Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41, § 81Y (2026)

Restrictions on construction of public ways, improvements and buildings; liability of grantors, etc.; court jurisdiction

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 81Y. In any city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect, no public way shall be laid out, accepted or constructed, and no municipal service or improvement shall be constructed in a way within a subdivision, to serve the land therein, unless such way appears on a plan of such subdivision approved under such law, except by or in accordance with the affirmative vote of two thirds of those present and voting at a meeting of the city council or at a town meeting.

In any city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect, the board or officer, if any, having the power and duty to issue permits for the erection of buildings shall not issue any permit for the erection of a building until first satisfied that the lot on which the building is to be erected is not within a subdivision, or that a way furnishing the access to such lot as required by the subdivision control law is shown on a plan recorded or entitled to be recorded under section eighty-one X, and that any condition endorsed thereon limiting the right to erect or maintain buildings on such lot have been satisfied, or waived by the planning board, and in the event that the planning board has by rule or regulation required that not more than one building for dwelling purposes be erected or placed or converted to use as such on any lot without its consent, until satisfied that such consent has been obtained. In any city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect in which there is no board or officer having the power and duty to issue permits for the erection of buildings, no building shall be erected within a subdivision without written permission from the planning board of the city or town. Such permission shall be given when it appears that the subdivision control law, so far as applicable, has been complied with. If, however, the enforcement of the foregoing provisions of this paragraph would entail practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship, and if the circumstances of the case do not require that the building be related to a way shown on such plan, the board of appeal provided for in section eighty-one Z shall have power by vote of a majority of its members to issue a permit for the erection of such building, subject to the provisions of said section eighty-one Z and sections eighty-one AA and eighty-one BB.

If a subdivision of land has been made in a city or town while the subdivision control law is in effect in such city or town without a plan thereof recorded or entitled to be recorded under section eighty-one K, the person or persons executing and delivering the deed, mortgage or other instrument by which such subdivision was made shall be liable to each owner of such land or any part thereof who acquired title without notice or knowledge of such division having been made, for all damages sustained by such owner by reason of such failure to comply, in an action brought within one year after such delivery. Any person owning a lot in a subdivision, approval of which was required by the subdivision control law but not obtained, who did not make the subdivision and acquired title without notice or knowledge of the lack of such approval, may submit a plan of said lot and of the ways giving access thereto to the planning board, and such plan shall be acted upon in the same manner and with the same effect, so far as affects said lot and the rights of access appurtenant thereto, as a plan of a subdivision.

The superior court for the county in which the land affected by any of the provisions of the subdivision control law lies and the land court shall have jurisdiction in equity on petition of the planning board of a city or town, or of ten taxable inhabitants thereof, to review any action of any municipal board or officer of such city or town in disregard of the provisions of this section and to annul and enjoin such action, to enjoin the erection of a building in violation of this section, and otherwise to enforce the provisions of the subdivision control law and any rules or regulations lawfully adopted and conditions on the approval of a plan lawfully imposed thereunder, and may restrain by injunction violations thereof or make such decrees as justice and equity may require. No proceeding under this paragraph shall be instituted more than one year after the act or failure to act upon which such petition is based.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 24 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1959–2025 · leading case: Nantucket Land Coun. v. Plan. Bd., Nantucket, 361 N.E.2d 937 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977).

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Nantucket Land Coun. v. Plan. Bd., Nantucket, 361 N.E.2d 937 (Mass. App. Ct. 1977). · cites it 2× “41,4-81BB; (2) an action of an equitable nature under G. L. c. 41, § 81Y; (3) a proceeding under G.”

Hogan v. Hayes, 474 N.E.2d 1158 (Mass. App. Ct. 1985). · cites it 2× “More particularly, the plaintiffs point to G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, second par. (as appearing in St.”

Murphy v. Donovan, 352 N.E.2d 210 (Mass. App. Ct. 1976). · cites it 2× “at 688 ), and that the Daltons’ failure to reserve an easement to pass over the locus might well justify the refusal of an application *528 for a permit to build on any of the lots retained by the Daltons unless a new subdivision plan were filed and approved by the planning…”

Brush Hill Dev., Inc. v. Commonwealth, 155 N.E.2d 170 (Mass. 1959). · cites it 2× “” See G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, as appearing in St. 1953, c.”

Southwick v. Plan. Bd., 839 N.E.2d 351 (Mass. App. Ct. 2005). “82, §§ 21-24, as affected by G. L. c. 41, § 81Y.”

Patel v. Plan. Bd. of North Andover, 539 N.E.2d 544 (Mass. App. Ct. 1989). “On the other hand, the town could have required Barco to execute to it a written deed of easement and, if Barco failed to do so, could, within the one year limitations period, have brought an enforcement action under G. L. c. 41, § 81Y. The town’s own regulations provided that…”

Stefanick v. Plan. Bd., 657 N.E.2d 475 (Mass. App. Ct. 1995). “There is in the subdivision control law, at G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, fourth par., a one-year limitation period for actions to enforce the provisions of the subdivision control law by a planning board or by ten taxable inhabitants of the municipality concerned.”

Green v. Bd. of Appeal of Norwood, 263 N.E.2d 423 (Mass. 1970). “See G. L. c. 41, § 81Y. 8 Our decision of this aspect of the case rests on our interpretation of the architect’s plans as providing for no part of either building more than thirty feet above the surface of the adjacent ground.”

Knowles v. Codex Corp., 426 N.E.2d 734 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). “478, § 32; G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, as appearing in St. 1953, c.”

McCarthy v. Hurley, 24 Mass. App. Ct. 533 (Mass. App. Ct. 1987). “We note, however, that G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, bars the issuance of a building permit for a subdivision lot unless the access way required by the subdivision control statute is shown on a plan which is recorded, or entitled to be recorded, under G.”

Bloom v. Plan. Bd. of Brookline, 191 N.E.2d 684 (Mass. 1963). “This is a bill of complaint brought in the Superior Court on June 19,1962, by more than ten taxable inhabitants of Brookline under G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, to nullify an indorsement on a recorded plan, revoke building-permits, and enjoin the erection of buildings.”

Matulewicz v. Plan. Bd., 438 Mass. 37 (Mass. 2002). “” The board filed its own action in the Superior Court on April 14, 1999, seeking, under G. L. c. 41, § 81Y, annulment of the clerk’s certificate and a declaration, under G.”

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