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The Community Caretaker Doctrine Extends to Warrantless Entry of a Residence
Police serve many critical community functions other than law enforcement: crowd control, responding to accidents and other emergencies,...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 30, 20202 min read
What to Do When Your Website and Notice of Meetings are Offline
A number of municipal websites throughout the Commonwealth recently were impacted by an outage. Municipalities that have designated their...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 31, 20201 min read
Municipal Ownership by Prescriptive Easement is Not a Taking
Another recent Supreme Judicial Court decision, Gentili v. Town of Sturbridge, sheds light on the distinction between a municipality’s...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 31, 20202 min read
The Tort Claims Act Requires “Presentment” of a Claim within Two Years.The SJC Defines It.
It is well known that, before a municipality may be sued for a tort such as negligence, claimants must “present” their claims to the...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Mar 31, 20202 min read
Rapid Fire Updates - February 2020
Check out the new DLS Municipal Finance Training and Resource Center! It is full of helpful videos and documents. DLS even has its own...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 21, 20201 min read
City Preliminarily Enjoined from Enforcing its Marijuana Moratorium
On January 24, 2020, a Middlesex Superior Court judge enjoined the City of Cambridge from enforcing an ordinance that prohibits...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 21, 20202 min read
The Tort Claims Act Applies to Municipal “Commercial” Services but Permits Class Actions
Our January newsletter promised an analysis of Magliacane v. City of Gardner, an important decision from the Supreme Judicial Court...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 21, 20202 min read
The Pesticide Control Act Does Not Preempt a Municipality’s Authority to Enforce Its Wetlands Bylaw
A recent Berkshire County Superior Court decision, Stockbridge Bowl Association, Inc. v. Town of Stockbridge Conservation Commission,...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Feb 21, 20202 min read
Rapid Fire Update - January 2020
New IGR Regarding Community Preservation Fund The Community Preservation Act has been the subject of considerable interpretation and...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 21, 20201 min read
Clamping Down on PFAS: MassDEP Finalizes Waste Site Cleanup Standards
Clamping Down on PFAS: MassDEP Finalizes Waste Site Cleanup Standards and Proposes Drinking Water Standards MassDEP’s march forward on...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 21, 20202 min read
New Ethics Commission Advisory on Gifts and Gratuities
The State Ethics Commission recently issued a new advisory on the kinds of gifts and gratuities a public employee may receive under...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 21, 20202 min read
Municipalities Maintain Substantial Degree of Control over Cannabis Establishment Licensing
Municipalities Maintain a Substantial Degree of Control over Adult Use Cannabis Establishment Licensing Through the Host Community...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Jan 21, 20202 min read
When Density Can Support Standing for Appeals of Land Use Decisions
The Appeals court, in Murchison v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Sherborn, recently clarified the circumstances under which a plaintiff will...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Oct 25, 20192 min read
This is the Story of Emily and Ruth, A Cautionary Tale for Municipal Zoos
Emily and Ruth are denizens of the City of New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park Zoo; they are Asian elephants. A citizen sympathetic to their...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Oct 25, 20192 min read
Rapid Fire Updates - October 2019
Information on Sale of Hemp-Derived Products Hemp is a variety of cannabis but without the levels of THC found in marijuana. Hemp is...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Oct 25, 20191 min read
The Red Sox and Eminent Domain: A Winning Combination
Die-hard Red Sox fans recall when the Red Sox were not terribly successful in reaching the pinnacle of Major League Baseball competition...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Oct 25, 20192 min read
Minority Members of a Board Cannot Control Litigation
A recent Federal District Court decision highlights the distinction between the supermajority vote of a Special Permit Granting Authority...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 30, 20192 min read
Town Meeting Moderators –You Set the Tone!
Town Meeting Time– the go-to guide for Town Meeting – states that, “[i]n King James’s day debate may have been properly classified in the...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 30, 20192 min read
Supervisor of Public Records Authorizes Town to Charge Fees for Segregation and Redaction
In our March newsletter, we reported on a statement by the Supervisor of Public Records that municipalities require her authorization to...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 30, 20191 min read
Rapid Fire Updates - April 2019
EPA: The Clean Water Act Does Not Apply to Groundwater On April 15, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an...
Miyares and Harrington, LLP
Apr 30, 20191 min read