Category Archives: Economic Development
Municipal Permitting Timelines Resume on December 1
Effective December 1, municipal boards must follow the usual permitting deadlines following a COVID-19 statute enacted last week. Towns and cities had been operating under Section 17 of Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2020, which tolled the deadlines for commencing … Continue reading
Building the Boroughs: A Year in Review
In 2019, Mirick O’Connell’s permitting attorneys were proud to help our clients, large and small, with local approvals in Marlborough for 6 great projects. Thank you to our clients and the City of Marlborough for a wonderful year! Click here … Continue reading
Appeals Court Revisits Adverse Possession of Undeveloped Land
The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently reviewed adverse possession of wild and wooded areas. In Paine v. Sexton, 88 Mass. App. Ct. 389 (2015), the Plaintiff campground operators asserted rights to property based on record title and adverse possession. While it … Continue reading
Lt. Gov. Polito to Give Keynote at Boroughs+ Economic Development Summit on Jan. 26
Mirick O’Connell is proud to sponsor the Boroughs+ Economic Development Summit on January 26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough. The summit will feature a keynote address from Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A. To register for … Continue reading
Mirick O’Connell Hosts “Building the Boroughs+” Workshop On Improving Downtowns
Attorneys Art Bergeron and yours truly hosted a workshop for community leaders at the firm’s Westborough office on May 7th to share ideas and lessons learned on building and improving the downtowns in the Boroughs+ region. The program reflected a … Continue reading
Bullish on the Boroughs: A Commercial Market Snapshot
Guest Post by Arlon Brown of the Parsons Commercial Group, Framingham, Mass. The commercial office market in the Boroughs (Marlborough, Northborough, Southborough and Westborough) is improving with declining vacancies and rising rental rates. This can be attributed to an expanding … Continue reading
Breathing New Life into Worcester’s Former County Courthouse
Since 2007, the Worcester County Courthouse at 2 Main Street has been largely vacant. After the trial courts moved to the new Worcester Regional Judicial Center at 225 Main Street in the fall of 2007, the Worcester Law Library was … Continue reading
MassDEP’s New Cleanup Regulations Are Now Effective
As we reported earlier in guest posts from Adam Last of Corporate Environmental Advisors, Inc. here and here, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has long been working on significant revisions to the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP). The MCP … Continue reading
A Lesson From Somerville: Better Zoning Promotes Economic Growth
Paul McMorrow wrote an interesting column in yesterday’s Boston Globe that deserves reading, particularly for those interested in crafting workable zoning codes and bylaws in our cities and towns. The current zoning process in most Massachusetts communities, even for simple … Continue reading
Brownfields Program Has Paid Off For Massachusetts Business
Guest Post by Larry Feldman, a licensed site professional with GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. Reprinted with permission from the Worcester Business Journal. In the early 1990s, a coalition of environmental advocates, bankers, developers, lawyers, regulators and environmental consultants in Massachusetts came together … Continue reading
MAPC: Region Needs 435,000 New Housing Units by 2040
The greater Boston area – including MetroWest – will need to add 435,000 new housing units by 2040 in order to sustain economic growth, according to a new report issued by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). Without additional housing, … Continue reading