Things to Know in the South End, June 20: Jazz in Worcester Square
1. Weather: The National Weather Service is predicting a sunny day, with a high near 80 degrees. 2. Music in Worcester Square: The Worcester Square Area Neighborhood Association hosts its first installment of the Second Annual Summer Concert series in the Worcester Square Park tonight at 7 p.m. First Take will be the entertainment, playing classic jazz tunes as well as originals. Bring a picnic and enjoy the show. See here for more information. 3. For the Landlords: Since Boston passed an update to its rules regulating rentals, you as a landlord have a host of new responsibilities, including registration of private rental units and inspection of all non-exempt rental units every 5 years. The city is hosting a special session tonight at 6 p.m. to review the process, fees, dates and other important information for landlords to know. The meeting will be held at the Inspectional Services Department —City of Boston 1010 Massachusetts Ave. (5th Fl.) An RSVP is required. See here for more information 4. Solstice Music on Friday: Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) will be performing an hour of live music from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. outside Hamersley’s Bistro and the Beehive, South End Buttery, and Cinquecento on Friday. These performances, free to the public, is part of the La Nuit de la Musique solstice celebration. Afterwards, CMCB’s orchestra and senior wind ensemble, along with special guests, will perform at the Benjamin Franklin Institute, followed by a private reception at 40 Berkley. Contributions to the concert and reception are $ 100 for supporters and $ 150 for special friends. All proceeds benefit the CMCB Scholarship Fund and can be made at www.cmcb.org. See here for more information. 5. Festival on Friday: Coming up on Friday is the South End Summer Solstice, brought to you by Washington Gateway Main Street in Blackstone Square (1525 Washington St.) Come hear free live music and enjoy offerings from six of your favorite food trucks on W. Brookline Street! If you are a local business interested in setting up a table, please contact Washington Gateway Main Street at 617-542-1234. See here for more information. Things you can do every day on South End Patch: Share your news with the rest of the community. Click here to add an announcement. Add your events to our events calendar. Click here to sign up for breaking news updates. Want up-to-the-minute news? Click here to follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Share your thoughts on your community in a blog. Click here to get started. South End Patch
City of Worcester v. College Hill Properties, LLC, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-083-13)
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 SJC‑11166 CITY OF WORCESTER vs. COLLEGE HILL PROPERTIES, LLC, & another[1] (and four companion cases[2]). Worcester. January 7, 2013. ‑ May 15, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Lodging House. Contempt. Practice, Civil, Contempt. Words, “Lodgings.” Civil actions commenced in the Worcester Division of the Housing Court Department on January 13, 2010. The cases were heard by Timothy F. Sullivan, J., and complaints for contempt were also heard by him. After review by the Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court granted leave to obtain further appellate review. Gary S. Brackett for the defendants. Ann S. Refolo, Assistant City Solicitor, for the plaintiff. Philip S. Lapatin & Nathaniel F. Hulme, for Greater Boston Real Estate Board, amicus curiae, submitted a brief. LENK, J. The defendants own two-family and three-family rental properties in Worcester. They leased dwelling units in these properties to groups of four unrelated adult college students. Each such dwelling unit contained a living room and dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedrooms. The inspectional services department of the city of Worcester (city) determined that, where such a dwelling unit is occupied by four or more unrelated adults, “not within the second degree of kindred” to each other, the dwelling unit is a “lodging” for purposes of G. L. c. 140, §§ 22-32 (lodging house act or act), and that each of the defendants was accordingly operating a lodging house without a license. See G. L. c. 140, § 24. This case presents the question whether such dwelling units as occupied constitute lodgings so as to render the subject properties lodging houses under the lodging house act. We conclude that the dwelling units are not lodgings and the properties are not lodging houses under the act. 1. Background. The essential facts are undisputed. The defendants own two‑family and three‑family rental properties in the city.[3] The properties contain dwelling units commonly referred to as apartments, consisting of a living room and dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an unspecified number of bedrooms. Each apartment at issue here was leased to four local college students for a twelve‑month period. The students, all adults, were not related to each other or to the defendant lessors.[4] The students sharing an apartment each had access to the entire apartment and the use of all […]
