Court Opinion

ID: 9732591
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 16:27:09.427094+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:29.923316
License: Public Domain

*17Lynch, J.
(dissenting, with whom Nolan, J., joins). While neither G. L. c. 40A, nor G. L. c. 180, under which GAAMHA is incorporated, defines the term “nonprofit educational corporation,” “[i]t is not to be assumed that words in a statute have no force or effect.” Gillam v. Board of Health of Saugus, 327 Mass. 621, 623 (1951). I agree with the court that, under the predecessor to § 3 (the former c. 40A, § 2, as amended through St. 1959, c. 607, § 1, superseded by St. 1975, c. 808, § 3), “the use proposed in this case could not have been regulated by local zoning provisions.” Ante at 15 n.5. The difficulty is that the current § 3 requires not only that there be an “educational purpose,” as did the predecessor section, but also that the property be owned or leased by a “nonprofit educational corporation.” In.construing statutory language, we have stated, “None of the words of a statute is to be regarded as superfluous, but each is to be given its ordinary meaning without overemphasizing its effect upon the other terms appearing in the statute, so that the enactment considered as a whole shall constitute a consistent and harmonious statutory provision capable of effectuating the presumed intention of the Legislature.” Bolster v. Commissioner of Corps. & Taxation, 319 Mass. 81, 84-85 (1946). A “salient principle of statutory construction” is “that the statutory language itself is the principal source of insight into the legislative purpose.” Hoffman v. Howmedica, Inc., 373 Mass. 32, 37 (1977).
The court concludes that the educational use exemption now contained in G. L. c. 40A, § 3, merely requires that the owner or lessor be a “nonprofit corporation” permitted to engage in educational activities. In my view, such an interpretation eliminates the dual requirement that there be both an educational purpose and an educational corporation. Thus it is contrary to the plain language of the statute and violative of the maxim that “no word in a statute should be considered superfluous.” International Org. of Masters, Mates & Pilots, Atlantic & Gulf Maritime Region v. Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard & Nantucket S.S. Auth., 392 Mass. 811, 813 (1984). If all the Legislature had intended for there to be immunity from local land use regulations was that a nonprofit corporation be permit*18ted to engage in educational activities no change in the statute would have been necessary since, as the court concedes, the change of language would merely be stating the obvious, i.e., that no corporation should act ultra vires. I agree with the trial judge that the applicable language of G. L. c. 40A, § .3, requires not only an educational use, but also that the owner or lessor of the property in question be a “nonprofit educational corporation” (emphasis added).
We have “long recognized ‘education’ as a ‘broad and comprehensive term.’ ” Fitchburg Hous. Auth. v. Board of Zoning Appeals of Fitchburg, 380 Mass. 869, 874 (1980), quoting Mount Hermon Boys’ School v. Gill, 145 Mass. 139, 146 (1887). However, while the term “education” may be broad and comprehensive, it is not without restriction. See, e.g., Whitinsville Retirement Soc’y, Inc. v. Northbridge, 394 Mass. 757, 760 (1985) (nursing home providing an “element of education” not within meaning of term “educational purpose” as used in G. L. c. 40A, § 3); Kurz v. Board of Appeals of N. Reading, 341 Mass. 110 (1960) (dancing school not an “educational use” for zoning purposes). We have also concluded that the reference in G. L. c. 40A, § 3, to “educational purpose” requires that the primary or dominant purpose of the proposed use be educational. Whitinsville Retirement Soc’y, supra at 760. Since the Legislature has used the term “educational” twice in the same sentence in G. L. c. 40A, § 3 (“educational purpose” and “educational corporation”), it should be given the same meaning in both contexts. See Building Inspector of Mansfield v. Curvin, 22 Mass. App. Ct. 401, 403 (1986).
Here the trial judge concluded that GAAMHA was “primarily and predominantly a social service corporation, not an educational corporation.” The judge noted that GAAMHA’s articles of organization provide in part that it is a nonprofit corporation formed to promote a program of mental health education. The trial judge also reviewed the broad scope of activities undertaken by GAAMHA and concluded that “[i]ts role as an educator is actually ancillary to the broader purposes of its charter and to the actual scope of its activities which wander somewhat beyond the literal language of the charter. Its under*19takings in the Gardner-Athol area encompass a wide spread of social service endeavors in which education appears to play a subordinate rather than a predominant role.”
I would conclude that based on the record in this case it was not error for the judge to rule that GAAMHA was not an “educational corporation” for the purposes of G. L. c. 40A, §3.1, therefore, respectfully dissent.