Somerville, MA

Converting a garage to living space in Somerville requires a building permit and may qualify as an ADU under the 2024 Affordable Homes Act with relaxed zoning review.

Somerville was an early Massachusetts adopter of ADU zoning and now complies with the 2024 Affordable Homes Act mandating ADUs by right in all single-family zones statewide.

Somerville caps backyard sheds at 12 feet in height and lets them sit as close as 3 feet from a side or rear lot line, but bars any encroachment into the required front setback. Sheds…

Somerville's zoning ordinance permits one detached Backyard Cottage per lot in the Neighborhood Residence district, capping the accessory building at a 576-square-foot floor plate, 24…

Somerville banned gas-powered leaf blowers in 2024, phasing them out citywide in favor of electric and battery equipment, with restricted operating hours and decibel limits on all…

Somerville enforces nighttime quiet hours under its noise control ordinance, restricting loud sounds audible at property lines during late-night and early-morning periods across this…

Somerville bars loudspeakers and PA systems from running between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and radios, stereos, and other sound amplifiers between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. if they create a noise…

Somerville limits noisy construction work to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, with heavy equipment like pile drivers and jackhammers cut off even earlier…

Somerville's noise ordinance sets hard decibel ceilings for any sound reaching a neighboring property line: 75 dB by day, dropping to 60 dB overnight in residential districts. The…

Somerville's noise ordinance separately bans three vehicle-noise problems: out-of-repair vehicles that rattle or grind, horns sounded for anything but a genuine danger warning, and…

Somerville treats chronic barking as a noise nuisance under its noise control ordinance and animal control regulations, with Animal Control and police handling complaints from affected…

Massachusetts regulates aircraft noise statewide through 740 CMR 24.00, the Logan Airport Noise Abatement rule enforced by the Massachusetts Port Authority. It bars new, noisier…

Somerville does not impose breed-specific legislation because Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 140 Section 157A prohibits cities from regulating dogs based on breed.

Exotic pets are governed primarily by Massachusetts state law, which bans most wild and dangerous species; Somerville enforces the state list through Animal Control and Board of Health.

Dogs in Somerville must be leashed in all public areas except designated off-leash dog parks, with fines for violations and mandatory waste cleanup citywide.

Traditional livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, sheep, and pigs are not permitted on residential lots in Somerville, which has no agricultural zoning districts.

Somerville bans feeding birds on any sidewalk, street, park, or other public property under City Code Sec. 3-3(b). The rule sits inside the same section that requires a highway…

Somerville caps residential beekeeping at two colonies per lot and requires a Board of Health permit, $50 the first year and $25 to renew, before keeping any honey bees. Hives near a…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance bars new construction for veterinary offices in the Neighborhood Residence district and allows the use only inside a pre-existing commercial building, and…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance does not ban pet stores from selling live animals or require adoption-only sales. Under §9.2.12.b.iv, a Pet Store use, defined as selling or otherwise…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance Table 3.1.16 blocks new construction for pet grooming businesses in the Neighborhood Residence district but permits the use, without a special permit…

Animal cruelty including hoarding is criminalized statewide under M.G.L. Chapter 272 Section 77. Hoarding triggers welfare investigations and felony charges in severe cases.

All consumer fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts, including Somerville. Possession, sale, and use are criminal offenses with fines and confiscation by the Somerville Fire Department.

Somerville requires written sign-off from the fire chief engineer before anyone burns leaves or other material in the open air on private land, including a dumping place. There is no…

State law requires a Somerville home seller to install approved smoke detectors before any sale or transfer of a residential building not already covered by the state's other detector…

Massachusetts law bars anyone in Somerville from setting, maintaining, or building up any open-air fire, brush piles included, without a permit from the fire department, and the…

Somerville is designated a no-burn community under 310 CMR 7.07. Open burning of brush, leaves, or yard waste is prohibited year round with no seasonal permit available.

Massachusetts requires a state fire marshal license and local fire chief permit to store flammable gases including propane above specified threshold quantities.

Massachusetts bans any open-air fire statewide unless the local forest warden or fire chief issues a permit good for no more than two days. Violators face a fine up to $500 plus the…

Somerville zoning limits fences to 4 feet in front yards and 6 feet in side and rear yards, with corner-lot sight-triangle rules and special permit options for taller fences.

