Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title VII Chapter 40A
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, § 15 (2026)

Appeals to permit granting authority; notice; time; boards of appeal hearings; procedure

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 15. Any appeal under section eight to a permit granting authority shall be taken within thirty days from the date of the order or decision which is being appealed. The petitioner shall file a notice of appeal specifying the grounds thereof, with the city or town clerk, and a copy of said notice, including the date and time of filing certified by the town clerk, shall be filed forthwith by the petitioner with the officer or board whose order or decision is being appealed, and to the permit granting authority, specifying in the notice grounds for such appeal. Such officer or board shall forthwith transmit to the board of appeals or zoning administrator all documents and papers constituting the record of the case in which the appeal is taken.

Any appeal to a board of appeals from the order or decision of a zoning administrator, if any, appointed in accordance with section thirteen shall be taken within thirty days of the date of such order or decision or within thirty days from the date on which the appeal, application or petition in question shall have been deemed denied in accordance with said section thirteen, as the case may be, by having the petitioner file a notice of appeal, specifying the grounds thereof with the city or town clerk and a copy of said notice including the date and time of filing certified by the city or town clerk shall be filed forthwith in the office of the zoning administrator and in the case of an appeal under section eight with the officer whose decision was the subject of the initial appeal to said zoning administrator. The zoning administrator shall forthwith transmit to the board of appeals all documents and papers constituting the record of the case in which the appeal is taken. An application for a special permit or petition for variance over which the board of appeals or the zoning administrator as the case may be, exercise original jurisdiction shall be filed by the petitioner with the city or town clerk, and a copy of said appeal, application or petition, including the date and time of filing, certified by the city or town clerk, shall be transmitted forthwith by the petitioner to the board of appeals or to said zoning administrator.

Meetings of the board shall be held at the call of the chairman or when called in such other manner as the board shall determine in its rules. The board of appeals shall hold a hearing on any appeal, application or petition within sixty-five days from the receipt of notice by the board of such appeal, application or petition. The board shall cause notice of such hearing to be published and sent to parties in interest as provided in section eleven. The chairman, or in his absence the acting chairman, may administer oaths, summon witnesses, and call for the production of papers.

The concurring vote of all members of the board of appeals consisting of three members, and a concurring vote of four members of a board consisting of five members, shall be necessary to reverse any order or decision of any administrative official under this chapter or to effect any variance in the application of any ordinance or by-law.

