reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81b (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81b - Planning Board; Powers and Duties

Section 81B. In any city or town in which a planning board is established under section eighty-one A, if any of the powers and duties of planning boards or boards of survey are being exercised and performed by a planning board established under section seventy or corresponding provisions of earlier laws, or by a board of survey established under section seventy-three or corresponding provisions of earlier laws or by a special act, or by the board of selectmen acting as a planning board, or by any other board, all such powers and duties shall cease to exist, when the members of the planning board established in such city or town under section eighty-one A take office; and thereupon the planning board established therein under section eighty-one A shall have and exercise all the powers and duties theretofore conferred and imposed by general law upon planning boards and boards of survey in cities and towns, as the case may be, and all the powers and duties of any such board theretofore conferred and imposed by special law upon any board of the city or town, with respect to any matters pending before any of said boards at the time of the establishment of the planning board in such city or town under section eighty-one A, as well as the powers imposed by this section and sections eighty-one C to eighty-one GG, inclusive. The officer or person having custody of the records or plans, or both, of the former board shall turn them over to the officer or person entitled to custody of the records and plans of the planning board established under section eighty-one A.  Planning boards established under section eighty-one A, their officers and agents, may, so far as they deem it necessary in carrying out sections eighty-one A to eighty-one J, inclusive, enter upon any lands and there make examinations and surveys, and place and maintain monuments and marks; but any person injured in his property by such entry or other acts without his consent may recover the damages so caused under chapter seventy-nine. The superior court for the county in which the land affected by any of the provisions of sections eighty-one A to eighty-one J, inclusive, lies, sitting in equity and the land court, shall have jurisdiction on petition of a planning board established under section eighty-one A, to enforce any of the provisions of said sections, and any ordinances or by-laws made thereunder, and may restrain by injunction violations thereof.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81c - Studies and Reports of Board; Acting as Park Commissioners

Section 81C. The planning board established under section eighty-one A shall from time to time make careful studies and when necessary prepare plans of the resources, possibilities and needs of the city or town, and, upon the completion of any such study, shall submit to the city council or selectmen a report thereon, with its recommendations. A copy of each completed study shall be furnished to the department of housing and community development. Said planning board shall report annually to the city council or to the annual town meeting, giving information regarding the condition of the city or town and any plans or proposals for its development and estimates of the cost thereof, and shall at the same time furnish a copy of its report to the department of housing and community development. The planning board of a town established under section eighty-one A may be authorized by vote of a town meeting to act as park commissioners therein, and may be vested with all the powers and duties of park commissioners in towns.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81e (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81e - Official Map; Purpose; Recordation

Section 81E. Each city or town having a planning board established under section eighty-one A may, by action of its city council or town meeting adopt an official map, prepared under the direction of such planning board and showing the public ways and parks therein as theretofore laid out and established by law and the private ways then existing and used in common by more than two owners. Such official map is hereby declared to be established to conserve and promote the public health, safety and general welfare. Upon the adoption of such a map, and upon any change therein or addition thereto made as hereinafter provided, the city or town clerk shall forthwith file with the appropriate registry of deeds a certificate of such action and a copy of such map as adopted or as changed or added to. A copy of such official map or any change thereto, shall be furnished to the department of housing and community development. After a plan bearing an endorsement of approval or accompanied by a certificate as provided in the subdivision control law has been recorded, the ways shown on said plan shall be and become a part of the official map. No public water supply or sewer or other municipal utility or improvement shall be constructed in any public or private way in any city or town having an official map elsewhere than in a subdivision approved under the subdivision control law, unless such way has been placed on or made part of such map.  No permit for the erection of any building elsewhere than in a subdivision approved under the subdivision control law in any city or town having an official map shall be issued unless a way giving access to the lot upon which such proposed building is to stand has been placed on or made a part of such map; provided, that an applicant for a building permit which has been denied under this section shall have the same remedy as a person whose application for a building permit has been denied under section eighty-one Y of this chapter.  If such law is not in effect in any city or town adopting an official map, such city or town shall forthwith provide a board of appeals in the manner set forth in section eighty-one Z, which shall have jurisdiction over appeals under this section in the same manner as provided in sections eighty-one Y to eighty-one AA.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81f (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81f - Alteration of Official Map; Damages for Injuries

