Some public bodies by law engage in negotiations with applicants
(example: the Planning Board relative to the approval of a subdivision).
A hearing before such bodies is often merely the beginning of the
process. This is not the case with the ZBA. The role of the ZBA is
quasi-judicial, not interactive. The hearing is one of the last steps
in the process. The application is the first step. An application
asks that the ZBA reach a particular decision. It must include all
of the information appropriate to that decision.
Petitions are to be submitted to the Town Clerk, who will log them in and notify the ZBA. 16 copies are required. An application which lacks any of the items in §
135-5A through
B above is not a petition for the requested action but rather a notice of intent to submit a petition.
All petitions to the ZBA shall be accompanied by a list of abutters
and abutters-to-abutters within 300 feet of the locus in question,
certified by the Assessors as valid if obtained within six months
of the filing date. This list will be used as the basis for statutory
notices of the required public hearing.
All petitions shall be accompanied by plans sufficiently detailed
for the ZBA to assess the zoning issues involved, including, but not
limited to, building setbacks, lot lines, lot area, zoning, boundary
lines, existing and proposed setbacks, water course and septic areas.
A. If the petitioner is appealing as an outside party and thus has no
reasonable means of providing site plans which conform to the requirements
of the site plans section of the Bylaw, a copy of the plan of the
land from the Assessors' maps will suffice. Otherwise, a site
plan conforming to the site plans section of the Bylaw is required,
prepared and signed by a registered professional, showing among other
things:
(2) Location of existing structures and proposed improvements.
(3) Details required by the site plans section of the Bylaw.
(4) Zoning district boundaries.
(5) Building plans of any structure to which the applicant proposes improvements,
sufficient to satisfy the usual building permit requirements of the
Town Building Commissioner.
B. The site plan shall be sufficiently complete and detailed so as to
explain the project in terms of Bylaw compliance.
Applicants who propose improvements, who object to denial of
or conditions placed on proposed work, or who request variances must
include with the initial application the complete record of submissions
to and actions by any other Town board having any jurisdiction over
the applicant's request, even if such action has not been completed
at the time of submission to the ZBA.
All petitions shall be accompanied by a brief written statement
specifying the relief being sought, referring to the specific sections
of the Bylaw, and subsections if any, which are involved and specifically
state any requested findings and permits.
The requirements of these rules can be waived only by a recorded
formal vote of the ZBA at a posted public meeting. [Note: Incompleteness
of an application is sufficient cause for denial of the relief sought
if the Board concludes that a Board member or party of interest was
thereby obstructed or disadvantaged in timely access to and adequate
consideration of a material fact.]