All hearings of the board of appeals shall be open to the public. The decision of the board shall be made within one hundred days after the date of the filing of an appeal, application or petition, except in regard to special permits, as provided for in section nine. The required time limits for a public hearing and said action, may be extended by written agreement between the applicant and the board of appeals. A copy of such agreement shall be filed in the office of the city or town clerk. Failure by the board to act within said one hundred days or extended time, if applicable, shall be deemed to be the grant of the appeal, application or petition. The petitioner who seeks such approval by reason of the failure of the board to act within the time prescribed shall notify the city or town clerk, in writing, within fourteen days from the expiration of said one hundred days or extended time, if applicable, of such approval and that notice has been sent by the petitioner to parties in interest. The petitioner shall send such notice to parties in interest, by mail and each notice shall specify that appeals, if any, shall be made pursuant to section seventeen and shall be filed within twenty days after the date the city or town clerk received such written notice from the petitioner that the board failed to act within the time prescribed. After the expiration of twenty days without notice of appeal pursuant to section seventeen, or, if appeal has been taken, after receipt of certified records of the court in which such appeal is adjudicated, indicating that such approval has become final, the city or town clerk shall issue a certificate stating the date of approval, the fact that the board failed to take final action and that the approval resulting from such failure has become final, and such certificate shall be forwarded to the petitioner. The board shall cause to be made a detailed record of its proceedings, indicating the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and setting forth clearly the reason for its decision and of its official actions, copies of all of which shall be filed within fourteen days in the office of the city or town clerk and shall be a public record, and notice of the decision shall be mailed forthwith to the petitioner, applicant or appellant, to the parties in interest designated in section eleven, and to every person present at the hearing who requested that notice be sent to him and stated the address to which such notice was to be sent. Each notice shall specify that appeals, if any, shall be made pursuant to section seventeen and shall be filed within twenty days after the date of filing of such notice in the office of the city or town clerk.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 178 cases (12 in the last 5 years), 1958–2026 · leading case: Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers of New York, Inc. v. Bd. of Appeal, 909 N.E.2d 1161 (Mass. 2009).
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Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers of New York, Inc. v. Bd. of Appeal, 909 N.E.2d 1161 (Mass. 2009). · cites it 3× “40A, § 8. The act requires that a board create “a detailed record of its proceedings” and set forth “clearly” the “reason for its decision and of its official actions.”
Capone v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Fitchburg, 451 N.E.2d 1141 (Mass. 1983). · cites it 5× “The Capone case requires us to construe those provisions of G. L. c. 40A, § 15, which attempt to define the circumstances under which a party’s petition for zoning relief will be deemed to have been constructively granted by inaction of a zoning board of appeals.”
Connors v. Annino, 460 Mass. 790 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 3× “Annino filed a motion to dismiss, arguing in part that the plaintiffs’ appeal to the board had not been timely filed under G. L. c. 40A, § 15, thereby depriving the board as well as the Land Court of subject matter jurisdiction.”
DiGiovanni v. Bd. of Appeals of Rockport, 474 N.E.2d 198 (Mass. App. Ct. 1985). · cites it 4× “It went on to state that DiGiovanni could request a modification of the 1978 variance or appeal the stop work order to the board pursuant to G. L. c. 40A, § 15. 4 The form the board provides for zoning-related matters contains four “boxes.”
Zuckerman v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Greenfield, 477 N.E.2d 132 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 5× “In this case we are asked to interpret the requirement of G. L. c. 40A, § 15, that a zoning board of appeals file its decision “within fourteen days.”
Gallivan v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 887 N.E.2d 1087 (Mass. App. Ct. 2008). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 40A, § 15, as appearing in St. 1987, c.”
Warren v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Amherst, 416 N.E.2d 1382 (Mass. 1981). · cites it 2× “” This statement appears to have been based on the provisions of G. L. c. 40A, § 15, as amended through St.”
City Council of Waltham v. Vinciullo, 307 N.E.2d 316 (Mass. 1974). · cites it 3× “1 On August 9, 1971, after a trial, a Superior Court judge ruled that there had been no showing of substantial hardship especially affecting the property in question, within the meaning of G. L. c. 40A, § 15, which would result from enforcement of the zoning regulations.”
Burnham v. Town of Hadley, 790 N.E.2d 1098 (Mass. App. Ct. 2003). · cites it 3× “First, Burnham claims that the board violated G. L. c. 40A, § 15, 3 as amended by St. 1987, c.”
Miles-Matthias v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 4 N.E.3d 309 (Mass. App. Ct. 2014). · cites it 4× “However, because G. L. c. 40A, § 15, requires four votes to overturn the building commissioner, the zoning board ultimately affirmed the building commissioner’s determination that Dias’s driveway was permissible.”
Racette v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Gardner, 541 N.E.2d 369 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). · cites it 6× “The judge determined that the petition had been constructively granted under the provisions of G. L. c. 40A, § 15, as appearing in St. 1975, c.”
Dion v. Bd. of Appeals of Waltham, 183 N.E.2d 479 (Mass. 1962). · cites it 3× “See G. L. c. 40A, § 15, cl. 3 (as amended through St.”
Show all 178 citing cases →
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, § 15(1) — 1 case
McCausland v. Bd. of Appeals, 375 N.E.2d 335 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978).
— Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40A, § 15(3) — 4 cases
Boyajian v. Bd. of Appeal of Welleslev, 374 N.E.2d 1237 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978).
Simone v. Bd. of Appeals of Haverhill, 380 N.E.2d 718 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978).
Costa v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 374 N.E.2d 1239 (Mass. App. Ct. 1978).
Lewicki v. Bd. of Appeals, 394 N.E.2d 1129 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979).
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