Section 81F. A city or town so adopting an official map, by action of its city council or town meeting, may whenever and as often as it may deem it for the public interest, change or add to such map so as to place thereon lines and notations showing existing or proposed locations, not theretofore mapped, of new or widened public ways and new or enlarged parks, and proposed discontinuances in whole or in part of existing or mapped public ways and parks. No such change or addition shall become effective until after a public hearing in relation thereto before the city council or a committee thereof or before the selectmen, at which parties in interest shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least ten days' notice of such a public hearing shall be given by advertisement in an official publication of, or in a newspaper of general circulation in, the city or town and by mailing a copy of such advertisement to all owners of property abutting on such proposed improvement or discontinuance, as appearing upon the most recent tax list. Any way, which is not a public way, appearing on an official map of a city or town may be modified or removed therefrom by the planning board acting in accordance with the procedure set forth in section eighty-one W, so far as apt, provided that there is no objection at a public hearing by any person in interest. No such change or addition which has not been previously recommended by the planning board established under section eighty-one A shall be adopted until after a report thereon by said board, and no variance from a plan prepared or approved by said planning board shall be made except by a two thirds vote of all the members of a city council, or by a two thirds vote of a town meeting; provided, that the last mentioned requirement shall be deemed to be waived in case the matter has been referred to said board for a report and it has failed to report within thirty days thereafter. Any person injured in his property by a change in the official map under this section may recover the damages so caused under chapter seventy-nine.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81g (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81g - Applicability of Municipal Planning Laws to Municipal Powers Over Public Ways and Parks

Section 81G. Sections eighty-one A to eighty-one J, inclusive, shall not abridge the powers of the city council or the selectmen or any other municipal officer in regard to public ways or parks in any manner except as provided therein, nor shall they authorize the taking of land or the laying out or construction of any way or park shown on a map or plan, or the alteration, relocation or discontinuance thereof, except in accordance with the laws governing the same; provided, that, after a city or town has adopted an official map under section eighty-one E, no public way shall be laid out, altered, relocated or discontinued if such laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance is not in accordance with such official map as it then appears, unless the proposed laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance has been referred to the planning board established under section eighty-one A, and such board has reported thereon, or has allowed forty-five days to elapse after such reference, without submitting its report. After a city or town has adopted an official map under section eighty-one E, no person shall open a way for public use, except as provided in the subdivision control law, unless the location of such way is in accordance with such official map as it then appears, or has been approved by the planning board under the provisions of this section, and in either case, the grading, surfacing and drainage of such way has been approved by such board. Nothing in said sections shall render a city or town liable for damages, except such as may be sustained by entry upon land and other acts under section eighty-one B, by reason of changes in an official map under section eighty-one F, or by reason of the establishment of exterior lines under section eighty-one J.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81h (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81h - Part of Official Map; Laying Out, Altering or Relocating Public Ways

Section 81H. Upon final action by the proper authorities in laying out, altering or relocating a public way, or in discontinuing the whole or any part thereof, or in establishing or enlarging a public park, or closing thereof in whole or in part, the lines and notations showing such improvement, discontinuance or closing, as so established or effected, shall, without further action by the city council or the town meeting, be made a part of the official map, if any, of the city or town in which such public way or park is located.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81i (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81i - Duties of Municipalities Having No Official Map in Respect to Construction of Ways; Reference to Planning Board

Section 81I. In a city or town having a planning board established under section eighty-one A but which has not adopted an official map no public way shall be laid out, altered, relocated or discontinued, unless the proposed laying out, alteration, relocation or discontinuance has been referred to the planning board of such city or town and such board has reported thereon, or has allowed forty-five days to elapse after such reference without submitting its report. Any city or town having a planning board established under section eighty-one A may, by ordinance, by-law or vote, provide for the reference of any other matter or class of matters to the planning board before final action thereon, with or without provision that final action shall not be taken until the planning board has submitted its report or has had a reasonable fixed time to submit such report. Such planning board shall have full power to make such investigations, maps and reports, and recommendations in connection therewith, relating to any of the subjects referred to it under this section, as it deems desirable.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81j (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81j - Establishment and Discontinuance of Exterior Lines of Ways in Municipalities With Planning Boards; Damages for Injuries

Section 81J. A city or town which has a planning board under section eighty-one A may establish, in the manner provided for the laying out of city or town ways, the exterior lines of any way, the location of which has been approved under section eighty-one G or the subdivision control law; and thereafter no structure shall be erected or maintained between the exterior lines so established, except that buildings or parts of buildings existing at the time of the establishment of said lines may remain and be maintained to such extent and under such conditions as may be prescribed by such planning board. Lines established under this section may be discontinued in the manner provided for the discontinuance of a highway or a city or town way. Lines so established shall be placed on the official map, if any, of the city or town, without further action by the city council or town meeting, and shall be removed therefrom if discontinued. Any person injured in his property by the establishment of exterior lines under this section may recover damages so caused under chapter seventy-nine.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81k (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81k - Designation of Subdivision Control Law

