West Beit Olam Cemetery Corporation v. Board of Assessors of Wayland (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-080-16)

NOTICE:  All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports.  If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us   15-P-128                                        Appeals Court   WEST BEIT OLAM CEMETERY CORPORATION  vs.  BOARD OF ASSESSORS OF WAYLAND.     No. 15-P-128.   Suffolk.     April 8, 2016. – July 7, 2016.   Present:  Kafker, C.J., Wolohojian, & Maldonado, JJ.     Cemetery.  Taxation, Real estate tax: exemption, cemetery.       Appeal from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board.     Sander A. Rikleen for the taxpayer. Mark J. Lanza for board of assessors of Wayland.     KAFKER, C.J.  This is an appeal from a decision of the Appellate Tax Board (board) by West Beit Olam Cemetery Corporation (West Beit Olam), a nonprofit corporation organized in accordance with G. L. c. 114.[1]  West Beit Olam is the record owner of lot 1A, located at 59 Old Sudbury Road in Wayland (town).  In 2012, pursuant to G. L. c. 59, § 5, Twelfth (Clause Twelfth), West Beit Olam applied to the town’s board of assessors (assessors) for a tax abatement for lot 1A.[2]  The assessors denied the application, and West Beit Olam appealed to the board.  After an evidentiary hearing, the board determined that a portion of lot 1A, known as parcel A, was exempt under Clause Twelfth, but the rest of the property was taxable.  West Beit Olam appeals, claiming that all of lot 1A is exempt from taxation exempt under Clause Twelfth.  For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the board’s decision.  In particular, we conclude that the board properly denied a tax exemption for the large part of lot 1A and a building located on it that were contractually restricted to residential use for seven years, including the tax year in question. Background.  We summarize the facts as the board found them, noting that they are essentially undisputed by the parties.  In 1998, the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts, Inc. (JCAM), a nonprofit cemetery corporation, purchased property in the town and created the Beit Olam Cemetery.  As part of that purchase, JCAM also secured a right of first refusal on an adjoining parcel, lot 1A, which is the focus of this appeal.  Lot 1A is contiguous to the Beit Olam Cemetery’s western border and is improved with a single-family residence. To accommodate the future expansion of the Beit Olam Cemetery, JCAM created West Beit Olam in 2007 for the purpose  of acquiring lot 1A.  On July 26, 2007, West Beit Olam purchased lot […]

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