Liberty Commons Realty Trust v. Leominster Materials Corp.

8 Mass. L. Rptr. 135
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedJanuary 5, 1998
DocketNo. 962518B
StatusPublished

This text of 8 Mass. L. Rptr. 135 (Liberty Commons Realty Trust v. Leominster Materials Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Liberty Commons Realty Trust v. Leominster Materials Corp., 8 Mass. L. Rptr. 135 (Mass. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

Travers, J.

INTRODUCTION

On July 11, 1997, the Plaintiff, Liberty Commons Really Trust (Plaintiff) filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Subsequently, on November 21, 1997, at a hearing on the present motion, the Court (Travers, J.), allowed Plaintiffs motion to treat the motion for judgment on the pleadings as a motion for summary judgment. The Court thus addresses the present motion as a motion for summary judgment.

The Defendant, Leominster Materials Corporation (LMC) opposed the motion for summary judgment. No opposition was received by the individual Defendants constituting the Board of Appeals for the City of Leominster.

BACKGROUND

The Court notes at the outset that the Plaintiff, the moving party, provided only two letters, dated December 3, 1986 and September 6, 1991, in support of the factual allegations contained within its motion for summary judgment. Thus, the facts outlined below are as construed from these two letters and by those supporting affidavits and materials submitted by LMC in opposition to the Plaintiffs motion.

The present action is the result of a history of antagonism between the Plaintiff and LMC. The Plaintiff owns a condominium complex in Leominster known as the Wildwood Condominiums. The original owners, Gerald J. Crowley and Jeannie Barry, were granted a conditional variance by the Leominster Board of Appeals after a hearing on December 1, 1986, which allowed Crowley to build the condominium complex. The condition set forth in the Board’s Findings and Decision was that “a buffer be maintained between the properties agreeable to both Gerald J. Crowley, the applicant and to Dominic Testa, Jr., of 154 Willard St., Leominster, Ma. the abutter.” Although the recapitulation of the hearing was set forth, indicating that fifteen acres of land were to be deeded to the City of Leominster, this was not made a condition in the Board’s Findings and Decision. Rather, this appears to be the statement of Pat Scorzelli, acting for Crowley through a power of attorney, while detailing the project.

As set forth in a letter dated December 3, 1986, the Leominster Planning Board conditionally approved the construction of the one hundred forty units in a condominium complex off Willard Street in Leominster, Massachusetts. The conditions placed on the ap[136]*136proval were as follows: “1. The applicant/owner will permanently deed restrict the rear parcel denoted on the Site Plan as Limited Industrial II to remain as such; 2. The applicant/owner will widen the private driveway

On September 6, 1991, the Leominster Planning Board sent a letter to the Legal Affairs Committee of the City Counsel. The letter informed the Chairman that, after public hearing, the Planning Board voted to rezone the surrounding area to Planned Development District, given the “predominance of single family and multi-family uses in the area.” It is unclear whether this area included the rear parcel at issue.

According to the affidavit of Paul J. Keating, President of LMC, in 1995, the Plaintiff began construction of an apartment complex on the rear parcel of land which was to be deed restricted as Limited Industrial II. Keating further states that upon information and belief, that parcel of land was never deed restricted. This Court refuses to give evidentiary value to this latter statement, as it does not verify that Keating did a search of the title on that parcel which would otherwise reveal whether there is actually a deed restriction on record.

LMC owns property on Jungle Road, Leominster, which is located near the Plaintiffs property. LMC obtained approval of a Site Plan which requires LMC to remove rock and ledge. The Plaintiff appealed the approval of the Plan to the Board of Appeals. The Board denied the appeal on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction over the approval of the Site Plan. The Plaintiff filed a complaint with the Superior Court seeking an order that, inter alia, the Board’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, and that the Board has jurisdiction. This matter was dismissed.

The attachments to the unverified complaint are set forth for purpose of establishing the facts as they exist at the present time. On April 3, 1996, LMC requested that the Leominster Director of Inspections issue a cease and desist order to prevent the Plaintiff from completing the construction and the occupation of the apartment complex; the building permit and certificates of occupancy be revoked; the apartment buildings be dismantled and removed from the parcel of land, and that only activities within the Limited Industrial II use be allowed on that parcel. It is unclear whether any action was taken by the Inspector, however, LMC appealed to the Board of Appeals in the Office of the Building Inspector on July 18, 1996.

On August 5, 1996, the Plaintiff sought injunctive and declaratory relief in an effort to determine whether Board members have a conflict of interest which would prevent them from hearing LMC’s appeal. On August 7, 1996, the Superior Court (Fremont-Smith, J.) ordered that the appeal be postponed until after a trial on the merits was completed. The Court ordered in the alternative that the appeal could go forward if the Board members in question voluntarily recused themselves. A subsequent order issued on September 3, 1996 (Travers, J.), held that the hearing on the appeal “shall not be held prior to October 2, 1996, without further order of this Court or the consent of the parties to this action.”

There is no indication what action, if any, was taken by the Board. LMC delivered a letter to the City Clerk’s office on November 8, 1996, stating that the Board of Appeals did not act, and therefore, LMC’s appeal is presumptively allowed.

The present Complaint followed on November 21, 1996. Through the Complaint, the Plaintiff is seeking an order annulling the Board’s purported constructive approval, allowing the Plaintiff to use and occupy the apartment complex, and award attorneys fees and costs for filing a frivolous appeal which was not advanced in good faith.

The Plaintiff seeks summary judgment on its Complaint, alleging that there are no material facts in dispute and it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Specifically, the Plaintiff alleges that LMC lacks standing to appeal the Inspector’s inaction, because it is not an aggrieved party, that the Board lacks jurisdiction over the issue, and the Board cannot require the Plaintiff to permanently deed restrict the parcel. LMC opposes the motion for summary judgment, arguing that the parcel where the complex is located is subject to the permanent deed restriction, and thus it is entitled to have the complex dismantled and shut down as an aggrieved party.

DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment will be granted where there are no genuine issues of material fact and where the record presented entitles the moving party to judgment as a matter of law. See Cassesso v. Commissioner of Correction, 390 Mass. 419, 422 (1983); Community Nat’l Bank v. Dawes, 369 Mass. 550, 553 (1976); Mass.R.Civ.P. 56(c) (1997). The moving party bears “the burden of demonstrating that there is no genuine issue of material fact on every relevant issue.” Pederson v. Time, Inc., 404 Mass. 14, 17 (1989).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hogan v. Hayes
474 N.E.2d 1158 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1985)
Green v. Board of Appeals of Provincetown
536 N.E.2d 584 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1989)
Pederson v. Time, Inc.
532 N.E.2d 1211 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1989)
Community National Bank v. Dawes
340 N.E.2d 877 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1976)
Green v. Board of Appeals of Provincetown
529 N.E.2d 159 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1988)
Waltham Motor Inn, Inc. v. LaCava
326 N.E.2d 348 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1975)
Kourouvacilis v. General Motors Corp.
575 N.E.2d 734 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1991)
Cassesso v. Commissioner of Correction
456 N.E.2d 1123 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1983)
Commonwealth v. Dowd
638 N.E.2d 923 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1994)
Worcester County Christian Communications, Inc. v. Board of Appeals
491 N.E.2d 634 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1986)
Vokes v. Avery W. Lovell, Inc.
468 N.E.2d 271 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
8 Mass. L. Rptr. 135, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/liberty-commons-realty-trust-v-leominster-materials-corp-masssuperct-1998.