Attorney Blog
SJC Nixes Boston Waterfront Harbor Plan and with it the Harbor Tower Garage and the Municipal Harbor Plan Approval Process: Stay Tuned for Revamped MassDEP MHP Regulations
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) granted direct appellate review and decided on July 12, 2022, the case of Katherine Armstrong et al v. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs et al, 490 Mass. 243 (2022), and a consolidated case brought by the Conservation Law Foundation of New England, Inc. (CLF) and others.
Boston Waterfront Condo Case Reminds Us Who Can Enforce Public Trust Principles
Property owners lack legal authority to use private litigation to enforce their public trust rights. Only the Commonwealth may enforce public trust rights in Commonwealth tidelands and other waterfront areas.
Court Decision Reminds Us Who Can Enforce The Public Trust Doctrine and Reserved Public Rights in Tidelands
Only the Commonwealth may enforce public trust rights in Commonwealth tidelands. Property owners lack legal authority to use private litigation for enforcement of public trust rights. That important principle was reinforced in the Massachusetts Appeals Court’s July 10, 2018 decision in the case of Commercial Wharf East Condominium Assoc. v. Boston Boat Basin, LLC, 93 Mass. App. Ct. 523 (2018).
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