LIFE STUDIES FOUNDATION, INC. vs. THE CITY OF NEWTON, et al.

The plaintiff, Life Studies Foundation, Inc., filed a complaint in the Land Court pursuant to G.L. c. 185, §1 (j 1/2) and G.L. c. 240, §14A seeking judicial determination of the extent to which certain provisions of the zoning ordinances of the defendant City of Newton apply to land owned by the plaintiff at 74 Vista Avenue in Newton. The plaintiff petitioned for site plan approval under section 30-24 of the zoning ordinances, proposing to use the locus for educational purposes. The city denied the plaintiff's petition, determining that the proposed use was not primarily educational in nature and thus did not entitle the plaintiff to a statµtory exemption from certain provisions of the zoning ordinances. [Note 1]

A motion to intervene as party defendants was filed by ten persons who own land in the vicinity of the locus, and was allowed. One of the ten intervenors later withdrew from the case. Following the denial of the plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, a trial was held extending over four days at which a stenographer was sworn to take and transcribe the testimony. Twenty-one exhibits were introduced into evidence and are incorporated herein for the purpose of any appeal Based on all the evidence, I find the facts as follows:

1. The plaintiff, Life Studies Foundation, Inc. ("Life Studies"), is a Massachusetts corporation organized under G.L. c. 180 with a mailing address of 382 Hammond Street, Newton, Massachusetts 02167.

2. The defendant, the City of Newton ("the city"), is a municipal corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and situated in the County of Middlesex.

3. Life Studies was organized as "The Life Cycle Center, Inc." but later changed its name to avoid possible confusion with another organization.

4. As originally approved by the secretary of state on April 10, 1984, Life Studies' articles of organization listed corporate purposes which included but were not limited to: the conduct of medical research, investigation, and clinical analysis in the areas of emotional disturbance and maladjustment; the development of methods of preventing or minimizing the effects of "upsetting life events;" the development and conduct of programs relating to the promotion of mental health; and the development and sponsorship of discussion groups and educational programs for the public concerning preventive mental health. The articles went on to state "the corporation shall be operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, as said terms have been and shall be defined in sections 170(c) and 50l(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended. . . ."

5. On October 26, 1984, Life Studies acquired by deed two contiguous parcels of land at 74 Vista Avenue in Newton. The parcels were conveyed by Charles D. Train, Jr., and together contain approximately 59,000 square feet. On one of the parcels is situated a three story main house and a two story carriage house, while the other parcel is unimproved. Both parcels are located in a "Residence A" zoning district.

6. On December 13, 1984, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service determined that Life Studies is exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

7. On January 9, 1985, Life Studies received an advisory ruling from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Executive Office of Human Services, stating that Life Studies' proposed operation of a "primary prevention center" to promote mental health and prevent mental illness would not subject it to licensure as a "clinic" under G.L. c. 111, §§51, 52.

8. On January 15, 1985, Life Studies petitioned the Newton Board of Aldermen for site plan approval under sections 30-5(c) and 30-24 of the city's zoning ordinances. [Note 2] Section 30-5(c) of the ordinances provides, inter alia, that "[i]n single residence districts, the construction, alteration, enlargement, reconstruction or use of a building or land for . . . a school or any other use for educational purposes on land owned or leased by . . . a non-profit educational corporation . . . shall be permitted, subject to the procedures established in section 30-24." Section 30-24 sets out criteria and procedures for site plan approval. Life Studies' petition indicated that the Vista Avenue site would be for a "non-profit, educational corporation."

9. The city's director of planning and development submitted a memorandum to the mayor, the board of aldermen, and the planning and development board, recommending that Life Studies' petition be approved subject to certain conditions. Two of the bases of the director's recommendation were Life Studies' nonprofit status and its proposed educational use of the site, which the director believed entitled Life Studies to the now-disputed zoning exemption.

10. After a public hearing, the city's land use committee voted 6 to 0 (with one member abstaining) to recommend that Life Studies' petition be denied. The committee's report, dated May 28, 1985, indicates that the committee did not review the merits of Life Studies' site plan, but rather made a threshold determination that the organization's primary purpose is not education and that it therefore is not entitled to consideration for site plan approval.

11. On June 18, 1985, in accordance with the recommendation and report of the land use committee, the board of aldermen voted 18 to 6 to deny Life Studies' petition for site plan approval.

12. On July 13, 1985, Life Studies filed a complaint in the Land Court under G.L. c. 240, §14A and c. 185, §1 (j 1/2), seeking judicial determination of the extent to which its Vista Avenue site is subject to certain of Newton's zoning ordinances.