Somerville restricts barbed wire, razor wire, and electrified fencing in residential areas, with additional historic-district material and finish reviews for local historic district…

Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 49 governs partition fences between neighbors, and Somerville follows the state rule that the finished side faces the neighbor's property.

Somerville does not require a Building Permit to put up a fence anywhere in the city; the owner installs it at their own risk under the Zoning Ordinance. A fence built directly on a…

Somerville caps a retaining wall in the front yard at 4 feet, with successive walls needing at least 4 feet of horizontal separation, but allows unlimited height behind the frontage…

Commercial vehicles over 2.5 tons cannot park overnight on Somerville residential streets. Loading zones are time-limited and signed by block.

Under MGL c.90 s.22D and city rules, Somerville can tow vehicles left unmoved more than 72 hours, or any unregistered or uninspected vehicle.

Somerville allows only one recreational vehicle, boat, or utility trailer stored outside per dwelling lot, and it must sit behind the front-most dwelling's facade and be screened from…

A vehicle actively loading or unloading in a marked Somerville service zone can stay up to 30 minutes under Traffic Commission Regulations Section 5-2. Passenger cars get 5 minutes for…

Somerville's zoning ordinance requires driveways to be paved with permeable materials like paving stones, grass pavers, pervious concrete or porous asphalt, bars driveways from the…

Only curb paint authorized by Somerville's Traffic Commission and approved in writing by the Massachusetts Highway Department counts as an official curb marking, under Traffic…

Somerville bans parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk, in front of any driveway plus two feet on each side, and requires vehicles to sit within 12 inches of the curb, under Traffic…

When Somerville's DPW Commissioner declares a snow emergency, parking is banned citywide on the even-address side of streets in odd-numbered winters and the odd-address side in…

Somerville's zoning ordinance does not mandate EV charging in ordinary parking lots citywide. It does require large master-planned developments in the Union Square Arts & Innovation…

Somerville residents whose vehicle is registered and garaged in the city can get a residential parking permit plus two visitor passes, but no new permits go to addresses that got their…

Massachusetts caps what a tow company can charge you after a nonconsensual tow. Under 220 CMR 272.03(1) the maximum charge for towing a passenger automobile up to five miles is $132.00…

Somerville family child care homes operate under MA EEC licensing (606 CMR 7.00) and are treated as residential uses under state law, with local zoning limited to safety and…

Home occupations in Somerville must limit customer traffic to appointment-only levels. High-traffic uses are prohibited and can trigger revocation of the home occupation right.

Inside one of Somerville's designated historic districts, a home occupation sign gets a hard cap: one foot square or less, one sign per residence, and indirect illumination only, under…

Somerville allows limited home businesses as an accessory use under Zoning Ordinance §9.2.14.b, but only inside a fully enclosed building the resident owns or occupies, with no outdoor…

Massachusetts has no cottage food statute and no state cottage food licence. A home kitchen selling food is treated as a food establishment, and the permit comes from the local board…

Massachusetts has no microenterprise home kitchen permit and no home restaurant category. The one route to serving cooked meals out of a private kitchen is the bed-and-breakfast branch…

MGL c.64G s.14 requires Somerville STR operators to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance per stay, either directly or through platform-provided coverage.

Three or more violations at a Somerville property within six months, whether under the short-term rental ordinance, another city ordinance, state law, or the building code, bars every…

Somerville's short-term rental ordinance only reaches stays under 28 consecutive days. Rent a room or unit for 28 days or longer and the Article X registration, fee, and occupancy…

Somerville allows a "shared unit" short-term rental year-round only if the operator keeps one bedroom reserved and stays in the unit for the entire rental. Skip the presence…

Somerville caps whole-unit short-term rentals, where the operator is not present, at 90 days a year in total. Consecutive or scattered nights both count, and ISD enforces the cap…

Somerville only allows a residential unit to be short-term rented if it is the operator's primary residence. Investment units and second homes with no owner or tenant living there…

Somerville doesn't set a separate noise limit for short-term rentals, but every registered unit must post a sign inside telling guests about the city's noise ordinance, parking rules…

Somerville limits any registered short-term rental to ten guests, or two guests per guest bedroom, whichever number is lower. The unit can also only be rented to one party at a time…

