Governor Healey signed the FY2027 budget on July 9, 2026, as Chapter 137 of the Acts of 2026. Among its provisions are the most consequential amendments to the Zoning Act, G.L. c. 40A, in years. The changes took effect July 1, 2026. Here are the changes that matter most to owners and developers. A new practical difficulty standard makes variances attainable for the first time in decades. Massachusetts long held one of the strictest variance standards in the country. An applic

The Massachusetts Land Court was created in 1898 to administer the Commonwealth’s land registration system. At its inception, its role was limited to registration proceedings and issues arising from them. Over time, the Legislature reassigned a wide range of real estate disputes to the court, transforming it into a specialized trial court with jurisdiction that now extends well beyond the mechanics of registration. Hawaii is the only other state with a land court, and its jur

Tree canopies don’t respect property lines. A tree planted a few feet inside one yard can end up shading the neighbor’s garden, dropping leaves and nuts across the fence, and turning a quiet backyard into a constant maintenance project. In older neighborhoods especially, it’s one of the most common (and most avoidable) sources of neighbor conflict: one person gets the beauty and shade, the other gets the cleanup and the dead hydrangeas. So what’s the rule in Massachusetts? Ca

The checkerboard pattern of land ownership in the American West has long posed a tricky legal question: when federally-owned parcels abut diagonally through private land, can someone move from one public parcel to the next without stepping on private property and still be lawfully using public land? That scenario, which is commonly called “corner-crossing”, is at the heart of a recent case with wide implications. In the case known as Iron Bar Holdings, LLC v. Cape the facts

Boston is preparing for one of its most significant downtown zoning changes in decades. In September 2025, the Boston Planning & Development Agency approved a plan that would reshape what can be built in the city’s historic core. The proposal allows for new towers in parts of downtown that were previously capped by strict height limits. In certain areas farther from parks and historic open spaces, buildings could now reach heights of up to 700 feet. Closer to landmarks such a

Yesterday Governor Maura Healey announced draft regulations intended to shorten the state’s environmental review timeline for certain housing developments. Under the current system, environmental review for large projects often stretches beyond a year. The proposal released on September 9 would allow qualifying developments to avoid preparing a full Environmental Impact Report. Instead, those projects could complete review using the shorter Environmental Notification Form. Th

NOTE: I wrote this in the Summer of 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 1998, pig farmers in Peninsular Malaysia began developing a severe and unfamiliar illness. The symptoms included high fever along with serious respiratory complications and swelling of the brain. The disease progressed quickly and frequently proved fatal. Within a year more than one hundred people had died, and farming communities across the region were thrown into crisis. Vira

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a sharply divided 5 - 4 ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency , 604 U.S. ___, 145 S. Ct. 704, that places clear limits on how the Environmental Protection Agency may regulate water quality through its permitting authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The decision invalidates two provisions of San Francisco’s discharge permit that, in the Court’s view, improperly made the city responsib