In Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. v. Reading, 354 Mass. 181, 185, 236 N.E.2d 188 (1968), the court wrote that: The plain purpose of the statute is to afford a procedure to quiet doubts springing from by-law restrictions without regard to whether prior to the bringing of a petition they had been liberalized or tightened. The owner who may be contemplating a large investment on his land is thus provided with a thoroughly sensible means of ensuring that he is safe in going ahead.