Somerville requires every short-term rental to hold a certificate of registration from Inspectional Services before operating, backed by a $250 fee, a pre-certificate inspection, and…

Somerville short-term rental hosts must post a sign at the unit's entry level spelling out the city's parking rules, covering visitor parking passes, street sweeping days, and snow…

Somerville charges short-term rental operators a flat $250.00 fee every time they register or renew, payable directly to Inspectional Services with the application. There's no…

Somerville makes booking platforms, not just hosts, financially exposed when a listing breaks the short-term rental ordinance: once the city has notified a booking agent that a listed…

Somerville's Native Planting Ordinance requires the city itself, not private property owners, to favor native species and drop invasive plants when it plants riparian areas, the…

Removing a "significant tree" (8+ inch DBH, or an invasive species other than Tree of Heaven at 24+ inches) from private property in Somerville requires a free permit from the tree…

Pruning a public shade tree or city tree in Somerville requires a free permit from the tree warden under Sec. 12-105.2, and the actual cutting must be done by a certified arborist…

Somerville bans artificial turf and artificial plants from required landscaped areas. Zoning Ordinance §10.3.5.h.v prohibits both outright, with a narrow exception for civic-space…

Somerville's Green Score standard for new construction and major renovations awards a bonus credit toward the required landscape performance score when at least half of a site's…

The Massachusetts Water Management Act and related MassDEP drought regulations authorize statewide outdoor watering limits during declared drought conditions, applying uniformly across…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance regulates pools as accessory structures: §10.2.2.r requires every pool or hot tub to sit back at least five feet from a side or rear lot line and ten feet…

Solar installations in Somerville need ISD building and electrical permits. Most rooftop systems qualify for expedited review and are allowed by right.

State law, not Somerville's own code, decides this one: Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 3 bars any zoning ordinance or by-law from prohibiting or unreasonably…

Somerville requires abutters to clear sidewalks within 6 hours of daytime snowfall ending or by 10 am if the storm ended overnight. Fines escalate and the city can clear and bill the…

City ordinance requires every private property owner or occupant in Somerville to cut and dispose of weeds in yard areas and vacant lots, and to keep adjoining sidewalks and gutters…

Owners of vacant buildings or ground-floor commercial space in Somerville must register the vacancy with inspectional services within 90 days and pay an annual fee, per Code of…

Somerville condo assessments are levied under MGL c.183A s.6 per unit percentage interest, and unpaid amounts become a priority lien under s.6(c) senior to most mortgages for 6 months.

M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(c) requires a Massachusetts condominium to keep a defined set of records up to date within the Commonwealth and to make them available for reasonable inspection by…

Massachusetts overrides some HOA and condo restrictions by statute. M.G.L. c. 184 § 23C voids deed covenants and condo-document provisions that forbid or unreasonably restrict solar…

Massachusetts gives owners an affirmative right to install electric vehicle supply equipment in their own unit or in a parking area they hold exclusive use of, and M.G.L. c. 183A, §…

Massachusetts gives a condominium's organization of unit owners express statutory power to levy fines, and attaches almost no conditions to it. M.G.L. c. 183A, § 10(b)(5) authorizes…

Massachusetts is not a UCIOA state, and its condominium lien rules sit in a home-grown statute, G.L. c. 183A, § 6. The lien attaches automatically when an assessment falls due and is…

Massachusetts runs the opposite way from states that cap association leasing bans. M.G.L. c. 64G, § 15 provides that nothing in the short-term rental chapter confers a right to lease…

Under MA Lead Law (MGL c.111 s.197A), Somerville owners must delead or apply interim control to any pre-1978 unit where a child under 6 lives, critical given the city's old housing…

Somerville accepted Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 148, § 26I, requiring automatic sprinklers in any new or substantially rehabilitated building with four or more residential units, including…

Somerville does not write its own list of permit triggers: City Code § 9-131 adopts the entire Massachusetts State Building Code, 780 CMR §§ 101.0-3622.4, as city law, so a permit is…

Somerville's inspector of buildings and assistants may enter any building or premises on showing a badge of office to carry out inspection duties. No building may be lathed until the…

New construction and major renovations in Somerville must go fossil fuel-free under the city's Specialized Energy Code. Code of Ordinances §6-94(a) bars the IECC's 'Zero Energy…

