摘要：The South Boston waterfront area has been described as the "last frontier" of developable property along the highly coveted Boston waterfront. As with most urban development projects, there are many stakeholders with different and often competing interests in the South Boston waterfront area, including landowners, developers, architects, historical associations, neighborhood groups, local planning boards, and state environmental agencies. Through the operation of Chapter 91, the Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act, the Commonwealth has mandated that another interest, the public's interest in tidelands, will not only be considered, but accommodated. Massachusetts has taken a farsighted and comprehensive approach to ensure that the shores of its sea remain the common property of its citizens. Through Chapter 91 and its attendant permitting scheme, Massachusetts has asserted its sovereign obligation to protect the public's interests in the shores of the sea by regulating the development of tidelands in the Commonwealth. As private property owners and municipalities seek to develop land along the water's edge, the provisions of Chapter 91 provide the basis for the Commonwealth to both review proposals for development and changes to existing waterfront structures, and require the inclusion of conditions that promote public use of and access to the water. The Rowes Wharf complex, built in the mid-1980s, on Boston's Atlantic Avenue is one of the more obvious examples of Chapter 91's success in promoting public access without sacrificing commercial profit. In addition to the archway that provides visual access to the water from the street, Rowes Wharf features pedestrian walkways and plazas, public restrooms, a marina, temporary boat dockage, ferry terminals, a watershuttle to Logan Airport, and a public observatory in the rotunda. Although opponents of Rowes Wharf questioned whether the public would feel comfortable walking along the million dollar condominiums, anyone who has wandered through the grand archway on a sunny New England day knows that this early fear has proven unwarranted. It is questionable whether the developers would have provided these significant public benefits without the existence of Chapter 91. Chapter 91 went largely unchanged from its adoption in 1866 until the Supreme Judicial Court issued its landmark decision Boston Waterfront Development Corporation v. Commonwealth, in which the court held that even formerly submerged land that had been filled and built upon remained impressed with a public trust. In 1983, the legislature responded to the decision by amending Chapter 91 to ensure that tidelands are either developed for a
