These regulations and fee schedules have been adopted to produce
more consistent application requirements and a more equitable schedule
of fees which more accurately reflects the costs of technical and
legal review of applications to the Planning Board; to take advantage
of the procedures offered by MGL c. 44. § 53G; to establish
a review procedure in the selection of consultants; and to promote
more informed decision-making by the Planning Board.
All applications to the Planning Board shall be accompanied
by cash or check payable to the Town of South Hadley in the amount
specified in Appendix D (South Hadley Planning Board Fee Schedule).
The costs of advertising the public hearing are to be paid by the
applicant as set forth in the Public Hearing Notices portion of the
Fee Schedule in Appendix D. Said Appendix D is attached and incorporated
herein.
The selection made by the Board shall be recorded with the office
of the Town Clerk within five business days of the Board's final
selection(s).
Funds received by the Board pursuant to this section shall be
deposited with the Town Treasurer, who shall establish a special account
for this purpose.
A. Expenditures from fund. 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.
B. Review fees may only be spent for services rendered in connection
with the specific project for which they were collected. These services
shall include, but are not necessarily limited to: project reviews,
document reviews, and project-related inspections. Accrued interest
may also be spent for this purpose.
C. If the outside consultant review begins and expenses are generated
prior to the filing of a formal administrative appeal, all such expenses,
up to the time of appeal, shall be paid out of the special account
for that particular project.
Failure of an applicant to pay a review fee shall be deemed
failure to file a complete application and therefore the application
shall be deemed incomplete and either denied by the Board on those
grounds, or shall not be accepted.
At the completion of the Board's review of a proposed project
or at a time determined by any statute, bylaw, or regulation to run
from the submission of the application/permit, including any constructive
approval as certified by the Town Clerk, or upon the withdrawal of
said submission in writing, any 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 the status 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 that legally establishes this succession
in interest, which may be subject to review by Town Counsel.
The required time limit for action upon an application by the
Board shall be extended by the duration of the administrative appeal,
beginning from the date of filing such appeal.
These general regulations are supplementary to other provisions
of the South Hadley Zoning Bylaw. South Hadley Subdivision Regulations,
the Special Permit Rules and Regulations, and the Site Plan Review
Rules and Regulations.