Litigation Advisory: Breaking New Ground In Dover Amendment Law

Last month Mintz Levin won a victory in Massachusetts Superior Court that promises to have positive repercussions for all academic and religious institutions in Massachusetts who seek to benefit from the land use protections of state law commonly known as the Dover Amendment. The Dover Amendment is the 1950 Massachusetts statute that requires local permitting authorities to give more favorable treatment than what is conventionally required to the land use and zoning applications of, among others, nonprofit educational institutions and religious organizations.

Specifically, the Dover Amendment states that "[n]o zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit, regulate or restrict the use of land or structures for religious purposes or for educational purposes on land owned or leased by the [state], or by a religious sect or denomination, or by a nonprofit educational corporation" — except that reasonable restrictions in eight specified areas may be imposed so long as these