Somerville honors posted no solicitation notices at residences. Solicitors must not enter properties with visible signs. Violations can result in trespass charges and license…

Anyone canvassing house-to-house in Somerville without the resident's prior consent must register with the chief of police first, under Sec. 8-147. Applications go in person from 9:00…

Somerville allows political signs on private property with owner consent during election seasons. Content-neutral size and placement rules apply. Reed v. Town of Gilbert limits…

Window signs on Somerville commercial buildings are capped at 20% of total window glass area. Zoning Ordinance §10.8.15(b) limits each window to one sign no wider than 5 feet, no…

Somerville exempts yard sale and garage sale signs from its commercial sign rules entirely. Zoning Ordinance §10.8.4(a)(vii) lists them among signs that 'are not commercial signs and…

Digital and electronic billboards are banned outright in Somerville. Zoning Ordinance §10.8.5(a)(i) prohibits any commercial sign that 'flashes, moves, blinks, rotates, simulates…

Somerville is an EPA MS4 community. Projects disturbing 1 acre need NPDES permits; local review kicks in at 500 sq ft of new impervious surface.

Somerville requires a site construction permit from the city engineer before any land-disturbing work, including clearing, grading, paving or excavation, that could increase stormwater…

Any development in Somerville's Zone AE floodplain, from a new structure to a fence or shed, needs a Special Permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals under the FP overlay district…

Somerville regulates the FP overlay district covering all Zone AE special flood hazard areas on the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map. Any development there, including fences, sheds…

Massachusetts regulates all tidelands and coastal development statewide under Chapter 91 (MGL c.91) and 310 CMR 9.00, requiring state licenses for structures and fill in tidelands…

Plastic cutlery cannot be handed out with prepared food in Somerville unless a customer asks for it. Section 9-106.2 makes single-use forks, spoons, and knives request-only, with the…

Somerville bans food establishments from dispensing prepared food in expanded polystyrene (foam) containers, and bars city departments and city contractors from purchasing or using…

Somerville food establishments cannot hand out plastic beverage straws with a meal unless a customer asks for one. Section 9-106.2 makes straws (and plastic stirrers and cutlery)…

Somerville bans retail establishments from handing out disposable plastic shopping bags at checkout entirely, not a fee, a straight prohibition under Section 9-105.2. Stores can still…

Somerville licenses every mobile food vendor through the Inspectional Services Health Division, and the license fixes the truck's exact route or location and hours; a truck cannot park…

No one may run a food truck or cart in Somerville without a mobile food vendor license from the health division of Inspectional Services, posted where customers can see it, under Sec…

Somerville licensed food trucks can't set anything on the public sidewalk, tables, coolers, A-frame signs, none of it, without council approval, and they can't park within 50 feet of a…

Somerville bans giving, selling, delivering, or consuming marijuana or THC in parks, playgrounds, school grounds, pools, skating rinks, and public housing common areas, and extends the…

Somerville bars drinking or carrying an open alcohol container in any park, playground, school ground, pool, skating rink, or public housing common area, and on any city street unless…

Somerville can fine a property owner, host, or attendee after police respond to a 'gathering constituting a public nuisance,' meaning excessive noise, traffic, underage drinking, or…

Somerville bans smoking tobacco products within 50 feet of scheduled events, monuments, and all school grounds, playgrounds, parks, and tot-lots on city property. City Code Sec. 6-3…

Somerville pedestrians must cross within a marked crosswalk whenever one exists within 300 feet, per Traffic Commission Regulations Section 12-1. Step off anywhere else and the…

Somerville bars sauntering or loitering on a sidewalk for more than five minutes after a police officer directs a person to move on, obstructing foot travelers' free passage, or…

Somerville bans skateboarding, along with baseball and football, on all city-owned property inside a mapped zone bounded by Walnut Street, Highland Avenue, School Street and the B&M…

Somerville bars city employees and police from enforcing federal civil immigration law, inquiring about immigration status, or holding someone on an ICE detainer alone. The Welcoming…

Somerville bans pawnbroking outright under City Code Sec. 8-60. No person may operate as a pawnbroker anywhere in the city, whether lending money against pledged personal property or…

Somerville requires every tattoo, piercing, and body art shop to hold a Board of Health establishment permit, plus a separate permit for each practitioner. The Board sets…

