Skawski v. Greenfield Investors Prop. Dev. LLC

Plaintiffs, who owned property abutting a proposed development, filed an appeal in the Housing Court from the decision of the planning board of Greenfield granting a special permit in favor of the developer to construct the project. The appeals court held that Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185, 3A deprived the Housing Court of subject matter jurisdiction to hear major development permit appeals. At issue before the Supreme Judicial Court was whether, by enacting Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 185, 3A, the legislature intended to grant exclusive subject matter jurisdiction to the permit session of the Land Court and to the Superior Court to hear a certain subset of major development permit appeals. The Supreme Judicial Court remanded the case to the Housing Court, holding (1) the legislature intended that major development permit appeals should be adjudicated only in the permit session of the Land Court or in the Superior court; and (2) in this case, where the permit appeal was timely filed in the Housing Court, the appropriate remedy is to transfer the case to a court with jurisdiction rather than dismiss the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. View "Skawski v. Greenfield Investors Prop. Dev. LLC" on Justia Law