Three selected 2020 summary decisions of the Massachusetts Appeals Court illustrate, in short and sweet opinions, the implications of settlement negotiations by emails, tactical moves while challenging a local board’s decision, the ins and outs of getting permit extensions, what happens in court review of a tribunal’s decision, and how a well-maintained document record, well-run deliberation, and well-written decision can determine who wins or loses and why.

In its August 10, 2020, decision in the case of Wellesley Conservation Council, Inc. v. Pereira (AC 19-P-753), the Massachusetts Appeals Court addressed the scope of enforcement options available to the holder of a Conservation Restriction (CR), in particular whether injunctive relief (like restoration and replanting) is the holder’s sole remedy for violations of the CR’s terms, or does it include money damages, too. The answer is yes to damages.

A June 15, 2020 opinion of the Massachusetts Appeals Court reminds building inspectors and other municipal officials of the trilogy of remedies to assess money penalties for zoning and building code violations and to be sure to follow the proper procedures. There are lessons as well for any local officials who have been given the power to issue citations using the non-criminal disposition procedures of G.L. c 40, § 21D. The Appeals Court’s decision is Michael J. Maroney, Trustee et al v. Planning Board of Haverhill et al, 19-P-566, 97 Mass. App. Ct. 678 (2020).

In a clear, well-reasoned opinion deciding the case of Stevens, Trustee v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Bourne, No. 19-P-248 (June 19, 2020), the Appeals Court (Green, C.J.) held that a settlement agreement between the Town’s selectmen and a property owner resolving a Land Court action did not bind an abutter who was not party to the litigation.

McGregor & Legere is fully operational and ready to help you with any and all of your environmental, land use, energy, litigation, and now Covid-19 related governmental matters. Attorneys and staff are hard at work-at-home, in touch and in sync.

We had won a judgment of $433,000 in 2015 in our client’s long-running and ultimately successful case, Scotty Thyng v. City of Quincy et al, Norfolk Superior Court, Civil Action No. 2010-01449. That was after a two-week jury trial for violation of civil rights against five City of Quincy public officials for delaying and blocking our client’s attempts to build a house for more than 10 years. With interest and attorneys’ fees, that judgment came to more than $1.3 million.

In the case of Stockbridge Bowl Association, Inc. v. Town of Stockbridge Conservation Commission & others (Doc. No. 19-0032, December 3, 2019), the Berkshire County Superior Court reviewed the record behind the Stockbridge Conservation Commission’s Order of Conditions denying a lake management project, found the Commission’s justification based on error and lacking in science, and ordered the Commission to approve the Project.

Attorney Gregor I. McGregor will again will Co-chair the MCLE annual conference on Environmental Law, set for February 6, 2020, with a simulcast that same day and then a recorded podcast February 20. Mr. McGregor and his Co-chair Pamela Harvey, Esq. have led this seminal event for over two decades.