The Massachusetts Zoning Manual provides comprehensive coverage of zoning law and developments and tracks key statutory and case law developments. It includes valuable practice insights on obtaining variances and special permits, appealing zoning decisions, drafting zoning options, smart growth planning, expedited zoning, and numerous other facets of representing clients in zoning matters. Regular supplementation and a spotlight chapter on Boston zoning are other features that make this book a necessity for real estate counsel, land use and municipal attorneys, environmental specialists-and general practitioners.Practical answers to a spectrum of zoning problems
Recent updates:
This extensive update incorporates hundreds of citations to recent judicial and legislative developments. Among the highlights are:
- a dispute between a group of real estate investors and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission over property in Everett considered for development of a casino;
- standards for determining whether a land use restriction imposes a substantial burden on a religious organization for purposes of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act;
- the preemption of local bylaws requiring that medical cannabis dispensaries be nonprofit entities;
- application of the Dover Amendment to a recreational vehicle camp used to house a religious group's staff and volunteers as well as families attending the group's campground sessions;
- implementation of the MBTA Communities Law and oversight by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities;
- the circumstances under which conditions imposed by a comprehensive permit will be found to have rendered a project uneconomic;
- zoning provisions applicable to an access road designed to service the construction, maintenance, and electrical grid connections of a solar energy installation;
- analysis of a municipality's civility code (also referred to as a public comment policy) in relation to meeting participants' rights to assembly and free speech under Articles 16 and 19 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights;
- the Supreme Judicial Court's reframing of the standards used to evaluate anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) litigation;
- a discussion of the differences between zoning opinions and zoning reports;
- an overview of recent developments in Boston zoning;
- new legislation creating G.L. c. 40Y, which established starter home zoning districts; and a new chapter on form-based zoning as adopted in Somerville and other Massachusetts communities.
Table of Contents
Chapter 01 - Historical Development of Massachusetts Zoning LawMichael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Checklist 1.1 - Amendments to Chapter 808 of the Acts of 1975 (Through 2020 Mass. Acts c. 358, §§ 16-25)
Exhibit 1A - Index of General Zoning Acts
Chapter 02 - Zoning Power and Its Limitations
Kuong C. Ly, Esq.,
Anderson Kreiger LLP
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 03 - Procedure for Amending a Zoning Ordinance or Bylaw
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Checklist 3.1 - Procedure for Adoption or Change of a Zoning Ordinance or Bylaw (Except in Boston)
Chapter 04 - Limitations on Application of Local Zoning Regulations to Government Entities
Martin R. Healy, Esq.,
Goodwin Procter LLP
Chapter 05 - Low- and Moderate-Income Housing: The Anti-Snob Zoning Act, Linkage, Inclusionary Zoning, and Incentive Zoning
Benjamin B. Tymann, Esq.,
Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP
J. Patrick Yerby, Esq.,
Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP
Chapter 06 - Nonconforming Uses and Structures
Kathleen M. Heyer, Esq.,
Pierce Atwood LLP
Douglas A. Troyer, Esq.,
Chapter 07 - Zoning Freezes
Brian W. Blaesser, Esq.,
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP
Michael S. Giaimo, Esq.,
Robinson+ Cole LLP
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 08 - Special Permits
Michael S. Giaimo, Esq.,
Robinson+ Cole LLP
Chapter 09 - Variances
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 10 - Procedures for Obtaining Variances and Special Permits
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nicholas P. Shapiro, Esq.,
Phillips & Angley