Somerville requires anyone buying used goods for resale to hold a second hand dealer's license from the city council, complete with a CORI background check, before making a single…

Somerville retailers, including vape and e-cigarette sellers, need an annual Tobacco Product Sales Permit from the Board of Health before selling any tobacco product. Only permanent…

Somerville's Traffic Commission authorizes police-directed towing from public ways under M.G.L. c. 40, § 22D, capping the towing and storage fees an owner can be charged at the…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance bans auto repair as a home-based business outright: §9.2.14.b lists 'auto or appliance repair' among the uses that do not qualify as a Home Occupation. As…

Running refrigeration or air conditioning machinery loud enough to create a noise disturbance is unlawful in Somerville. Section 9-116(1) singles out air compressors and rotating or…

A vehicle alarm that sounds more than ten minutes in an hour is a public nuisance in Somerville, and police may tow the car to shut it off. Section 9-116(5) also makes owners liable…

Somerville bans loud loading and unloading, the crash of dumpster lids, crates, and delivery boxes, between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. citywide. Sec. 9-116(11) targets exactly the noise a…

Running a stationary generator, compressor, or other combustion engine outdoors in Somerville without an effective muffler violates Sec. 9-116(7) the moment the exhaust noise disturbs…

Buildings with seven or more units that want city trash pickup pay $150 per unit annually under Sec. 11-35, and every one of Sec. 11-31's timing, placement and container rules applies…

Somerville residents must hold refuse at the curb until 4:00 p.m. the day before pickup and have it out by 7:00 a.m. on collection day under Code of Ordinances Sec. 11-31(g)…

Somerville won't pick up bulk items as ordinary rubbish. Anything over 75 pounds, too large for one person to handle, or on the code's list, like auto parts and appliances, needs…

Somerville requires refuse to be set out no earlier than 4:00 p.m. the day before collection and no later than 7:00 a.m. on collection day, with one weekly pickup. Barrels can't exceed…

Yard waste like tree trimmings, hedge clippings and grass must be cut to no more than three feet, tied in secure bundles, and set out in paper leaf bags or barrels marked with…

Somerville residents must set recyclables out using the same timing as trash, in authorized recycling containers only, never bagged in plastic or mixed with rubbish. Once placed…

Somerville requires every owner and occupant, residential or commercial, to separate designated recyclable materials from trash under Code of Ordinances § 11-40, regardless of whether…

Somerville bans dumping ashes, building material, yard debris, food waste or any other rubbish, filth or offensive matter, liquid or solid, in catch basins, streets, sidewalks, parks…

Somerville requires a Board of Health license for every dumpster of 75 gallons or more, at $100 per unit per year, renewed each June 30. Dumpsters must sit on pavement, stay locked…

Somerville bars the city from including any invasive plant in its own plantings under Code Sec. 12-176. The rule covers new trees and plants the city or its contractors install, not…

Somerville's tree ordinance singles out Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) for exclusion: unlike other invasive species, it never qualifies as a protected "significant tree" no…

Somerville's Native Planting Ordinance requires at least half of the street trees the city plants each year to be native species, with the goal of raising that share over time. The…

Somerville's 2025 tree ordinance protects "significant trees" (8+ inch DBH natives, or 24+ inch DBH invasive species other than Tree of Heaven) during any permitted construction…

Somerville makes it unlawful for any city department, agency, or official to obtain, retain, access, or use a face surveillance system, or any data derived from one, under Sec. 9-25 of…

Somerville treats security cameras as regulated 'surveillance technology' under its surveillance oversight ordinance: any city department that wants to install cameras beyond narrow…

Automatic license plate readers are named surveillance technology under Somerville's oversight ordinance, so the police department cannot deploy or expand an ALPR/Flock-style program…

Minors under 16 cannot be out on Somerville streets, parks or other public places after 9:30 p.m. and before sunrise unless with a parent or guardian, working, or on written parental…

Somerville closes all parks and playgrounds to the public every night between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. under Sec. 12-48 of the Code of Ordinances. Only city personnel conducting city…

Somerville enforces the Massachusetts State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.000-419.000, as the city's own housing standard under Sec. 9-133, and a landlord who violates those state…

