KCI Management, Inc. v. Board of Appeals of Boston

In KCI Management, Inc. v. Board of Appeals of Boston, 54 Mass. App. Ct. 254, 764 N.E.2d 377 (2002) the plaintiff in KCI Management wanted to construct a number of single family homes in an area where single-family homes are allowed by right. However, because a portion of the plaintiff's land was located within the GPOD -- i.e. within 500 feet of Turtle Pond Parkway, a designated greenbelt roadway -- the plaintiff's property was subject to the limits of the GPOD. The GPOD required applicants for conditional use permits within its limits to show that their project did not significantly affect parking, traffic and vehicular access, that it was landscaped in a way to preserve the aesthetics of the greenbelt roadway, and that its structures were designed in a manner compatible with the neighborhood. The decision of the Boston Board of Appeals to deny the plaintiff's proposal to construct the houses was struck down because it provided "no indication as to why KCI's application is deficient, and gives no direction as to the manner in which compliance with the various standards can be achieved." Id. at 264-65. The court held that because the language of the GPOD (as the court construed it) only placed site plan review restrictions on projects in the GPOD, the Board did not have the authority to deny the use, and therefore only reasonable conditions on the proposed use could be imposed. Id. The Court held that Boston's Greenbelt Protection Overlay District ("GPOD") could be analyzed under the SCIT rationale. However, in this particular instance, the overlay district was valid because although the language of the GPOD required that developer obtain from the board of appeal a conditional use permit (as special permits are known under Boston's zoning code) for all uses within its boundaries, the level of review actually imposed by the GPOD, for such a conditional use permit to issue, was in fact that of site plan review, meaning that the board could not, in the ordinary case, deny the permit, but only through "site plan review, regulate the use but ... not prohibit it." KCI Mgmt., Inc., 54 Mass. App. Ct. at 263. With the level of review thus limited, the GPOD survived scrutiny. Id. The board's decision, which did not follow that standard of review, was deficient and set aside. Id. at 263-265.