Zoning and Development Newsletter

Sullivan is pleased to release the first issue of its Zoning and Development Newsletter, a collaboration between members of our Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and the Litigation Department, in order to provide our firm's clients and others interested in land use and permitting issues with an update on notable developments in the law that might be relevant to their projects.

This edition summarizes the following:

• The status of proposals to implement rent control in Boston and substantial changes to the Boston Planning & Development Agency (“BPDA”)
• A recent Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) case holding that the capital gain from the sale of urban development project that qualified for a G.L. c. 121A tax exemption is not taxable by the State of Massachusetts
• A Superior Court case that substantially narrows a multi-count complaint challenging the adoption of an amendment to a Planned Development Area in Boston
• Four decisions – including two appellate level decisions -- construing and applying the protection afforded to solar energy systems in G.L. c. 40A, § 3
• Two Land Court decisions holding that special permits cannot be denied on the basis of speculative concerns about worst-case- scenarios and anticipated future violations by the permit holder, and
• A SJC case construing the relatively new bond provision that applies to claims challenging zoning decisions under G.L. c. 40A, § 17

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