Section 81K. Sections eighty-one K to eighty-one GG, inclusive, shall be designated and may be known as ''the subdivision control law''. This designation shall, when apt, include corresponding provisions of earlier laws.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81m (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81m - Purpose of Law

Section 81M. The subdivision control law has been enacted for the purpose of protecting the safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the cities and towns in which it is, or may hereafter be, put in effect by regulating the laying out and construction of ways in subdivisions providing access to the several lots therein, but which have not become public ways, and ensuring sanitary conditions in subdivisions and in proper cases parks and open areas. The powers of a planning board and of a board of appeal under the subdivision control law shall be exercised with due regard for the provision of adequate access to all of the lots in a subdivision by ways that will be safe and convenient for travel; for lessening congestion in such ways and in the adjacent public ways; for reducing danger to life and limb in the operation of motor vehicles; for securing safety in the case of fire, flood, panic and other emergencies; for insuring compliance with the applicable zoning ordinances or by-laws; for securing adequate provision for water, sewerage, drainage, underground utility services, fire, police, and other similar municipal equipment, and street lighting and other requirements where necessary in a subdivision; and for coordinating the ways in a subdivision with each other and with the public ways in the city or town in which it is located and with the ways in neighboring subdivisions. Such powers may also be exercised with due regard for the policy of the commonwealth to encourage the use of solar energy and protect the access to direct sunlight of solar energy systems. It is the intent of the subdivision control law that any subdivision plan filed with the planning board shall receive the approval of such board if said plan conforms to the recommendation of the board of health and to the reasonable rules and regulations of the planning board pertaining to subdivisions of land; provided, however, that such board may, when appropriate, waive, as provided for in section eighty-one R, such portions of the rules and regulations as is deemed advisable.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81n (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81n - Territorial Extent of Law; Acceptance by Municipalities

Section 81N. Except as provided in section eighty-one EE, the subdivision control law shall be in effect in every city, except Boston, and every town, which prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, established a planning board as defined in section eighty-one L, or which after said date establishes a planning board under section eighty-one A unless such city or town by vote of its city council or town meeting at the time of establishment of such board shall vote not to accept the provisions of the subdivision control law. Any such city or town which shall have voted not to accept such provisions may thereafter accept such provisions in the manner provided in section four of chapter four, and any city or town having a board of survey, however established, may accept such provisions in such manner, and the subdivision control law shall be similarly in effect in such cities and towns. In any city or town which has not established a planning board under section eighty-one A, but which has a board of survey, however established, and has prior to the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, accepted corresponding provisions of the subdivision control law, or shall after said date accept the provisions of the subdivision control law in such manner, the board of survey shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties of a planning board relating to subdivision control. In every city and town in which the subdivision control law is in effect the provisions of sections eighty-one K to eighty-one GG, as the same may from time to time be in force, shall, notwithstanding any contrary or inconsistent provision of any general or special law, apply in such city or town irrespective of whether the board having such powers is established under section eighty-one A or under any other general or special law. The subdivision control law, however, shall not become effective in any city or town in which it was not in effect on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-four, until the planning board of such city or town shall have notified the register of deeds and the recorder of the land court that the city or town has accepted the provisions of the subdivision control law and that the planning board has adopted its rules and regulations as provided in section eighty-one Q and shall have furnished the said register and recorder with a copy of the vote of the city council or town meeting under which the provisions of the subdivision control law were accepted in such city or town, certified by the city or town clerk, and a copy of such rules and regulations certified by said clerk.
MA Gen L ch 41 § 81o (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title VII - Cities, Towns and Districts|Chapter 41 - Officers and Employees of Cities, Towns and Districts|Section 81o - Regulation of New Subdivisions

Section 81O. No person shall make a subdivision of any land in any city or town in which the subdivision control law is in effect unless he has first submitted to the planning board of such city or town for its approval a plan of such proposed subdivision, showing the lots into which such land is to be divided and the ways already existing or which are to be provided by him for furnishing access to such lots, and the planning board has approved such plan in the manner hereinafter provided. After the approval of a plan the location and width of ways shown thereon shall not be changed unless the plan is amended accordingly as provided in section eighty-one W; but the number, shape and size of the lots shown on a plan so approved may, from time to time, be changed without action by the board, provided every lot so changed still has frontage on a public way or way shown on a plan approved in accordance with the subdivision control law of at least such distance, if any, as is then required by ordinance or by-law of said city or town for erection of a building on such lot, and if no distance is so required, has such frontage of at least twenty feet.  A plan shall be submitted under this section when delivered at a meeting of the board or when sent by registered mail to the planning board. If so mailed, the date of receipt shall be the date of submission of the plan.