Zoning

Neighbor cannot compel city to enforce zoning ordinance

The Florida Supreme Court has held that cities cannot be compelled to enforce zoning laws. In City of West Palm Beach v. Haver, 2021 Fla. LEXIS 1572 (Fla. 2021), a neighbor sought a court order to force the city to enforce a zoning prohibition on a group home. The court ruled that it would exceed the legitimate role of the courts to order city officials to comply with local zoning laws when the decision in question is one that has traditionally been discretionary on the part of public officials... Read more about Neighbor cannot compel city to enforce zoning ordinance

Town esthetic zoning law does not violate the owner's free speech rights

The Eleventh Circuit ruled that a town could prevent an owner from building a home that had an architectural design out of keeping with surrounding homes. Burns v. Town of Palm Beach, 2021 WL 2325300 (11th Cir. 2021). The owner hoped to demolish his home and build one more than twice as large in a midcentury modern style rather than the typical Palm Beach beachfront...

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Neighbor across the street denied standing to challenge a zoning variance

The Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has set a very high bar to obtain standing to object to a building permit. In Murchison v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Sherborn, 2020 WL 4012766 (Mass. 2020), owners across the street from an irregularly shaped lot objected to granting the owner a permit to build on it. The court found no harm that...

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Outdoor displays at florist shop not a prior conforming use

The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled that outdoor displays at a florist shop exceeded the scope of prior uses by the store and thus did not constitute a prior nonconforming use that could continue despite new zoning regulations requiring special permit for such uses. Leonard v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Hanover, 135 N.E.3d 288 (Mass. App. Ct. 2019). Although the court found the prior law to be confusing and badly written,... Read more about Outdoor displays at florist shop not a prior conforming use

Owner seeking special permit has burden of showing it will not harm neighbors

A zoning board granted a special permit to au auto body shop after placing the burden of proof on neighbors to show that the shop would release harmful chemicals into the air. The Court of Appeals reversed because the owner seeking the special permit (the auto shop) should have the burden of proving that its operation would not significantly decrease air quality. Fish v. Accidental Auto Body, Inc.,2019 WL 2236279, 95 Mass.App.Ct. 355(Mass. App. Ct. 2019). In addition, the Court found that there was evidence that... Read more about Owner seeking special permit has burden of showing it will not harm neighbors

Supreme Court opens federal courts to a floodgate of takings cases

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court overruled Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172 (1985) and held that owners aggrieved by state regulations they believe took their property without just compensation can immediately sue for relief in federal courts under 42 U.S.C. §1983 even if state law would have provided just compensation through administrative procedures....

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Town can alter zoning law retroactively to prohibit Airbnb use

The Massachusetts Land Court has ruled that a town may amend its zoning ordinance to prohibit Airbnb use and that retroactive application of the new law to those who established Airbnb use before it was passed is lawful. The owner had no right to have the prior Airbnb use "grandfathered in" as a prior nonconforming use under state statutes. Styller v. Aylward, 2018 Mass. LCR LEXIS 194 (Mass. Land Ct. 2018). Read more about Town can alter zoning law retroactively to prohibit Airbnb use

Reduction in property value held not sufficient to give an abutting neighbor standing to challenge a zoning decision to allow a group home for veterans to be created

Massachusetts law allows abutters to challenge zoning permit decisions only if they can show that they are affected by those decisions. In Walsh v. Town of Dennis Planning Bd.,26 LCR 89, 2018 Mass. LCR LEXIS 24 (Mass. Land Ct. 2018), the court clarified that the abutter needs to show harm to use of enjoyment of land and that a mere claimed reduction in...

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Landowner who reasonably relies on zoning administrator’s advice cannot be required to remove a noncomplying structure

In re Langlois/Novicki Variance Denial, 2017 VT 76, 2017 Vt. LEXIS 96, 2017 WL 3662437 (Vt. 2o17), the Vermont Supreme Court held that an owner cannot be compelled to remove a structure that violates the zoning law when the owner built the structure on the basis of advice given by the zoning admininstrator on its legality....

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