Real Estate and Land Use Litigation Alert: Massachusetts Appeals Court Affirms that Town Must Refund Sewer Connection “Fee” Charged to Developers
2/1/2011
By Jonathan M. Cosco and Paul D. Wilson
In June 2009, we reported on a Massachusetts Superior Court decision in which the court ordered the Town of Saugus to return more than $670,000 in fees paid by developers to connect their projects to the sewerage system in that town. That trial court’s decision has now been reviewed and affirmed in full by the Massachusetts Court of Appeals in Denver Street LLC v. Town of Saugus. This appellate decision provides a strong basis for similarly situated developers to object to “I/I reduction” fees in circumstances that are similar to those outlined in the Denver Street case. It also provides important lessons for municipalities who want to charge lawful fees for new sewer connections.
