Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
Those familiar with construction in Massachusetts know all too well the numerous types of building permits, approvals, orders of conditions, and the like that may be required to proceed with construction work on a given...more
Last week, in an important decision for land-use and development lawyers, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled in Palmer Renewable Energy, LLC v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Springfield that permit extensions granted by the...more
Porter v. Bd. of Appeal of Bos., No. 22-P-974, 2024 WL 187241 (Mass. App. Ct. Jan. 18, 2024). The case of Porter v. Bd. of Appeal of Boston is the latest case that involves an eternal question posed by developers: how...more
Welcome to the Third Issue of Sullivan’s Zoning and Development Newsletter- This newsletter is a collaboration between members of our Permitting & Land Use Practice Group and the Litigation Department, in order to provide...more
Multiple applications for a development project are not required where the first permit denial makes clear that no development of the property would be allowed under any circumstance. Felkay v. City of Santa Barbara, No....more
In what passes for high drama in the world of Massachusetts land use law, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), after hearing oral argument last Thursday in an important case involving standing in zoning appeals, entered an order...more
A $6.75 million judgment was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, against a developer that whitewashed 45 spray-painted artworks on its site — several months before the demolition permits were issued....more
In a recent published decision, the California Court of Appeal had the opportunity to address this issue when the property owners of a beachside residence in the City of Los Angeles challenged a setback condition that the...more
In the recent decision of Publix Supermarkets, Inc., v. Miami-Dade County, Case No. 17-082 AP, the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in and for Miami-Dade County held: (i) the applicant successfully carried its burden in a...more
A recent Second Department decision applying the doctrine of laches highlights the importance of taking prompt action against a property owner who may be acting in violation of a zoning or building code....more
In the Matter of Strandkorb, LLC v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of East Hampton, dated February 11, 2019, the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, upheld the Town of East Hampton Zoning Board of Appeals determination which...more
In The Committee for Environmentally Sound Development v. Amsterdam Avenue Development Associates, LLC, 2019 WL 1206357, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 30621(U), Index No. 153819 (Sup. Ct. New York Co., March 14, 2019)...more
A court challenge to a local agency’s decision to grant a coastal development permit becomes moot when the Coastal Commission accepts an appeal of the decision, the California court of appeal ruled in Fudge v. City of Laguna...more
In Fudge v. City of Laguna (G055711), published on February 13, 2019, the Fourth District Court of Appeal joined the First and Sixth Districts by reaffirming the need for a litigant to wait for the California Coastal...more
A few months ago, we reported on a Court of Appeal decision, Bottini v. City of San Diego, where the Court held that delays resulting from a governmental agency’s improper denial of a permit application for a new development...more
Land Use and Development Case Summaries (short form) - 1. PLANNING AND ZONING - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE V. CITY OF MORENO VALLEY, 26 Cal. App. 5th 689 (2018) - Based on the language and...more
New York State Town Law § 277(9) authorizes a town Planning Board, to require a developer to provide a performance bond or other security covering the cost of installation of subdivision infrastructure and improvements in...more
On October 17, 2018, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department (“Second Department”) issued two (2) companion decisions arising out of three different attempts by Petitioners, Kleinknechts (“Petitioners”) to...more
The merger doctrine is alive and well in Massachusetts zoning law. In its recent decision in Kneer v. Zoning Board of Appeals of Norfolk, the Appeals Court examined whether the doctrine applies to property owned by a realty...more
The California Coastal Act establishes another layer of regulation governing “development” in the Coastal Zone. Development under the Coastal Act is defined to encompass essentially everything and anything. ...more
Given the complex zoning regulations that govern development of vacant land, in recent years, it has become uniquely challenging to develop smaller tracts of vacant land that do not conform to the current zoning code. ...more
It’s about time! Not since the notable 1961 adverse possession case Kershaw v. Zecchini have real estate litigators had an important decision inspired by circus performers....more
In Barkan, et al. v. Brown, et al., No. 17-MISC-000371 (Mass. Land Court, Nov. 27, 2017), the Land Court stopped a group of homeowners from attempting to have a second bite at stopping a neighbor’s development project. ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 30, 2017, denied a petition for certiorari filed by the developers of an 11-unit residential condominium project in the City of West Hollywood seeking to challenge the application by the City of...more
In Protect Telegraph Hill v. City and County of San Francisco (Sept. 14, 2017 Slip Opinion A148544, unpublished), the First District Court of Appeal upheld the City of San Francisco's determination that rehabilitation of a...more