Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40, § 15 (2026)

Abandonment of rights in realty; conditions

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 15. If any officer of a city or town having charge of any land, easement or right taken for such city or town, otherwise than by purchase, notifies the city council or the selectmen that, in his opinion, such land, easement or right, or part thereof, is no longer required for public purposes, and if thereafter the city council or the inhabitants of the town by a two thirds vote authorize the conveyance of such land, or of part thereof, or the abandonment of such easement or right, or part thereof, and specify the minimum amount to be paid for such conveyance or abandonment, the mayor or the selectmen may, for such amount or a larger amount, and upon such other terms as the mayor or selectmen shall consider proper, convey said land, or part thereof, by deed, or declare said easement or right, or part thereof, to be abandoned. Such declaration, being recorded in the registry of deeds for the district where the land is situated, shall extinguish the easement or right, or part thereof.

No land heretofore or hereafter acquired by eminent domain by one city or town within the limits of another city or town shall be conveyed under this section unless the mayor or selectmen authorized to convey such land offer to convey such land to the city or town wherein such land lies for the minimum amount specified as aforesaid, nor unless such offer is not accepted within six months after notice thereof is given to the mayor or selectmen of the city or town wherein such land lies by the mayor or selectmen authorized to convey, nor unless such conveyance is made within three months after the expiration of said six months. Land so offered to a city or town wherein it lies may be purchased by such city or town whether or not needed for the municipal purposes of such city or town, and, if so purchased and if such land is not needed for municipal purposes, it shall be disposed of as such city or town shall determine.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 13 cases, 1929–2011 · leading case: Muir v. City of Leominster, 317 N.E.2d 212 (Mass. App. Ct. 1974).

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Muir v. City of Leominster, 317 N.E.2d 212 (Mass. App. Ct. 1974). · cites it 5× “The petitioners contend that the conveyance is void for either of the following reasons: (1) that the conveyance was a diversion of park or kindred public land from a public use to a new and inconsistent private use without the city’s having first obtained the necessary…”

LeClair v. Town of Norwell, 430 Mass. 328 (Mass. 1999). “They claim that the town violated G. L. c. 40, § 15 A, by using Osborne Farm for a school septic system.”

Oliver v. Town of Mattapoisett, 17 Mass. App. Ct. 286 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 4× “One such qualifying statute is G. L. c. 40, § 15, as amended through St.”

Sancta Maria Hosp. v. City of Cambridge, 341 N.E.2d 674 (Mass. 1976). “) By analogy to the circumstances presented on this appeal, we note that G. L. c. 40, § 15, which deals with the conveyance of land acquired by a city other than by purchase, 7 provides for authority on the part of the city manager 8 to sell only a part of a tract authorized to…”

MacDonald v. Bd. of Street Commissioners, 167 N.E. 417 (Mass. 1929). · cites it 2× “reet commissióners as set forth in their notice and their express determination to discontinue said way as set forth in their said notice, and the act of discontinuance contemplated by them are ultra vires and illegal in that the defendants are not proceeding, and, so far as…”

Burnham v. Town of Hadley, 790 N.E.2d 1098 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). “’’ G. L. c. 40, § 15. This language leaves open the question of what happens if the board acts within one hundred days but then fails to file its decision within the fourteen days provided by the statute.”

Salem Sound Dev. Corp. v. City of Salem, 528 N.E.2d 504 (Mass. App. Ct. 1988). “286 (1983), is subject to the two-thirds approval requirement of G. L. c. 40, § 15.”

O'MALLEY v. Comm'r of Pub. Works of Boston, 165 N.E.2d 113 (Mass. 1960). “434, governing sales of tax title property, was prescribed by G. L. c. 40, § 15 (but see St. 1957, c. 147), in 1954 when the city sold to Salah.”

Ballantine v. Town of Falmouth, 294 N.E.2d 524 (Mass. App. Ct. 1973). “See G. L. c. 40, §§ 15,15A, 15B; G. L. c. 81, § 7E; and the statutory provisions discussed in the Salisbury Beach case (215 Mass, at 377-378).”

Roy v. Town of Spencer, 9 Mass. L. Rptr. 721 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1999). · cites it 5× “To the extent that the Selectmen have permitted the Suttons to barricade the path, Roy alleges that the Town and the Selectmen have failed in their performance of a public duty under G.L.c. 40, §15. 2 The defendants maintain that, as a private citizen, Roy lacks standing to…”

Town of Randolph v. Town of Stoughton, 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 73 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1997). · cites it 3× “30B, §16 and G.L.c. 40, §15. Finally, Count VII of the complaint seeks a declaration that, even assuming that the Planning Board’s ANR endorsement was proper, the resulting lot violates Stoughton Zoning By-law.”

Mason v. McCusker, 25 Mass. L. Rptr. 291 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2009). “Specifically, they argue that the ZBA’s failure to file within fourteen days of rendering the decision does not result in a constructive grant of the petition because the requirement to file a written decision with the Town Clerk is directory and not mandatory.”

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