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Real property – Administrative exhaustion – Agricultural land
Where the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources denied an application to build a dwelling, barn and equipment shed on farm land that is subject to an Agricultural Preservation Restriction, the plaintiffs’ complaint must be dismissed because they failed to exhaust their administrative remedies.
Zoning – Solar facility – Special permit
Where the Northfield planning board denied a request for a special permit to construct a large-scale solar power facility, the board’s decision must be annulled because it does not satisfy the minimum requirements described in Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers of New York., Inc. v. Board of Appeal of Billerica, 454 Mass. 374, 381 (2009).
Real property – Partition – Legal expenses
Where a plaintiff has objected to a court-appointed special master’s report and recommendation regarding distribution of sale proceeds, the plaintiff should be credited with an adjustment for half of the legal expenses he incurred in defending a Housing Court lawsuit involving conditions at the property.
Real property – Adverse possession
Where a defendant has claimed ownership of a disputed strip of land, he is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law because he and his predecessors have obtained title to the disputed area by adverse possession, having proven nonpermissive use that has been actual, open, notorious, exclusive and continuous for more than 20 years.
Evidence – Aerial photographs – Authentication
Where a plaintiff in a boundary dispute has filed a motion to strike 16 aerial photographs, that motion should be denied because the defendant has authenticated the photographs.
Zoning – Dover Amendment – Homeless shelter
Where the Somerville zoning board authorized the conversion of the ground floor of a church into an emergency homeless shelter, the board’s decision should be upheld because the proposed shelter is entitled to the protections of the Dover Amendment, G.L.c. 40A, §3.
Municipal – ‘BESS’ bylaw
Where the attorney general disapproved a town’s bylaw for the licensing of battery energy storage systems, the AG’s motion for judgment on the pleadings should be allowed because she did not act arbitrarily or capriciously, nor did she commit a substantial error, in disapproving the bylaw.
Real property – Deed
Where a plaintiff has claimed that a 1/3 interest in real property was conveyed to him, he is entitled to a judgment in his favor based on a duly executed 2016 deed.
Real property – Res judicata
Where a defendant has moved to dismiss a complaint, contending that the plaintiff’s claim to sole title to real property was previously adjudicated in Superior Court, the defendant’s motion should be allowed because the plaintiff’s complaint is barred by principles of res judicata.
Real property – Condominium – Outdoor dining
Where the plaintiff resident of a second-floor unit has brought an action to challenge the right of a ground-floor restaurant to continue to operate its outdoor dining service in front of the 75 Chestnut Street Condominium, the restaurant should be awarded summary judgment because the use of the outdoor dining area by the restaurant does not violate the condominium documents.
Zoning – Outdoor storage – Stormwater bylaw
Where the Holliston planning board denied a special permit with site plan approval and denied a stormwater and land disturbance permit, the plaintiff requires zoning relief to use its property for outdoor storage of vehicles, materials and equipment, while the town’s stormwater and land disturbance bylaw does not function like a zoning bylaw and does not improperly seek to regulate matters withi[...]
Real property – Reformation – Mutual mistake
Where a plaintiff has filed a complaint seeking reformation of a deed, a motion to dismiss the complaint should be denied because the plaintiff has stated a claim for reformation based on a scrivener’s error.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Injury during baby’s adenoidectomy leads to stroke
- Construction worker’s hand caught in cement mixer
- Worker trapped in freezer, dies during steam cleaning
- Pedestrian, 69, hit by motor vehicle while in crosswalk
- Four-vehicle pileup leaves driver with spinal cord injury
- Nursing home staff blamed for kidney-failure death
- Pharmacy’s late delivery blamed for patient’s death
- Man, 25, drowns after swimming lesson at fitness club
Opinion Digests
- Jurisdiction – Forum selection clause – Non-signatory
- Criminal – Responsibility
- Attorneys – Lien
- Landlord and tenant – Default judgment
- Zoning – Constructive grant – Comprehensive permit
- Fraud – False Claims Act – Settlement share
- Civil practice – Discovery – Cybersecurity