13. On April 1, 1986, prior to the onset of the trial in this case, Life Studies amended the purposes clause of its articles of organization. The principal effect of the amendment was to accentuate the educational aspects of the organization's programs. As amended, the articles of organization list corporate purposes which include but are not limited to the following:

To provide educational programs for the promotion of emotional health, and to teach mental health concepts which people of all ages can apply in their own lives to help them manage the stresses of different life stages and life events before such stresses become major problems or cause emotional disorders;

To educate people to have a better understanding of their own development and the development of those in their care, and to help them acquire the skills necessary to use such training and information;

To teach parents and others effective methods of preventing or minimizing the effects of upsetting life events in the development of infants and young children by providing activities and programs which stimulate the mental health and normal development of children and families;

To translate relevant concepts of prevention and research data from the mental health, medical and educational fields into everyday language that can be understood by the public and used by the corporation's faculty in lectures, radio and television programs, publications, study groups and a parent-child center;

To develop a curriculum for the teaching of a body of knowledge and skills which will enable people to cope with problems of daily living in such a way as to prevent the onset of emotional illness or modify its course, and to evolve methods by which to teach such a curriculum by drawing upon the results of studies conducted by accredited institutions of high learning;

To provide a resource center containing educational materials related to the prevention of mental health problems . . .

14. Life Studies consists of a president, treasurer, and clerk, three trustees, and a seven member faculty. The faculty members are professionals with backgrounds in psychology, education, and social work, and all have prior teaching experience.

15. Life Studies' primary activities are the presentation of public lectures on various topics relating to mental health and well-being, and the conduct of follow-up "study groups" wherein approximately eight persons who have attended a particular lecture gather to discuss the lecture topic in detail with one or more members of the Life Studies faculty. Past lecture and study group topics have included "The Ghosts of Christmas Past: How People Manage the Holiday Season," "The Realities of Aging,." and "Death and Bereavement: Coping With it All."

16. Life Studies' public lectures have been and will continue to be held away from the Vista Avenue site. Life Studies proposes to use the locus for the conduct of study groups, seminars, discussion groups, and faculty meetings, the establishment of a library/resource center, and for other, incidental activities.

17. Also planned for the locus is a "parent-child center" where parents, in the company of other parents and members of the Life Studies faculty, can observe their child interacting with other children. The goal of this program is to teach parents about child development and to help them understand children's differing needs at various stages of development. The parent-child center will involve children from birth to three years of age.

18. Life Studies' lectures, study groups, and other programs are intended to promote general mental health and stability by educating participants to better cope with stress and other "upsetting life events." Life Studies does not diagnose or treat mental illness, and attempts to screen mentally ill persons from its programs. The activities Life Studies proposes to conduct at the Vista Avenue site do not involve the diagnosis or treatment of mental illness.

19. No fee is or will be charged for participation in any lecture, study group, or other program; no contract or alliance is or will be formed between Life Studies and any participant for individual counseling, diagnosis or treatment; no progress notes or medical records are or will be kept with respect to any participant; and no referrals to private practitioners or members of the Life Studies faculty are or will be made.

20. The Life Studies faculty meets for approximately two hours each week to plan for scheduled lectures, evaluate the effectiveness of past lectures and other programs, and discuss ideas for future lecture series.

21. Before any study group begins, one of the presiding Life Studies faculty members reminds participants that the study group is an educational exercise and is not intended to be therapeutic. While participants are permitted to relate personal anecdotes that may illuminate the topic being discussed, no individual counseling or problem-solving is undertaken.

22. Life Studies is a nonprofit educational corporation within the meaning of G.L. c. 40A, §3 and section 30-5(c) of the Newton zoning ordinances. The activities Life Studies proposes to conduct at the Vista Avenue site are predominanbly educational within the meaning of the foregoing provisions.

Massachusetts General Laws c. 40A, §3 provides, inter alia, that no zoning ordinance shall regulate or restrict the use for educational purposes of land or structures owned or leased by a nonprofit educational corporation. From this general rule is carved an exception allowing municipalities to reasonably regulate structural bulk and height, yard sizes, lot area, etc. Section 30-5(c) of the Newton zoning ordinances contains language consistent with c. 40A, §3, and references section 30-24 of the ordinances, where certain criteria and procedures for site plan approval are established. The issues to be decided in this case are whether the plaintiff, Life Studies Foundation, Inc., is a nonprofit educational corporation, and if so, whether its proposed use of the Vista Avenue site is a use for educational purposes. If the plaintiff meets this two-pronged test, it is entitled to have the merits of its site plan considered and its petition acted upon substantively by the city's board of aldermen.

1. Is the plaintiff a nonprofit educational corporation?

Life Studies was organized as a nonprofit corporation under G. L. c. 180, and has been declared exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. As no evidence was adduced to contradict the proposition that Life Studies is a nonprofit corporation, I find and rule that it is.

The more important inquiry is whether Life Studies is a nonprofit educational corporation. The Supreme Judicial Court recently spoke to this issue in Gardner-Athol Area Mental Health Ass'n v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Gardner, where the court stated, "[t]he proper test in deciding whether a nonprofit corporation is an editcational one is whether its articles of organization permit it to engage in educational activities, a question easily answered by a review of documents filed with the state," 401Mass. 12, 15-16 (1987). The court added "[t]here is nothing in G.L. c. 40A, §3 . . . that requires that education be the dominant purpose or primary activity of a nonprofit corporation in order that it may qualify as a nonprofit educational corporation under §3." Id. An examination of Life Studies' articles of organization as amended reveals not only that the organization is permitted to engage in educational activities, but that education is its primary corporate purpose. Even prior to their amendment the articles included, among others, purposes such as "to provide . . . in- service training and educational services related to the promotion of mental health . . ." and

to develop and sponsor discussion groups and educational and informational programs for the public concerning preventive mental health, and to promote interest in, and the exchange of ideas and information relating to, the social and mental development of infants, children, adolescents, adults and their families by the dissemination of the corporation's research findings, the preparation, publication and distribution of reports and educational and other written materials, and the sponsorship of educational and training programs for the lay public and interested professionals.