What Sold in the South End: Worcester Sq. 3-Bed Condo for $1.4m
Realtors: Add your photos of recently sold homes to this gallery! It’s easy—just sign into your Patch account (or sign into Patch using your Facebook account). Click the “Upload Photos & Videos” button below the photos and follow the directions. The property’s address, sale price, listing agent and other details can be included in the photo’s caption. Here’s a sampling of five home sales this week. Look at the photo gallery or the easy-to-scan chart below. Don’t forget to check out our Real Estate section. Neighborhood Address Details Sale Price List Price Listing Agent Charlestown 108 Main St #1 Condo, 3 Beds/2 Baths, 1300 sq. ft. $ 679,000 $ 675,000 Re/Max Luxury Living RE, Allison Shannon North End 130 Fulton Street #19 Condo, 1 Bed, 1 Bath, 585 sq. ft. $ 405,000 $ 359,000 Coldwell Banker, Debra Sordillo Beacon Hill 63 West Cedar #4 Condo, 2 Beds/1 Bath, 740 sq. ft. $ 600,000 $ 585,000 Atlas Properties, Marc Russo Back Bay 137 Marlborough #2A Condo, 2 Beds/2 Baths, 1650 sq. ft $ 1,415,000 $ 1,497,000 Back Bay Properties Corp., Eric R. Hersum South End 9-11 Worcester Square #2 Condo, 3 Beds/2.5 Baths, 2000 sq. ft. $ 1,400,000 $ 1,375,000 Coldwell Banker, Paul Whaley “Sold!” is a weekly column featuring the latest real estate sales in and around Boston. Photos and information compiled using MLS data, courtesy of Century 21 North Shore and Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Shapiro, et al. v. City of Worcester (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-014-13)
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 SJC‑11118 SJC-11119 WILLIAM SHAPIRO & another[1] vs. CITY OF WORCESTER. HENRY GREENBERG vs. CITY OF WORCESTER. Worcester. October 4, 2012. ‑ January 30, 2013. Present: Ireland, C.J., Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Massachusetts Tort Claims Act. Governmental Immunity. Municipal Corporations, Governmental immunity, Sewers, Nuisance. Waiver. Nuisance. Practice, Civil, Interlocutory appeal, Execution, Presentment of claim under Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, Retroactivity of judicial holding. Trespass. Negligence, Municipality, Governmental immunity. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 3, 2008. Motions to dismiss and for summary judgment were heard by Dennis J. Curran, J. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on April 3, 2008. A motion for summary judgment was heard by John S. McCann, J., and a motion for reconsideration was also heard by him. The Supreme Judicial Court on its own initiative transferred the cases from the Appeals Court. Wendy L. Quinn, Assistant City Solicitor, for city of Worcester. John R. Maciolek for William Shapiro & others. CORDY, J. In this consolidated appeal, we review two cases, one brought by William and Sherry Shapiro and the other by Henry Greenberg (collectively, plaintiffs), against the defendant, the city of Worcester (city). In their respective actions, which each commenced in the Superior Court in 2008, the plaintiffs allege that the city is liable to them for nuisance, continuing nuisance, and continuing trespass, arising from the discharge of effluent from the city’s sewer system onto their properties. In response, the city contends that the plaintiffs’ nuisance claims are barred because they failed to satisfy the presentment requirement of the Massachusetts Torts Claims Act (Act), G. L. c. 258, § 4, which, the city contends, applies retroactively in light of our decision in Morrissey v. New England Deaconess Ass’n — Abundant Life Communities, Inc., 458 Mass. 580 (2010) (Morrissey). Additionally, the city argues that the Shapiros’ nuisance claims are independently barred by provisions of the Act that provide sovereign immunity to municipalities in instances involving either discretionary decision-making, G. L. c. 258, § 10 (b); or the exercise of a public duty, id. at § 10 (j). Finally, the city argues that the Shapiros’ trespass claim fails as a matter of law because the city did not commit an affirmative voluntary act to cause the sewage discharge. The Shapiros’ […]