For nonpayment of rent, Massachusetts requires a 14-day notice to quit under M.G.L. c. 186 § 11 (leases) or § 12 (tenancies at will). After the notice expires, the landlord must bring…

MGL Chapter 239 sets uniform statewide summary process eviction procedures for residential tenancies, establishing notice requirements, court process, and tenant defenses applicable in…

Massachusetts has no general statute requiring advance notice before a landlord enters. M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(a) instead limits when a lease may permit entry, to inspect, make…

Massachusetts strictly limits late fees. Under M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(c), no lease or rental agreement may impose any interest or penalty for late rent until the rent is at least 30…

To end a tenancy at will (month-to-month), Massachusetts requires written notice equal to one full rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer, under M.G.L. c. 186 § 12. Fixed-term…

Massachusetts prohibits rent control statewide. Voters abolished it through a 1994 ballot referendum codified as Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40P, the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition…

Massachusetts has one of the nation's strictest security deposit laws. A landlord may collect no more than one month's rent as a security deposit, must hold it in a separate…

Massachusetts requires 20 years of continuous adverse possession to claim title to land. Under M.G.L. c. 260 § 21, an action to recover land must be brought within 20 years after the…

In Somerville, bicycles and other non-motorized conveyances have exclusive right-of-way in designated bicycle lanes, and motor vehicles are banned from driving or parking in them…

Somerville's ordinance lets the Police Department mail civil-penalty notices to vehicle owners caught by photographic monitoring systems running red lights or speeding through camera…

Somerville bars anyone under 16 from operating a motorized scooter and caps speed at 25 mph on any city way. Riders must wear bicycle-standard helmets, use bike lanes when available…

Massachusetts treats a golf cart and a low-speed vehicle as different machines with different rights. A true golf cart may be driven on a public way only under one narrow carve-out in…

Every Somerville property owner must keep premises free of rats and mice under Code of Ordinances § 11-38, implementing rodent-proofing and clearing harborage materials like debris…

Leaving a vehicle, obstacle or article on a Somerville sidewalk or roadway at any time requires a commissioner of public works permit, with the obstruction lit and guarded to the…

Structural repair of Somerville's public sidewalks is a city job, not an abutting owner's. The code places direction and control of sidewalk construction, alteration, repair and…

Somerville bars leaving fuel, dirt, ashes or other material on a sidewalk overnight, or obstructing a sidewalk or street crossing in any other way, unless the commissioner of public…

Somerville restaurants need a Licensing Commission permit to put outdoor seating on the public sidewalk, must post a $5,000 bond or add the city as an additional insured, and the…

Groups wanting to use a Somerville park or playground between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., such as for an athletic event, must first get a permit from the city council under Sec. 12-49…

Any carnival, circus, festival, fiesta, or street fair in Somerville needs a mayor-issued license or permit, and it can't happen on public or private property anywhere in the city…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance treats farming as its own use category under Article 9, splitting it into Commercial Farming, Community Farming and Community Gardening. In the…

Massachusetts protects farms from nuisance lawsuits under M.G.L. c. 243 § 6: a farm operating more than one year using generally accepted agricultural practices cannot be found a…

Somerville has not opted out of adult-use marijuana retail, but every cannabis retail site needs a Special Permit under the zoning ordinance. Retail stores are capped at 10,000 square…

Massachusetts preempts local bans on personal cannabis cultivation under MGL c.94G §7, allowing adults 21+ to grow up to six plants per person and twelve per household statewide.

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance caps lot coverage, the share of a lot covered by buildings, structures and impervious surface, on a per-building-type basis under §2.4.2.c.i. A Cottage in…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance sets yard setbacks for the Detached House, the city's most common residential building type, in the Neighborhood Residence district: a 10-to-20-foot front…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance caps the city's most common house type, the Detached House, at 2.5 stories and a 12-foot maximum story height in the Neighborhood Residence district under…

Somerville's Board of Health bans the sale or possession-for-sale of any flavored tobacco product or flavor enhancer, including menthol cigarettes and flavored vape liquid, citywide…

Massachusetts requires purchasers of tobacco and vape products to be at least 21 years of age under MGL Chapter 270 Section 6, predating the 2019 federal Tobacco 21 law.

