Boston Waterfront Development Corp. v. Commonwealth

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• distinguishing between the allocation of property rights among private individuals and situations involving public trust resources
• recounting common-law history of public trust doctrine from ancient Rome to the Commonwealth's modem waterway laws
• wharf-ing statutes granting landowners fee simple title to certain Commonwealth tidelands “subject to the condition subsequent that it be used for the public purpose for which it was granted”
• “the land in question is not . . . like ordinary private land held in fee simple absolute”
• under the public trust doctrine the citizens of Massachusetts are entitled to the rights to use an upland owner’s flats for the purposes of “free fishing” and materially unimpaired navigation
• “Throughout history, the shores of the sea have been recognized as a special form of property of unusual value; and therefore subject to different legal rules from those which apply to inland property”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

42 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Davis v. Zoning Board of Chatham
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 2001-08-27· cited 53×
• Sheftel v. Lebel
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1998-01-22· cited 44×
• Opinions of the Justices to the Senate
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1981-06-18· cited 35×
• Natland Corp. v. Baker's Port, Inc.
  Tex. App. Ct., 13th Dist.· 1993-11-30· cited 29×
• Opinion of the Justices
  Supreme Judicial Court of Maine· 1981-08-27· cited 28×
• Moot v. Department of Environmental Protection
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2007-02-12· cited 27×
• Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, Inc. v. Energy Facilities Siting Board
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2010-08-31· cited 26×
• Fafard v. Conservation Commission of Barnstable
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2000-08-01· cited 22×
• Pazolt v. Director of the Division of Marine Fisheries
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1994-04-20· cited 19×
• Commercial Wharf East Condominium Assoc. v. Boston Boat Basin, LLC
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 2018-07-10· cited 19×
• Wilson v. Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1992-01-09· cited 18×
• Town of Wellfleet v. Glaze
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1988-07-20· cited 18×
• State v. Central Vermont Railway, Inc.
  Supreme Court of Vermont· 1989-12-22· cited 17×
• United States v. 1.58 Acres of Land Situated
  D. Massachusetts· 1981-08-19· cited 17×
• Trio Algarvio, Inc. v. Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2003-09-09· cited 15×
• Arno v. Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 2010-08-02· cited 14×
• Lebel v. Nelson
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1990-09-28· cited 11×
• CWC Fisheries, Inc. v. Bunker
  Alaska Supreme Court· 1988-06-03· cited 10×
• BD., SELECTMEN OF PROVINCETOWN v. Attorney Gen.
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1983-04-12· cited 10×
• McCarthy v. Town of Oak Bluffs
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1994-12-21· cited 8×

Cites

23 cases in this archive are cited by this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Shively v. Bowlby
  Supreme Court· 1894-03-05· cited 734×
• Storer v. Freeman
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1810-05-15· cited 124×
• Marks v. Whitney
  California Supreme Court· 1971-12-09· cited 96×
• Haskell v. City of New Bedford
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1871-10-15· cited 92×
• New York Electric Lines Co. v. Empire City Subway Co.
  Supreme Court· 1914-11-30· cited 89×
• Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. City of Boston
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1976-01-13· cited 66×
• Michaelson v. Silver Beach Improvement Ass'n, Inc.
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1961-03-15· cited 60×
• Opinion of the Justices to the House of Representatives
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1974-06-27· cited 56×
• Nichols v. City of Boston
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1867-11-15· cited 55×
• Opinion of the Justices to the Senate
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1955-05-13· cited 53×
• Boston Elevated Railway Co. v. Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1942-01-08· cited 46×
• City of Boston v. Richardson
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1870-10-15· cited 41×
• Inhabitants of Arundel v. M'Culloch
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1813-05-15· cited 39×
• Robbins v. Department of Public Works
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1969-02-05· cited 28×
• Gould v. Greylock Reservation Commission
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1966-03-10· cited 26×
• State v. Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad
  Ohio Supreme Court· 1916-02-29· cited 26×
• Treasurer & Receiver General v. Revere Sugar Refinery
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1924-02-25· cited 20×
• Opinion of the Justices to the Senate
  Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court· 1937-04-29· cited 15×
• Richard T. Green Co. v. City of Chelsea
  First Circuit· 1945-06-01· cited 12×
• Boston Waterfront Development Corp. v. Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1978-04-12· cited 7×

Other cases named Boston Waterfront Development Corp. v. Commonwealth

1 other CourtListener record shares this case name.

• Boston Waterfront Development Corp. v. Commonwealth
  Massachusetts Appeals Court· 1978-04-12· cited 7×