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

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40B, § 22 (2026)

Appeal to housing appeals committee; procedure; judicial review

✓ current as of July 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 22. Whenever an application filed under the provisions of section twenty-one is denied, or is granted with such conditions and requirements as to make the building or operation of such housing uneconomic, the applicant shall have the right to appeal to the housing appeals committee in the executive office of housing and livable communities for a review of the same. Such appeal shall be taken within twenty days after the date of the notice of the decision by the board of appeals by filing with said committee a statement of the prior proceedings and the reasons upon which the appeal is based. The committee shall forthwith notify the board of appeals of the filing of such petition for review and the latter shall, within ten days of the receipt of such notice, transmit a copy of its decision and the reasons therefor to the committee. Such appeal shall be heard by the committee within twenty days after receipt of the applicant's statement. A stenographic record of the proceedings shall be kept and the committee shall render a written decision, based upon a majority vote, stating its findings of fact, its conclusions and the reasons therefor within thirty days after the termination of the hearing, unless such time shall have been extended by mutual agreement between the committee and the applicant; provided, however, that the committee shall provide notice to the secretary of any such extension or other failure to perform action by the deadlines set forth in this section and the reason for such delay; provided further, that the secretary shall annually, not later than November 1, submit to the governor and the joint committee on housing a summary of such delays including, but not limited to: (i) any deadlines missed pursuant to this section for each applicable appeal; (ii) the reason for any such delay; (iii) the total number of days, from the date of the committee's receipt of the applicant's statement of the prior proceedings, in which the committee ultimately issued a written decision or, if such appeal is in progress at the time the report is submitted, the projected number of days beyond the deadlines listed herein as may be necessary for the committee to issue a decision; and (iv) the board that issued the denial or conditions and requirements being appealed by the applicant. Such decision may be reviewed in the superior court in accordance with the provisions of chapter thirty A.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 41 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1973–2025 · leading case: Town of Middleborough v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 449 Mass. 514 (Mass. 2007).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Town of Middleborough v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 449 Mass. 514 (Mass. 2007). · cites it 4× “The defendant, Delphic Associates, LLC (Delphic), sought a comprehensive permit from the board, see G. L. c. 40B, § 22, which the board denied.”
Bd. of Appeals of Hanover v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 294 N.E.2d 393 (Mass. 1973). · cites it 6× “40B, § § 20 and 21, and the applicants appealed to the committee pursuant to G. L. c. 40B, § 22. The committee rendered two decisions, in each case reversing the board and ordering the issuance of the permit.”
Taylor v. Bd. of Appeals, 451 Mass. 270 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 8× “When a local zoning board issues a comprehensive permit for the construction of low or moderate income *271 housing, but imposes conditions or requirements that the developer believes make the building or operation of such housing uneconomic, G. L. c. 40B, § 22, authorizes the…”
Zoning Bd. of Appeals v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 433 N.E.2d 873 (Mass. 1982). · cites it 3× “Pursuant to G. L. c. 40B, § 22, Cedar Street appealed the board’s decision to HAC.”
Bd. of Appeals v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 887 N.E.2d 1051 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 5× “” G. L. c. 40B, § 22. 5 When a denial is reviewed by the committee, the local board of appeals has “the burden of proving, first, that there is a valid .”
Eisai, Inc. v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 52 N.E.3d 1097 (Mass. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 4× “” The developer appealed to the HAC under G. L. c. 40B, § 22. The HAC granted the abutters permission to participate in the proceedings as interveners.”
Milton Commons Assoc. v. BD. OF APP. OF MILTON, 436 N.E.2d 1236 (Mass. App. Ct. 1982). · cites it 3× “” G. L. c. 40B, § 22, inserted by St. 1969, c.”
Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Amesbury v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 933 N.E.2d 74 (Mass. 2010). · cites it 2× “On October 16, 2006, Attitash appealed from the board’s decision to the HAC pursuant to G. L. c. 40B, § 22, 3 and in January, 2007, it filed a motion for summary decision.”
Taylor v. Bd. of Appeals, 863 N.E.2d 79 (Mass. App. Ct. 2007). · cites it 9× “The developers appealed the same decision to the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC), G. L. c. 40B, § 22 (HAC appeal). After the HAC acted on the developers’ appeal, the abutters appealed that HAC decision to Superior Court pursuant to G.”
Town of Hingham v. Dep't of Hous. & Cmty. Dev., 451 Mass. 501 (Mass. 2008). · cites it 2× “The Act does, however, allow a party whose permit was denied the opportunity to appeal from the local zoning board’s decision to the department’s housing appeals committee (HAC).”
Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Greenfield v. Hous. Appeals Comm., 446 N.E.2d 748 (Mass. App. Ct. 1983). · cites it 2× “The board sought judicial review (pursuant to G. L. c. 40B, § 22, and G. L. c. 30A, § 14) of HAC’s determination that a comprehensive permit should issue, and a declaration (pursuant to G.”
Zoning Bd. of Appeals v. Ardemore Apts. Ltd. P'ship, 436 Mass. 811 (Mass. 2002). “40B, § 20, the applicant may appeal to HAC, G. L. c. 40B, § 22, which conducts a de novo review to determine whether a local zoning board’s decision is “reasonable and consistent with local needs.”
Show all 41 citing cases →
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.