Attorneys Kay Doyle and Joel Bard received an Appeals Court affirmation of their victory on behalf of the Town of Pembroke in Plymouth Superior Court in Town of Pembroke v. Foundation for Humanity. The Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a Superior Court judgment in favor of the Town, finding that the six-year statute of limitations in the state Zoning Act did not bar the Town from enforcing its Zoning Bylaws prohibiting multi-family dwellings where the property owner received building permits for single-family dwelling units on the same property.
The case establishes that inaccurate descriptions in building permit applications cannot later be used to bar zoning enforcement. The Appeals Court also ruled that a property owner may not collaterally attack the substance of a cease and desist order in Court after failing to file the proper administrative appeal from the cease and desist order.