[Adopted 9-15-1980]
As used in these rules and regulations, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
APPLICATION
A written request filed with the Planning Board for issuance of a special permit; it shall include the application fee, operating plans and a list of abutters within 300 feet of any point on the perimeter of the proposed site.
EARTH REMOVAL
The extraction or removal of sand, gravel, loam, topsoil, stone, clay or shale from the deposits from any tract of land.
OPERATING ACREAGE
The maximum number of acres which have been or will be stripped of topsoil/vegetation and/or which have not been graded and replanted in conjunction with the approved closeout plan.
OPERATING PLANS
A series of topographic plans showing the existing, interim and closeout contours, drainage schemes, etc., as defined hereinafter.
TOTAL ACREAGE
The total number of acres within the property lines of the proposed site.
A. 
All applications for the issuance or reissuance of a special permit shall be accompanied by a certified check in the amount of $100 to cover the Planning Board's preliminary expenses.
B. 
The Planning Board shall require that the applicant retain a consulting engineer acceptable to the Planning Board and that the applicant pay all fees and expenses relative to such engineer. Failure to retain said engineer and to pay such fees and expenses shall constitute a default by the applicant under the covenant, causing the revocation of the special permit. The consulting engineer to be retained shall submit reports to the Planning Board in form and substance acceptable to it. Project engineers shall be excluded as consulting engineers to avoid a conflict of interest.
These regulations are adopted pursuant to the authority granted by MGL c. 40 for the purpose of promoting the health, safety and overall aesthetic quality of life for the inhabitants of the Town by effecting uniform regulations for all earth removal operations.
No earth removal operation shall be conducted without a covenant having been consummated between the Town and the applicant and a special permit for the same having first been issued by the Planning Board. The special permit shall expire on December 31 of each year. The Planning Board reserves the right to deny the issuance of any special permit if in its judgment the earth removal operator has not developed or has failed to conform to the approved operating plan.
The permit fee shall be a certified check in the amount of $25 per operating acre, and the applicant shall reimburse the Town for all other expenses exceeding the application fee prior to the issuance of the special permit.
A. 
Earth removal operations may only be conducted during the following hours:
(1) 
Weekdays, Monday through Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(2) 
Saturdays: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.
(3) 
Holidays and Sundays: none.
B. 
Earth removal operations during prohibited times or days may be authorized by the issuance of a special exception by the Planning Board.
The Planning Board shall give 14 days' prior notice to the applicant and abutters within 300 feet of any point on the site perimeter of any public meeting during which an application for an earth removal special permit shall be considered and discussed. Said notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town.
If a permittee fails to comply within 30 days of a written notice from the Planning Board of any deviation from the approved operating plan, the Planning Board may take such action as is necessary to correct the deviations. In the event of such an undertaking by the Planning Board, the owner of the land shall reimburse the Town for expenses incurred in connection therewith, and such expenses shall constitute a lien upon the entire tract of land approved in the permitting process.
A. 
A plan indicating the property lines of the parcel or parcels under consideration, drawn at a scale of approximately one inch equals 200 feet, which has been prepared by a registered land surveyor registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, shall be furnished.
B. 
A topographic plan showing the contours of the overall site as they currently exist and as they will exist upon the phasing-out operation of any portion of the site or upon ultimate closeout of the site shall be furnished.
C. 
An effort shall be made to identify and/or differentiate naturally wooded areas from pasture or otherwise denuded land.
D. 
All building structures, existing or proposed, shall be shown and suitably differentiated.
E. 
A sufficient number of interim plans showing the proposed work areas throughout the life of the soil banks shall be developed. An effort shall be made to project the approximate time frames when an area will be phased out and the next one opened.
F. 
The maximum slope on any operating phase shall not exceed 3:1; the maximum slope on phase-out shall not exceed 4:1. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, the final slope upon phase-out of any portion of the site shall not exceed the natural angle of repose of the on-site surface material.
G. 
Provisions shall be made to ensure that all runoff from the site is collected and conveyed via drainage channels to a properly sized siltation pond. It is the intent of this requirement to minimize siltation of natural waterways within the Town.
H. 
The maximum anticipated runoff for a two-year design storm with a rainfall intensity of 1.1 inches per hour shall be calculated. Retention ponds may be required by the Board.
I. 
Subsurface borings to a depth of at least five feet below the ultimately anticipated operating level shall be made during the high-groundwater period of the year (April and May). Results of these borings, including a detailed log of soil types, groundwater, etc., shall be furnished. On large tracts of land, a minimum of at least one bore hole per acre will be required. In smaller tracts, the Planning Board reserves the right to require more extensive subsurface exploration.
J. 
No earth removal operation shall be conducted within a distance of 50 feet of the boundary of any tract of land upon which earth removal is to be carried out, within 50 feet of a public way nor within 150 feet of any building.
K. 
In residential areas, fencing, as may be required by the Planning Board, shall be furnished.
L. 
All suitable topsoil which exists at the beginning of the earth removal operation shall be held in reserve. At the time of phase-out, a minimum thickness of three inches of fertile topsoil shall be placed over all faces to support growth of vegetation. Plantings of a suitable type, as determined by the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, shall be furnished and maintained upon the phase-out of any portion of the site to effectively control wind and water erosion.
M. 
Calcium chloride or oil shall be applied to all non-hardened-surface roads used for vehicular ingress to or egress from any tract of land upon which earth removal is conducted and to and from all regularly traveled roads within any such tract of land.
The Planning Board, upon petition or its own motion, may revoke any special permit for violation of any provision herein. The Planning Board shall give the permittee seven days' written notice of any hearing to consider revocation of a special permit.
The Planning Board may bring suit in the name of the Town of Palmer to restrain any violation of or noncompliance with the provisions of these regulations.
A. 
Basic. These rules and regulations are not applicable to:
(1) 
Any project undertaken by the Town of Palmer, either directly or by its authorized agents.
(2) 
Construction of a single or duplex residence(s) on a lot with an area of 43,560 square feet (one acre) or less.
B. 
Special. Upon special application and after a showing that the enforcement of these regulations will create an undue hardship, the Planning Board may grant an exception to any provision of these regulations upon finding that such exception will not result in a depreciation of surrounding property or degradation of the general aesthetic quality of the community.
Prior to the issuance of an earth removal permit, the permittee shall issue an irrevocable letter of credit from a bona fide bank or a performance bond (on a form recommended by the special permit granting authority, a copy of which is attached) to the Town from a surety company licensed to operate in Massachusetts, in the amount of at least $1,000 for each operating acre of said portion of land which will be operated or otherwise have an open face during the succeeding year.
All applicants are required to provide the Town of Palmer with a hold-harmless agreement along with a certificate of insurance, naming the Town of Palmer as an additional insured, for bodily injury and property damage in an amount to be specified in the covenant, subject to a minimum of $500,000 single limit.