Chapter 91- MassDEP Ch91 License Viewer – launchpad – Overview

Chapter 91 (the Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act) protects the public’s rights in tidelands and waterways under the public trust doctrine. It requires projects on Commonwealth tidelands and many filled tidelands to provide meaningful public access and public benefits. Licenses and accompanying plans must be recorded in the Registry of Deeds.

The Massachusetts Waterways Program states that Chapter 91 is specifically intended to protect and promote public use of tidelands and waterways and administers those requirements through licenses.

Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Charlestown Navy Yard Water-Dependent Use Management Plan, which states:

"A public access walkway and viewing areas are provided along the northeastern perimeter of the pier."

Constellation Wharf – Pier 7

Constellation Wharf’s 2022 permit application identifies the Pier 7 property as recorded at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, Book 12694, Page 272. deed, master deed, easements, restrictions, and any incorporated development agreement.

The filing also identifies:

• Property: Constellation Wharf, Pier 7, Charlestown
• Address: 1 Pier 7
• Assessor’s parcel: Ward 02, Parcel 03516000—shown in the filing as Map 2047, Lot 3516
• Owner: Constellation Wharf Condominium Association/Administration
• Registry: Suffolk County
• Book/Page: 12694/272

Protected walkway and viewing areas

The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s 2007 Water-Dependent Use Management Plan expressly states:

“A public access walkway and viewing areas are provided along the northeastern perimeter of the pier.”

The plan also confirms that Pier 7 is located entirely over the flowed waters of Boston Harbor, making the Chapter 91 and public-trust issues especially significant.

That is unusually clear governmental documentation of two separate required amenities:

1. a public-access walkway; and
2. public viewing areas.

The same document describes the Harborwalk as a public waterfront corridor connecting parks, public programs, transportation facilities, marinas, commercial uses, and residential developments throughout the Navy Yard.

Current records still recognize it as public space

The Constellation Wharf condominium’s own 2022 engineering documents instructed contractors to avoid interference with:

“pedestrians utilizing the Harborwalk public space.”

That language shows that the condominium association and its engineers continued to recognize the Harborwalk as public space, not a private condominium walkway.