How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
Before adjudication, a court must determine whether a plaintiff has standing. Standing means that the party has a right to access the courts for a particular dispute. A petitioner bears the burden to show an actual injury and...more
Generally, many property owners assume that where a lot is held in single and separate ownership they are entitled to an area variance “as of right.” That is not entirely true. An exception to the single and separate...more
In Matter of O’Connor and Son’s Home Improvement, LLC v. Acevedo, et al., the petitioner, O’Connor and Son’s Home Improvement, LLC (“Petitioner”), owns a 120-foot by 57-foot parcel of property (the “Property”) located in the...more
In 2017, 8 Bayberry Rd, LLC submitted an application to the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village of Bellport (“ZBA”) seeking several variances to convert an existing three-car garage into a squash court and work out area...more
In Dodge v. Baker, Plaintiff and Defendants are neighboring property owners of two parcels of land located in the Village of Sodus (the “Village”), in Wayne County, New York (the “Parcels”). Each parcel was created as the...more
A proposed development - A developer has obtained planning permission to build some affordable housing, but the land on which it wishes to build borders my land. Several years ago, when the land was divided up from a...more
If you know someone with property that borders, is adjacent to, or abuts a natural lake, pond, bay, sea, or ocean, they may have littoral property rights. What that means is they may have the right to build a pier out to the...more
Applicants sought to subdivide two lots located at 550 Hill Street and 554 Hill Street in the Village of Southampton into three residential lots with a 25 foot wide access easement along the southerly side of an adjoining...more
Trending Now: Massachusetts SJC Ruling: Good News for Owners and Developers - The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued a written decision in Murchison v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Sherborn, et al. (SJC-12867) on...more
A decision late last year from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), 477 Harrison Ave., LLC v. JACE Boston, LLC (pdf), gives real estate developers a surprising new weapon when confronted by litigious neighbors....more
When landowners oppose a project that involves the rezoning of a neighboring property, they almost always have the opportunity to air their grievances through a public hearing process. If the rezoning is approved over their...more
Staff of the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC or Commission) will introduce for discussion at the February 14, 2018 Commission meeting proposed revisions to the Commission’s application of the adjacency principle,...more