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Of Counsel |
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Stone v. City of
Lynn, Massachusetts Superior Court; Massachusetts Appeals Court
The
firm represented Harold and Iris Stone who sued the City of Lynn and the
City’s Planning Director Kevin Geaney for blocking all efforts by the Stones
to sell their property for any use other than a condominium development which
the City wished to build as part of a public improvement for its waterfront
area.. A jury found that the City constructively took the plaintiff’s
property when it refused to grant a special permit to any interested buyer of
the plaintiff’s property other than a developer who had been selected by the
City to build the public project. The jury further found that Mr. Geaney had
negligently inflicted emotional distress upon the plaintiffs. The jury
awarded the plaintiffs $710,000 in damages prior to interest. The Appeals
Court overturned the jury verdict. This case received considerable local and
national coverage (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Lawyers Weekly, Washington
Times, Legal Times). The case raised important constitutional questions, such
as (1) whether the government must pay full compensation for public
improvements that it seeks to undertake through private development, (2)
whether the government must pay full compensation for economic hardships
created by the government’s adoption and support of public projects which are
later abandoned, (3) whether constructive takings of property can violate
substantive due process. If you believe you are involved in a dispute which may need to be litigated, please contact Mr. Schultz directly by phone or by e-mail at sschultz@engelschultz.com. Engel & Schultz, LLP ©
2006 Engel & Schultz, LLP |
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