An abutter is a person (or entity) whose property is adjacent to the property of another. In jurisdictions such as

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, and

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, it is a defined legal term. Some jurisdictions, such as

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, may use the term adjacent landowner, while others, such as

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, use the term adjoining landowner, and the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

defines rights of contiguous property owners (CPO). In

land use Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: fo ...

regulations, concerns of an abutter may be given special attention, being the one most likely to suffer specific harm from a hasty, uninformed decision. For example, a developer requesting a

subdivision Subdivision may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Subdivision (metre), in music * ''Subdivision'' (film), 2009 * "Subdivision", an episode of ''Prison Break'' (season 2) * ''Subdivisions'' (EP), by Sinch, 2005 * "Subdivisions" (song), by Rush ...

may be required to notify (or pay to notify) all abutters of the proposal and invite them to a public hearing. Regulations may also provide an abutter with the right to be heard at the hearing, unlike others who must request permission to be heard, at the discretion of the board. In the spirit of

land use politics Land use is an umbrella term to describe what happens on a parcel of land. It concerns the benefits derived from using the land, and also the land management actions that humans carry out there. The following categories are used for land use: for ...

, even the unified voices of the concerned abutters may sound only faintly against the machinery of "progress" or well-funded special interests. However, the courts will objectively consider a proper case brought by an abutter whose rights have been arguably under-appreciated. Generally, the more abutters interested in a project, the more likely someone will object to it. Some regulations otherwise expand or limit the participation of local owners, as where notice may be required for "anyone whose property is within 200 feet of any point of the parcel under consideration." Another expansive definition would include those whose properties are across a public way or flowing waterway, where the parcels do not actually touch. Contrarily, regulations may define "abutter" to include only those people who hold record title to an adjacent parcel, thus undermining the rights of tenants, associations and partial owners (e.g., mineral rights and easement owners) to be notified, let alone heard on a proposal. This would also eliminate participation of owners of unrecorded title, such as

adverse possession Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law (legal system), civil law concept of usucaption (also ''acquisitive prescription'' or ''prescriptive acquisition''), are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have title (p ...

or those who have simply failed to record a

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

or settle an estate involving the adjacent property.

References

Land use Urban studies and planning terminology {{Planning-stub