Johnson v. Board of Appeals of Andover
Massachusetts Appeals Court · 2010-11-22
The case concerned whether an eminent domain taking of part of a larger parcel in 1971 for school purposes eliminated the remaining lot's (lot 38) grandfathered exemption from a one-acre minimum lot size requirement under the Andover zoning by-law and G.L. c. 40A, §6, fourth par. The developer plaintiff acquired the now-undersized, vacant lot and was denied a building permit, variance, and special permit by the board of appeals, a decision upheld by the Land Court on summary judgment. The Appeals Court affirmed, holding that the taking created a distinct new parcel that was not entitled to the original parcel's pre-1971 grandfather protection, as the lot as it existed after the taking did not qualify under the statute's requirements for recorded instruments predating the zoning change. The decision rested on the principle that statutory grandfathering protects only the specific pre-taking configuration and does not automatically transfer to the remainder after eminent domain alters the parcel's boundaries and ownership status.