement to prevent encroachment on corporate headquarters and improve public services at industrial park in Dartmouth and New Bedford, MA;
- Massive campaign to obtain impact mitigation and monetary compensation for business damaged by influx of 15 million tons of Big Dig excavate in Quincy and Milton, MA;
- Reclamation and disposition of former manufacturing facilities and industrial landfills on highly regulated sites in Waltham, Everett, F reetown and Salem, MA;
- Management and sale of large portfolio of retail, hotel and marina properties in downtown Nantucket, MA;
- Dispute resolution between youth camp facilities and competing public interest projects at multiple sites in Southeastern Massachusetts;
- Pro bono service to Thoreau scholars and enthusiasts organized to preserve legacy woodlands around Walden Pond in Concord, MA;
Background
Sandy has been with Rackemann for his entire law career starting in 1984. He became a Director of the Firm in 1992 and became Counsel to the Firm in 2008. For many years, he was Chairman of the Firm's Envionmental Law Department and a member of the Firm's Executive Committee.
Professional Activities
- Sandy is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association (Property Law Section), Boston Bar Association (Environmental Law Section) and Real Estate Bar Association.
Publications
Sandy has often delivered papers at continuing legal education seminars on a variety of topics including:
- Judicial Review of Zoning Variances and Special Permits;
- Traffic Mitigation for Projects Subject to MEPA Review and MassHighway Permits;
- New Developments in the Masschusetts Superfund Law;
- Contractual Allocation of Superfund Liability;
- Environmental Liability of Lenders as Landowners under Superfund;
- Siting of Solid Waste Management Facilities;
- New Developments in Massachusetts Wetland Regulations;
- Groundrules for Conservation and Preservaion Restrictions.