Locations
Easton/Main Office:
Tel. 508.238.0003
Chatham Office:
Tel. 508.945.1000
Wellfleet Office:
Tel. 508.349.2200
Record That Variance!
Published on 06/10/09 10:41AM by Bruce A. BierhansVery often, a homeowner recieves a variance for an addition, or some other structural change, and then sets about the process of obtaining other approvals such as those from the Planning Board or Board of Health. Sometimes, particularly if there are conservation issues, the process can take more than a year.
However, Mass. Lawyers Weekly reports that the Mass. SJC has ruled that a property owners failure to record his variance within one year of its' issuance prohibited him from moving forward.
The plaintiff owned a 14 acre parcel in Dracut. He wanted to subdivide the lot and the smaller lot required a frontage variance. He didn't obtain approvals from the Planning Board, Board of Health and the Conservation Commission until after a year had elapsed since the grant of the variance. The building inspector then refused to issue a building permit.
The court, agreeing with a decision of a Land Court judge stated "...a variance does not take effect until it is recorded and that the recording of a variance within one year of its grant is necessary to exercise it...The variance could not become operative, and by implication, could not be exercised, until it was recorded."
For property owners that undertake this process without counsel, this is a very important decision.
Bruce A. Bierhans