Somerville treats data centers as an Industrial use under Zoning Ordinance §9.2.8.b, and Table 9.1.1 permits them in exactly one district: Commercial Industry (CI), and only with a…

Somerville's Outdoor Lighting standards exist 'to minimize adverse impacts of lighting such as light trespass, obtrusive light spillover, and harmful glare,' per §10.6.2.c, and back…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance bans billboards outright, so no billboard-lighting standard exists because no billboard may lawfully stand in the city. Section 10.8.3 lists the only…

Somerville's Zoning Ordinance encourages reusing storm water on-site rather than piping it away. Section 10.9.2(a) directs that 'to every extent practicable, storm water should be…

Massachusetts has no statewide omnibus drone statute, so recreational flying follows federal FAA rules. But across the roughly 450,000 acres the Department of Conservation and…

Massachusetts sets a statewide minimum wage of $15.00 per hour under MGL Chapter 151, and generally preempts cities from adopting higher local minimum wages.

Massachusetts provides paid family and medical leave through the PFML program under MGL Chapter 175M, plus paid sick time under the Earned Sick Time Law for most employees.

Massachusetts requires a License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to carry concealed handguns, with applications processed by local police chiefs subject to suitability…

Massachusetts requires a valid License to Carry under MGL Chapter 140 Section 131 to transport loaded handguns in a vehicle, with strict storage rules applying to long guns and…

Beyond frost depth and snow load, the Massachusetts design criteria table sets weathering, termite risk, ice barrier, flood and air freezing index values that apply to every home built…

Massachusetts sets one frost line depth for the whole state: 48 inches. Footings must bear below that depth anywhere in the Commonwealth, and cities and towns do not set their own…

Massachusetts publishes a ground snow load for every one of its 351 cities and towns in a single state table, ranging from 25 psf on the Cape and Islands to 60 psf in the hill towns.

Massachusetts lists a minimum flat roof snow load for every city and town, and requires designers to use whichever is larger: that listed floor or the load calculated from the local…

The Expanded Gaming Act divides Massachusetts into three casino license regions and caps category 1 licenses at one per region. A resort casino can open only in a city or town that…

Massachusetts law bans commercial gambling but carves out G.L. c. 271 § 7A for nonprofit raffles and bazaars: veterans', religious, fraternal, educational, and civic groups that have…

Massachusetts bans gaming for money only in a public conveyance or public place, or in a private place where the player is trespassing. G.L. c. 271, § 2 does not reach cards, dice, or…

Massachusetts legalized sports wagering under G.L. c. 23N, with retail betting live January 31, 2023 and mobile apps following March 10, 2023. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission…

The Massachusetts General Laws contain no sobriety checkpoint statute. A full-text search returns nothing for roadblock, roadblocks or sobriety checkpoint, and the single hit for…

Massachusetts has no statute granting a right to record police. It has G.L. c. 272, section 99, one of the strictest wiretap laws in the country, and the operative word in it is…

Massachusetts has no general stop-and-identify law reaching people on foot. The duty at G.L. c. 90, section 25 attaches only to a person operating or in charge of a motor vehicle, and…

Massachusetts has no clause saying lawful cannabis possession is not grounds for a search, unlike Michigan or Maryland. What it has instead is G.L. c. 276, section 1, which narrows…

Massachusetts bars any vehicle from mounting or displaying a flashing, rotating or oscillating light in any direction except under G.L. c. 90, section 7E, and section 7E hands out red…

Massachusetts has no dash camera statute, but G.L. c. 90, section 13B expressly permits a device to be mounted on or affixed to a vehicle windshield, dashboard or centre console so…

Lane splitting is illegal in Massachusetts. G.L. c. 89, § 4A tells the operator of a motorcycle that he shall not pass any other motor vehicle within the same lane, and the ban carries…

Massachusetts bans plate covers by naming the device rather than by regulating tint or reflectivity. G.L. c. 90, § 6 says number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and…

Nothing in the Massachusetts General Laws prohibits a radar detector in a private car. A full-text search of the General Laws returns no hit at all for radar detector, speed measuring…

Massachusetts writes its studded tire rule as a ban on the warm half of the year rather than as a permission for winter. G.L. c. 90, § 16 makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle…

Massachusetts lets you put aftermarket film on the front side windows, the rear side windows and the rear window only if it transmits at least 35 per cent of visible light and reflects…