Author: Gordon M. Orloff
It’s Spring and Our Thoughts Turn to … Beach Easements!
Our former colleague and now Land Court Judge Robert Foster recently decided Neily v. Gray, 17 MISC 000660, 2020 WL 1233429 (March 13, 2020). That case concerns the rights of various owners… Read More
Posted In: Publications
No Damages to Owner Whose Lot Is Unbuildable Due to Wetlands Regulations
When the Conservation Commission refused to permit the construction of a house on her residential lot in a Falmouth subdivision, Janice Smyth decided to take action and sought damages for a regulatory… Read More
Posted In: Publications
The Trouble With Trees
Unable to leave well enough alone, the Supreme Judicial Court used a series of wooden puns in deciding not to change the longstanding rule that a landowner cannot hold a neighbor responsible… Read More
Posted In: Publications
Private Parties Cannot Enforce Public Rights to Access Tidelands
Massachusetts is unusual in that an owner of waterfront property typically holds title to the low water mark. However, the area between the low and the high water marks normally remains subject… Read More
Posted In: Publications
Can’t Get There From Here?
In the just-decided Maslow v. O’Connor, the Appeals Court addressed rights in a Gloucester subdivision road. Since Gloucester is a seaside community, naturally the case concerns water access. The defendants own the… Read More
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When Is It Too Late to Force a Neighbor to Cure a Zoning Violation?
Section 7 of Chapter 40A contains a statute of limitations for actions by individuals and municipalities to compel the removal, alteration, or relocation of any structure due to a zoning violation. In… Read More
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Appeals Court Ruling Confirms Grandfathering Protection for Former Cambridge Courthouse
Today the Appeals Court decided Gund v. Planning Board of Cambridge. That case concerns the former location of the Middlesex Superior Court, an asbestos-filled, anomalous sky-scraper near Lechmere in Cambridge. The building,… Read More
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Permitting, First Amendment and Jury Trial Issues All in One Case
On June 29, 2017, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided Steinmetz v. Coyle Caron, Inc. That case, which has its roots in the mundane desire of a couple to build a… Read More
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Tenant Required to Prove that It Terminated Lease
Earlier this week the Appeals Court decided that a tenant has the burden of proving that it properly exercised its option to terminate a written lease. The commercial lease in Patriot Power, LLC… Read More
Posted In: Publications