Town of Marblehead v. Deery

In Town of Marblehead v. Deery, 356 Mass. 532, 254 N.E.2d 234 (1969), a house existing for over seventy years was threatened with removal as a result of an enforcement action. The zoning violation was an encroachment into the set back area which arose when the owner received subdivision approval for his property and located the subdivision road too close to the existing house. In addition, the neighbors did not bring their enforcement request for a period of five years after the violation occurred. The Deery court found the Town was not estopped from asserting the violation, but refused to order removal of the structure, based on the equities.