Law Commons^™

Race, Space, And Place: Interrogating Whiteness Through A Critical Approach To Place, Keith H. Hirokawa

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

Drawing from George Lipsitz’s notion that whiteness is “not so much a color as a condition,” this Article embarks on the project of framing the manner and methods through which whiteness continues to dominate space and place. Wherever whiteness dominates space, space carries rules and expectations about the identity and characteristics of people who are present—visitors and jaunters, owners and occupiers—and the types of activities and cultural practices that might occur there. Occasionally, spaces are racialized because of intentional practices of discrimination and segregation. In others, less intentional methods produce racialized space. In both, American spaces tell their own histories …

Guardians Of Municipal Public Trees: Commonwealth Of Massachusetts Tree Wardens’ Authority And Accountability, Julie E. Steiner

Faculty Scholarship

Today’s tree wardens are continually called upon to strike a balance between preservation of public trees and protection of the public from hazardous tree conditions. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been a pioneer in tree protection legislation, including the enactment of the first state legislation requiring a municipal tree warden. As guardians of the municipal landscape, tree wardens decide whether and when to plant new public shade trees, or to permit those that already exist to be cut, trimmed, or removed. This Article describes the important historical role the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has played in protecting public trees, the legal …

Economic Trends Report, Prepared For The Town Of Winthrop, Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center For Public Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management Publications

This Economic Trends report provides a multi-decade look at the economy of the Town of Winthrop. It is hoped that the report will serve as a reference guide for residents, business persons, and policy makers seeking to grow the local economy, using facts and data to help identify strategies and goals for the future.

The report contains information on change in resident population, since residents oftentimes are a natural market for the goods and services provided by businesses within the community; they can also serve as a ready workforce for those businesses. It also looks at the number and type …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Jonathan G. Cooper

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Review Of Proposed Zoning Bylaw Amendments & Concept Plan For 129 Parker Street, Maynard, Ma, Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center For Public Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management Publications

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management was hired by the Town of Maynard to analyze the proposed amendment to the Neighborhood Business Overlay District (NBOD) of the Maynard Zoning Bylaw and associated concept plan for the property located at 129 Parker Street in Maynard. The bylaw amendment and concept plan have been proposed by Capital Group Properties, LLC, the developer of the site. Specifically, the Center was tasked with preparing the following materials:

• Task 1 – Economic Development and Impact Study;
• Task 2 – Traffic Peer Review and Analysis; and,
• Task 3 – Recommendations on proposed bylaw …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly.

Based on review of climate projections for the …

Prelude To A Master Plan: Ware, Massachusetts, Belen Alfaro, Bruno Carneiro, Margaret Engesser, Kathryn E. Fox, Evadne R. Friedman, Timothy Inacio, Anita Lockesmith, Christina Mills, Stephanie Molden, Meagen Mulherin, Russell Pandres, Vinicius Pereira, Brian Reid, Pedro Soto, Jennifer Stromsten

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Prelude to a Master Plan offers ideas, recommendations, and a toolkit to help the town chart its own path towards that future. While the teams and individual students worked to ‘drill down’ into specific topic areas, the Studio defined three basic areas in order to think about how the various assets, challenges and ideas undermine or reinforce one another. The report is loosely organized in those terms: addressing the outlying rural areas and issues specific to these places, considering one of the key growth areas that has extended from town and the conflicts that arise from the many uses occurring …

Science Tools To Implement Ecosystem Based Management In Massachusetts (Draft), Mrag Americas, Incorporated, Massachusetts Ocean Partnership, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

In this report we provide a framework for implementing ecosystem based management (EBM) and suggest a range of science information tools and their appropriate application to the decision making process. These tools can be broadly classified as modeling tools, decision analysis tools, and indicators. Modeling tools allow the user to organize data, communicate scientific findings to management and stakeholder audiences, and test alternative management scenarios. When used unwisely, however, models can preclude options, present unusable scenarios, generate results in scales that differ from management needs, and impose huge time, data, and technical requirements (Manno et al., 2008). Decision analysis tools …

Slides: Unquenchable, Robert Glennon

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Robert Glennon, Morris K. Udall Professor of Law and Public Policy, James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

56 slides

Slides: New England Forestry Foundation: Private Forests For The Public Good Since 1944, Frank Reed

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Frank Reed, New England Forestry Foundation

9 slides

Community Forests: A Perspective, Robert Mccullough

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

22 pages.

"Robert McCullough teaches in the University of Vermont Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He wrote The Landscape of Community: Communal Forests in New England."

Weir River Estuary: Land Protection Plan, Chantal Lefebvre, Michelle Portman

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

If economic growth were the only measure of a community’s health and vitality, then the communities of Cohasset, Hingham, and Hull are fairing well. But this economic success is generally accompanied by changes in the physical landscape that can be unsettling for residents, especially when it means more development and expansion at the expense of culturally and socially important open space areas such as parks, woods, and marshes. The rapid pace and fragmented nature of such sprawling development gives communities little opportunity to come to terms with the long-term impacts, which in turn can lead to a sense of powerlessness …

Rockport Municipal Harbor Plan: Issues, Goals And Policies, Rockport Harbor Planning Committee, Town Of Rockport, Massachusetts, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

This first phase of the plan for Rockport and its four (4) major harbor areas was developed to ensure growth, prosperity, and preservation of Rockport’s important resources through responsible and reasonable future use and management of the harbors and their shorelines.

The Plan has been prepared by the Town of Rockport to identify existing problems and to establish consensus about the character and quality of the harbors in the future. The Plan responds to a specific list of issues raised by the Harbor Planning Committee in a participatory planning process.

The Harbor Planning Committee is an ad hoc committee of …

A Preliminary Survey Of The Sewage Pumpout Facilities In The No Discharge Areas Of Massachusetts, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

This survey provides a preliminary review of the activities of pumpout facilities in the No Discharge Areas of Massachusetts. It highlights areas of concern, identifies potential improvements and focuses further research.

Based on data from Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, there are 100 pumpout facilities in Massachusetts, located in 56 towns. Of these 52, have one or more pumpout boats. Due to financial limitations and the time available, any attempt to survey all these facilities was beyond the scope of this study. However, it had been suggested that from CZM’s, DMF’s and EPA’s standpoint, the areas of greatest interest were those …

Harbor Plan For The Town Of Provincetown, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

Provincetown Harbor is an attractive focus of activity for the entire community which surrounds it. The Harbor area is a complex place that requires public attention to ensure appropriate use and a clean environment. The Provincetown Harbor Plan establishes practical steps to meet these goals. This Plan values the present character and activities within the Harbor area. Rather than seeking dramatic changes, the objective of the Plan is to enhance the Harbor through better management and by accomplishing a list of coordinated improvements.

The Plan envisions a future Provincetown Harbor with substantially greater access and a more pleasant character along …

The Problems Of Rural Reindustrialization: A Case Study Of Monroe, Massachusetts, Jeanne H. Armstrong, John R. Mullin

New England Journal of Public Policy

Owing to the departure of the mill industry from rural New England, many small towns have suffered erosion of their economic base. These towns and villages face a declining population, vacant mills, and an aging workforce. Monroe, Massachusetts, is an example of the problems of rural reindustrialization. This article concludes that state intervention is required for the restoration of productivity.

Wetlands Protection: The 404 Program, Patrick A. Parenteau

Water as a Public Resource: Emerging Rights and Obligations (Summer Conference, June 1-3)

13 pages.

Includes unsigned annotations by David Getches.