Burnt or Dangerous Buildings

[General Laws, Chapter 139, Sections 1 and 3.]

Section 1. In a city or town in which the city council or the inhabitants of the town accept this and the two following sections or have accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws, the aldermen or selectmen, after written notice to the owner of a burnt, dilapidated or dangerous building, or his authorized agent, and after a hearing, may make and record an order adjudging it to be a nuisance to the neighborhood, or dangerous, and prescribing its disposition, alteration or regulation. The town clerk shall deliver a copy of the order to an officer qualified to serve civil process, who shall forthwith serve an attested copy thereof in the manner prescribed in section one hundred and twenty-four of chapter one hundred and eleven, and make return to said clerk of his doings thereon.

[1855, c.469, Sects. 1,6; G.S. 87, Sect. 1; P. S. 101, Sect. 1; R. L. 101, Sect. 1; 1919, 333, Sect. 7; 1920, c. 5.]

Owner Aggrieved May Appeal to Superior Court

Sect. 2. A person aggrieved by such order may appeal to the superior court for the county where such building is situated, if, within three days after the service of such attested copy upon him, he presents to such court a petition stating his grievance and the order of the board. After such notice to the board as the court shall order, trial by jury shall be had as in other civil causes. The jury may affirm, annul or alter such order, and the court shall render judgment in conformity with said verdict, which shall take effect as an original order. If the order is affirmed, the petitioner shall pay the costs; if it is annulled, he shall recover from the town his damages, if any, and costs; and if it is altered, the court may render such judgment as to costs as justice shall require. [1855, c. 469, Sects. 3-5; G. S. 87, Sects. 2-4; 1873, c. 261; P. S. 101, Sects. 2-4; R. L. 101, Sects. 2-4; 1919, c. 333, Sect. 7; 1920, c. 5.]

Nuisances May be Abated, etc. Sect. 3. The aldermen or selectmen shall have the same power to abate and remove any such nuisance as is given to the board of health of a town under sections one hundred and twenty-three to one hundred and twenty-five, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and eleven. [1855, c. 469, Sect. 2; G. S. 87, Sect. 5; P. S. 101, Sect. 5; R. L. 101, Sect. 5.]