Accordingly, I find and rule that Life Studies is a nonprofit educational corporation within the meaning of G.L. c. 40A, §3 and section 30-5(c) of the Newton zoning ordinances.

2. Is the plaintiff's proposed use of the locus a use for educational purposes?

It is well settled that a court must interpret language in accordance with its common and approved usages, without enlargement or restriction and without regard to the court's own conception of expediency. See Commonwealth v. S.S. Kresge Co., 267 Mass. 145 , 148 (1929); Moulton v. Building Inspector of Milton, 312 Mass. 195 , 198 (1942); Worcester County Christian Communications, Inc. v. Board of Appeals of Spencer, 22 Mass. App. Ct. 83 , 89 (1986). Notwithstanding the foregoing, our courts consistently have given the term "education" a broad construction. In the 1887 case Mount Hermon Boys' School v. Inhabitants of Gill, the Supreme Judicial Court cited with approval Webster's definition of education as "the process of developing and training the powers and capabilities of human beings." 145 Mass. 139 , 146 (1887). Calling education a "broad and comprehensive term," the court added that it "may be particularly directed to either the mental, moral, or physical powers and faculties, but in its broadest and best sense it relates to them all." Id.

More recently, the court held that a proposed residential facility in which formerly institutionalized adults would live and be trained in skills for independent living such as self-care, cooking, job seeking, etc. was a use for an "educational purpose" within the meaning of G.L. c. 40A, §2, a forerunner of the present c. 40A, §3. Fitchburg Housing Authority v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of Fitchburg, 380 Mass. 869 , 870 (1980). The court noted that it was not controlling that what was to be taught was not within "traditional areas of academic instruction," and concluded "[i]nculcating a basic understanding of how to cope with everyday problems and to maintain oneself in society is incontestably an educational process." Id. at 875.

While the standard for determining whether a nonprofit corporation is "educational" within the meaning of the statute is rather relaxed, the second prong of the statutory test is comparatively strict, requiring that education be the "primary" or "dominant" activity proposed to be conducted at the site in question. See Cummington School of the Arts, Inc. v. Board of Assessors of Cummington, 373 Mass. 597 , 603-604 (1977); Fitchburg Housing Authority v. Board of Zoning Appeals of Fitchburg, 380 Mass. 869 , 874 (1980); Whitinsville Retirement Soc'y Inc. v. Northbridge, 394 Mass. 757 , 760 (1985). Here, Life Studies proposes to use the Vista Avenue site to conduct study groups, seminars, discussion groups, and faculty meetings, to establish a library/research center and a parent-child center, and for other, incidental activities. The city maintains that because these activities are intended to promote mental health and prevent the onset of mental illness, they are not educational in nature but rather constitute the practice of psychiatry. The president of Life Studies characterizes the organization's function as "primary prevention" of psychiatric problems, and maintains that its activities are predominantly educational in nature.

Without a doubt, psychiatry, psychotherapy, and related fields involve some element of education, at least at the level of doctors teaching their patients techniques for coping with the vagaries of human existence. Life Studies' programs have a similar focus, yet common indicia of a doctor­patient relationship such as the formation of a contract or alliance, individualized diagnosis and treatment, the payment of fees, and the keeping of progress notes and other records, are not present. Life Studies does not purport to treat mentally ill persons, and in fact attempts to screen such persons from its programs. Moreover, the Commonwealth has declared that Life Studies is not a "clinic" requiring licensure under G.L. c. 111, §§51, 52.

In light of the very broad reading of the term "education" that is favored by our case law, it is inevitable that certain endeavors which can be categorized otherwise may also fall within the concept of education. In the instant case, no bright line can be drawn between the psychiatric and educational aspects of Life Studies' programs. Yet it certainly can be said that the purpose of Life Studies' programs is to "[inculcate] a basic understanding of how to cope with everyday problems and to maintain oneself in society," which the Supreme Judicial Court has held to be "incontestably an educational process." Fitchburg Housing Authority, supra, at 875.

Based on all the evidence, I find and rule that Life Studies' programs are primarily educational in nature, and that the activities proposed for the Vista Avenue site, namely the conduct of study groups, seminars, discussion groups, and faculty meetings, and the establishment of a library/resource center and a parent-child center, are predominantly educational within the meaning of G.L. c. 40A, §3 and section 30-5(c) of the Newton zoning ordinances.

The plaintiff submitted requests for findings of fact and rulings of law, and the defendants submitted requests for findings of fact. As the court has found the facts in detail and set forth the applicable law in its decision, it declines to rule individually on the parties' numerous requests for findings and rulings.

Judgment accordingly.