Massachusetts General Laws
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, § 1 (2026)
Title of chapter
✓ text as last checked Sept. 2026 (this copy records no edition or section history)
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Section 1. This chapter shall be known and may by cited as ''The Zoning Act''.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1976–2025 · leading case: Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Plan. Bd. of Bourne, 779 N.E.2d 159 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002).
Cumberland Farms, Inc. v. Plan. Bd. of Bourne, 779 N.E.2d 159 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “The Zoning Act, G. L. c. 40A, §§ 1 et seq., does not specifically recognize site plan review as an independent method of regulation.”
W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. v. City Council of Cambridge, 779 N.E.2d 141 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “On appeal, Grace asserts (1) the amendments exceeded the city’s police powers as expressed in G. L. c. 40A, §§ 1 et seq. (the Zoning Act); (2) the amendments constituted “reverse” spot zoning, and were therefore unlawful; and (3) regardless of the validity of the amendments, the…”
McLean Hosp. Corp. v. Town of Belmont, 778 N.E.2d 1016 (Mass. App. Ct. 2002). “We see nothing in the Zoning Act, G. L. c. 40A, §§ 1 et seq., or in other applicable legal principles that prohibits a municipality from negotiating with a private landholder to bring about the receipt of benefits for desirable public purposes once otherwise valid zoning has…”
Dufault v. Millennium Power Partners, L.P., 727 N.E.2d 87 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000). “40A nor the by-law bestows such authority and that the plaintiffs’ only recourse, now time-barred, lay in review pursuant to the certiorari statute, G.”
Woodland Estates v. Bldg. Inspector of Methuen, 358 N.E.2d 468 (Mass. App. Ct. 1976). “5 See now G. L. c. 40A, § 1, as appearing in St. 1975, c.”
Giuliano v. Town of Edgartown, 531 F. Supp. 1076 (D. Mass. 1982). “I Success on the Merits Plaintiffs do not claim that defendants exceeded their authority under the Massachusetts Zoning Enabling Act, M.G.L. c. 40A, § 1 et seq., in denying plaintiff Giuliano’s application for a special permit under Article XI, section 11.”
Sprint Spectrum, L.P. v. City of Woburn, 8 F. Supp. 2d 118 (D. Mass. 1998). “Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40A, § 1 et seq., the City of Woburn, through its legislative body, the City Council, enacted ordinances to regulate the development of land throughout the city.”
Am. Towers, LLC v. Shrewsbury Town of, No. 1:17-cv-10642, 2018 WL 3104105 (D. Mass. June 22, 2018). “A town’s zoning ordinance or bylaw may provide that a particular use is allowed in an area, allowed only by special permit, or not allowed at all.”
Mannai Home LLC v. City of Fall River, Massachusetts, No. 1:17-cv-11915 (D. Mass. Feb. 5, 2019). “See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, § 1 et seq. The Zoning Act allows towns to regulate the maximum and minimum dimensions of structures and lots allowed in certain zoned areas.”
Eco-Site II, LLC v. The Town of Wilmington, No. 1:17-cv-10304 (D. Mass. Mar. 25, 2019). “” See Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, §§ 1 et seq. “The [Massachusetts] Zoning Act allows towns to regulate the maximum and minimum dimensions of structures and lots allowed in certain zoned areas.”
Bak Realty, LLC, & Another v. City of Fitchburg & Another, 253 N.E.3d 1231 (Mass. 2025). “1 (1995), our Legislature amended § 3 of the Zoning Act, G. L. c. 40A, §§ 1 et seq., to do the same,[6] see St.”
Abraham Props., Inc. v. Eng'g Design Consultants, Inc., 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 678 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2008). “Viewing the evidence most favorably to the defendant, EDC does not qualify as a “zoning administrator” pursuant to the definition in G.L.c. 40A, § 1 A. Further, nowhere in G.”
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