ATTLEBORO SAND & GRAVEL CORP. v. THE CITY OF ATTLEBORO

Plaintiff Attleboro Sand & Gravel Corporation ("ASG") filed the instant action on November 30, 2015, seeking a declaratory judgment that, pursuant to the provisions of G.L. c. 40A § 6, ¶ 8, the expiration of a three-year zoning use freeze that ASG obtained on January 21, 2013, the date on which the Attleboro Planning Board endorsed a plan of ASG's land as "Approval Under the Subdivision Control Law Not Required" ("ASG's ANR Plan"), has been tolled by litigation pursuant to G.L. c. 240, § 14A (the "§ 14A action"), which ASG initiated in the Land Court in September, 2014, before the expiration of that three-year use freeze.

A Pre-trial conference was held in this case on April 11, 2016. The parties submitted their respective Pre-trial Memoranda of Law, Proposed Findings of Fact, and Proposed Rulings of Law on June 20, 2016. The trial was held on June 27, 2016. ASG called one witness: Gerard Lorusso, an officer and director of ASG. The City called two witnesses: Douglas Alan Semple, the Building Commissioner for the City, and Gary Aryassian, the Director of Planning and Development for the City. The parties stipulated to thirteen agreed facts and admitted nine agreed exhibits at trial. On July 26, 2016, the transcript of the trial was filed and, at that time, the court took the matter under advisement.

By decision dated February 6, 2017, this court determined that the three-year zoning freeze triggered by the January 13, 2013 endorsement of ASG's ANR plan has been tolled by the filing of the G.L. c. 240, § 14A action provided that final adjudication of said action is in favor of ASG, but that such tolling extends only to the lots or portions of lots shown on the ASG ANR Plan that are located in the IBP District. In accordance with the February 6, 2017 decision of this court, it is therefore:

ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECLARED that, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 6, ¶ 8, the filing of ASG's § 14A action on September 16, 2014 suspended the running of the three-year statutory zoning freeze established by endorsement of ASG's ANR Plan on January 21, 2013, with respect to the lots or portions of lots shown on said Plan as located within the IBP zoning district, until final disposition of said § 14A action, provided that adjudication is in favor of ASG.

By the Court