A complete definitive plan submission shall be transmitted to
the Board of Health on the same day as the submittal to the Planning
Board.
Every definitive plan shall be subject to the following fees:
A. Administrative fee. An application fee as set forth in the Planning Board Fee Schedule (see
Appendix N/Form N, included at the end of this chapter) will be assessed.
[Amended 3-14-2012]
B. Consultant review/special accounts fee.
(1) Every definitive plan shall be required to file the minimum review fee as set forth in the Planning Board Fee Schedule (see
Appendix N/Form N, included at the end of this chapter) to establish an individual special account.
[Amended 3-14-2012]
(2) Any change deemed to be significant by the Planning Board, such as
a new roadway location or connection, shall require a new submission
and filing fees/review fees as required above. The Board may, at its
discretion, waive filing fees where changes to plans are required
through circumstances beyond the control or design responsibility
of the applicant.
(a)
If this minimum amount is not sufficient to cover the entire
cost of the review, the Board shall adjust said special account as
required. Where specific conditions arising from the land or the nature
of the proposal necessitate the assistance of a planning, engineering,
traffic, soils, services to assist the Board in analyzing a project
to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, ordinances, bylaws and
regulations, the Board may require that applicants pay a "review fee"
consisting of the reasonable costs incurred by the Board for the employment
of outside consultants engaged by the Board to assist in the review
of the application.
(b)
Funds received by the Board pursuant to this section shall be
deposited with the municipal Treasurer who shall establish a special
individual account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special
account may be made at the direction of the Board without further
appropriation. Expenditures from this special account shall be made
only in connection with the review of a specific project or projects
for which a review fee has been or will be collected from the applicant.
Failure of an applicant to pay all review fees shall be grounds for
denial of the application or permit.
(c)
Review fees may only be spent for services rendered in connection
with the specific project from which they were collected. Accrued
interest may also be spent for this purpose. At the completion of
the Board's review of a project, an excess amount in the account,
including interest, attributable to a specific project shall be repaid
to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest. A
final report of said account shall be made available to the applicant
or the applicant's successor in interest. For the purpose of
this regulation, any person or entity claiming to be an applicant's
successor in interest shall provide the Board with documentation establishing
such succession in interest.
(d)
Any applicant may take an administrative appeal from the selection
of the outside consultant to the Board of Selectmen, providing that
such appeal is taken within seven days of notification of the Board's
appointment of the consultant. The applicant shall be accountable
for any changes incurred by the review consultant until proper notification
of an appeal, within the seven-day appeal period, has been filed with
the Town Clerk. The grounds for such an appeal shall be limited to
claims that the consultant selected has a conflict of interest or
does not possess the minimum educational degree in, or related to,
the field at issue or three or more years of practice in the field
at issue or a closely related field. The required time limit for action
upon an application by the Board shall be extended by the duration
of the administrative appeal. In the event that no decision is made
by the Board of Selectmen within one month following the filing of
the appeal, the selection made by the Board shall stand.
(e)
The applicant is responsible for preparing notices to abutters
by certified mail, return receipt requested. The prepared notices
shall be then verified by the Board or Board's agent before being
mailed by the Board's agent. Return receipts are to be addressed
to the Planning Board for future verification. The prepared notices/certified
mailing shall be delivered to the Board or Board's agent not
less than 10 days before the date of the hearing. All other expenses
including, without limitation, recording fees and filing fees for
documents, and cost for sampling and/or testing required by the Board
or its agent shall be paid solely by the applicant.
(f)
All applications shall be accompanied by check payable to the
order of the Town of Plainville. All payments for any other costs
incurred shall be made within 30 days of the billing date.
Original tracings of the definitive plan shall be returned to
the applicant upon disapproval, or upon approval and endorsement after
the expiration of the appeals period, unless there is a court appeal.
Copies of the plan and all supporting materials will be retained by
the Town.
Within 45 days of receipt of the definitive plan, the Board
of Health shall report to the Planning Board approval or disapproval
of the plan and, in the event of disapproval, shall include in the
report specific findings as to which areas cannot be used as building
sites without injury to public health and, if appropriate, make recommendations
for adjustment. Such report of the Board of Health shall not be deemed
to be an approval of sewage disposal system on any lot or of the construction
of a disposal system or of building on any lot.
Before action on the definitive plan is taken, a public hearing shall be held by the Planning Board. Notice of the time and place of such hearing and of the subject matter thereof, sufficient for identification and including the location of the proposed subdivision, shall be given by the Board twice, the first time at least 14 days prior thereof, by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Plainville. A copy of said notice shall be mailed to the applicant and to all owners of land abutting on the subdivision, as appearing on the most recent tax list [see §
540-53A(3) herein].
Site preparation, tree cutting, filling and other work done
in anticipation of the subdivision plan approval should not be performed
prior to the submission and approval of a definitive plan. The Planning
Board reserves the right to disapprove any such work, to order restoration
of the site, and to assess fines as provided for in these regulations
upon filing of a Form B or C, preliminary or definitive plan application.
The Board may at any time on its own initiative or on petition
of any interested person, revise or revoke the approval of a definitive
plan or require a change therein as a condition of retaining the approved
status, including plans approved by predecessors of the current Board.
A. Such revocation or revision of approval may be due to determination
by the Board that the original approval was based on incomplete or
incorrect information, or due to the developer's failure to begin
work in the subdivision within a reasonable time or to complete the
required improvements to the specifications and within the time stipulated
by the Board, or due to a change in zoning requirements (upon expiration
of the statutory exemption period), or for other reasons.
B. The procedure for the approval of definitive plans shall, so far
as apt, be followed in revising or revoking approval, except that
no submittal of plans or filing fee shall be required, unless the
action is initiated by the applicant or his successors-in-title.
C. The action of revoking or revising the approval of a definitive plan
shall not affect individual lots and rights appurtenant to them if
sold or mortgaged in good faith and for a valuable consideration subsequent
to the initial approval of the plan, without written consent of the
owner or mortgage holder thereof. Such action shall, however, apply
to the balance of the subdivision sold to a single grantee or to all
lots not released by the Board.
D. The revocation or revision of approval shall take effect after a
new certificate of action has been recorded in the Registry of Deeds,
indexed, and noted on the original recorded plan or, in the case of
registered land, after the revocation or revision has been verified
or ordered by the Land Court.
E. Revision of lot lines, easements, utilities, and other changes which do not affect the names, grades, or exterior lines of streets may be acted upon by the Board without public notice or hearing, subject to the consent of the affected owners and, when applicable, in accordance with Article
IV of these regulations.
The Building Inspector shall not issue a building permit for
any lot without verifying that the lot is either not in a subdivision
or, if in a subdivision, that the lot has been released by enumeration
in a certificate or a surety agreement, and further that no restriction
has been placed on such a lot by the Board of Health at the time of
definitive plan approval. Other officials shall advise the Board for
conveyances or other violations of a covenant or of conditions of
definitive plan approval. The Board may take such action as is provided
by law to enforce these rules and regulations and to enjoin said court
action initiated within one year of a violation.
Upon furnishing by the applicant of a performance guarantee,
the Board shall endorse the definitive plan and refer to conditions
of approval; the Town Clerk shall certify, if such is the case, that
the notice of the plan approval has been received and no notice of
appeal has been filed within 20 days after the receipt of the approval
notice; and the developer shall record the original tracing the plan,
the certificate of board action, and the Covenant or surety agreement
or file them with the recorder of the Land Court, if the definitive
plan comprises registered land.