Chapter 11 - Judicial Review of Variances and Special Permits
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 12 - Judicial Construction of Zoning Ordinances and Bylaws
Amy E. Kwesell, Esq.,
KP Law, PC
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 13 - Enforcement of Zoning Requirements
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Gareth I. Orsmond, Esq.,
Pierce Atwood LLP
Chapter 14 - Landowner Actions to Determine the Validity or Applicability of Zoning Ordinances
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Johanna W. Schneider, Esq.,
Hemenway & Barnes LLP
Chapter 15 - Zoning Reports and Legal Opinions on Zoning Compliance
Michael P. Ross, Esq.,
Prince Lobel Tye LLP
Robert M. Schlein, Esq.,
Prince Lobel Tye LLP
Exhibit 15A - Sample Zoning Opinion
Exhibit 15B - Sample Statement of Fact
Chapter 16 - Special Zoning Acts: Boston
Cynthia M. Barr, Esq.,
CM Barr LLC
Jennifer Schultz, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Exhibit 16A - Selected Issues Addressed in Multiple Zoning Provisions
Exhibit 16B - Corresponding Sections of the Enabling Act, Boston Zoning Code, and Massachusetts Zoning Act
Exhibit 16C - Boston Zoning Acts and Selected Special Acts
Exhibit 16D - Websites for Boston Zoning
Exhibit 16E - Inspectional Services Department Documents: Sample Refusal Letters and Commissioner’s Bulletin No. 97-1 (Wireless Communications)
Exhibit 16F - The Boston Zoning Code: Table of Contents
Exhibit 16G - Downtown Planning: The Downtown IPOD (Article 27D - Superseded and Expired)
Exhibit 16H - South Boston Waterfront Planning (Principles from the South Boston Waterfront IPOD, Article 27P)
Exhibit 16I - Article 80 Development Review: Flowcharts
Exhibit 16J - Boston Zoning Commission: Sample Hearing Notices and Procedural Rule
Exhibit 16K - Parking Freeze Map
Exhibit 16L - East Boston Parking Freeze
Exhibit 16M - Downtown Parking Freeze
Exhibit 16N - City of Boston/South Boston Parking Freeze
Chapter 17 - Subdivision Control Law
Lauren C. Galvin, Esq.,
Verrill Dana LLP
Mary Petronio, Esq.,
Verrill Dana LLP
Exhibit 17A - Excerpt from Clows v. Planning Board of Middleton
Exhibit 17B - Pre-file Review of Proposed Subdivisions of Registered Land
Exhibit 17C - Excerpt from Gifford v. Planning Board of Nantucket
Exhibit 17D - Board of Health Transmittal Letter
Exhibit 17E - Covenant
Exhibit 17F - Memorandum of Facts and Request for Waivers and Approval of Definitive Subdivision Plan
Chapter 18 - Smart Growth and Starter Homes (G.L. c. 40R, 40S, and 40Y)
Jennifer Schultz, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Jordan A. Smith, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Chapter 19 - Expedited Permitting
Robert H. Fitzgerald, Esq.,
Goodwin Procter LLP
Exhibit 19A - Draft Warrant Language
Exhibit 19B - Priority Development Site Application Form
Chapter 20 - Form-Based Zoning
Kuong C. Ly, Esq.,
Anderson Kreiger LLP
Jennifer Schultz, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Jordan A. Smith, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP
Authors
Editor(s)Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP, Boston
Author(s)
Cynthia M. Barr, Esq.,
CM Barr LLC, Boston
Brian W. Blaesser, Esq.,
Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Boston
Robert H. Fitzgerald, Esq.,
Goodwin Procter LLP, Boston
Lauren C. Galvin, Esq.,
Verrill Dana LLP, Boston
Michael S. Giaimo, Esq.,
Robinson+ Cole LLP, Boston
Martin R. Healy, Esq.,
Goodwin Procter LLP, Boston
Kathleen M. Heyer, Esq.,
Pierce Atwood LLP, Boston
Amy E. Kwesell, Esq.,
KP Law, PC, Boston
Kuong C. Ly, Esq.,
Anderson Kreiger LLP, Boston
Michael K. Murray, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP, Boston
Gareth I. Orsmond, Esq.,
Pierce Atwood LLP, Portsmouth
Mary Petronio, Esq.,
Verrill Dana LLP, Boston
Michael P. Ross, Esq.,
Prince Lobel Tye LLP, Boston
Robert M. Schlein, Esq.,
Prince Lobel Tye LLP, Boston
Johanna W. Schneider, Esq.,
Hemenway & Barnes LLP, Boston
Jennifer Schultz, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP, Boston
Nicholas P. Shapiro, Esq.,
Phillips & Angley, Boston
Jordan A. Smith, Esq.,
Nixon Peabody LLP, Boston
Douglas A. Troyer, Esq.,
Boston
Benjamin B. Tymann, Esq.,
Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP, Boston
J. Patrick Yerby, Esq.,
Tymann, Davis & Duffy LLP, Boston
