[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Longmeadow as Art. 2, Ch. 700, of the General Bylaws; amended 10-25-2005 STM, approved 1-12-2006; 6-23-2020 ATM by Art. 32, approved 10-19-2020. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this bylaw is to protect the floodplains and wetlands of the Town of Longmeadow by controlling activities deemed to have a significant effect upon wetland values, which include but are not limited to the following: public or private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion control, storm damage prevention, water pollution control, fisheries, shellfish, wildlife, passive recreation and threatened or endangered species (collectively, the "interests protected by this bylaw").
[Amended 10-25-2022STM by Art. 23, approved 2-22-2023; 5-9-2023 ATM by Art. 31, approved 8-31-2023]
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon or within 100 feet of any bank, freshwater wetland, beach, flat, marsh, wet meadow, bog, swamp or upon or within 100 feet of any pool or lake or intermittent brook, stream, creek, or river, or within 200 feet of any perennial brook, stream, creek or river or within 100 feet of any land under said waters or upon or within 100 feet of any land subject to flooding or inundation, or isolated wetlands, or within 100 feet of the 100-year storm line, other than in the course of maintaining, repairing or replacing, but not substantially changing or enlarging, an existing and lawfully located structure or facility used in the service of the public and used to provide electric, gas, water, sewer, telephone, telegraph and other telecommunication services, without filing written application with the Longmeadow Conservation Commission for a permit to remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon, including such plans as may be necessary to describe such proposed activity and its effect on the environment, and receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this bylaw. For all projects, a buffer of naturally occurring, undisturbed vegetation measuring 50 feet from the edge of all wetlands is required. The provisions of this section shall not apply to work performed for maintenance of land in agricultural use.Any activities that result in the disturbance of one acre or more of land are also subject to the plan submission and standards requirements for a Stormwater Management and Land Disturbance Permit as prescribed in Chapter 295, Article V of the Code of the Town of Longmeadow and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Where requirements differ between this bylaw and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and Chapter 295, Article V and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, the stricter of the two shall prevail.
A. 
Application for a permit may be identical in form to a notice of intent filed pursuant to MGL c. 131, § 40, and shall be sent by certified mail or hand delivered to the Longmeadow Conservation Commission. The Commission shall set a filing fee by regulation; such filing fee shall be payable to the Town of Longmeadow. Application must be filed concurrently with or after application for all other variances and approvals required by Zoning Bylaw, the Subdivision Control Law[1] or any other bylaw or regulation. No filing fee is required when the Town of Longmeadow files an application for a permit. A copy of the application shall be sent at the same time by certified mail or hand delivered to the Department of Environmental Protection ("DEP") or any successor agency, and abutter notification of the application shall be sent by certified mail. Upon written request of any person, the Commission shall, within 21 days of receipt of this request, make a written determination of applicability as to whether this bylaw applies to any land or work thereon. When the person requesting a determination is other than the owner, notice of the determination shall be sent to the owners as well as to the requesting person.
[Amended 10-25-2022STM by Art. 23, approved 2-22-2023]
[1]
Editor's Note: See MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG.
B. 
The Commission, its agent, officers and employees may enter upon the land upon which the proposed work is to be done in response to a request for a prior determination or for the purpose of carrying out its duties under this bylaw and may make or cause to be made such examination or survey as deemed necessary.
The Commission shall hold a public hearing on the application for a permit within 21 days of its receipt. Notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be given by the Commission at the expense of the applicant, not less than five days prior to hearing, by publication in the local newspapers and by notifying the Town Clerk at least 48 hours in advance with the time and place of the hearing, along with the agenda for posting in the Town Hall and the Town website. The Conservation Commission may, at its option, combine the hearing under this bylaw and the hearing conducted under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40.
A. 
Permit and conditions. If, after the public hearing, the Commission determines that the area which is the subject of the application is significant to the interests protected by this bylaw, the Commission shall, within 21 days of such hearing, issue or deny a permit for the work requested. If it issues a permit after making such determination, the Commission shall impose such conditions as it determines are necessary or desirable for protection of those interests, and all work shall be done in accordance with those conditions or it may deny the application. If the Commission determines that the area which is the subject of the application is not significant to the interests protected by this bylaw, or that the proposed activity does not require the imposition of conditions, it shall issue a permit without conditions within 21 days of the public hearing. Permits shall expire three years from the date of issuance, unless renewed prior to expiration, and all work shall be completed prior to expiration. A request for renewal shall be made, in writing, to the Conservation Commission at least two weeks prior to date of expiration.
B. 
Denials. The Conservation Commission is empowered to deny permission for any removal, dredging, filling or altering of subject lands within the Town if, in its judgment, such denial is necessary to preserve the interests described in this bylaw of either or both the subject lands and contiguous lands. Due consideration shall be given to possible effects of the proposal on all values to be protected under this bylaw and to any demonstrated hardship on the petitioner by reason of a denial, as brought forth at the public hearing.
C. 
Emergency projects. The notice required in this bylaw shall not apply to emergency projects necessary for the protection of health or safety of the citizens of the Town and to be performed or ordered to be performed by an administrative agency of the commonwealth or by the Town.
[Amended 10-25-2022STM by Art. 23, approved 2-22-2023]
Any person who purchases, inherits, or otherwise acquires real estate upon which work has been done in violation of the provisions of this bylaw, or in violation of any order of conditions issued under this bylaw, shall forthwith comply with any such order, or restore the land to its condition prior to any such violation; provided, however, that no action, civil or criminal, shall be brought against such a person, unless such action is commenced within three years following the recording of the deed, or the date of the death by which such real estate was acquired by such person.
After due notice and public hearing, the Commission may promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this bylaw.[1] Failure by the Commission to promulgate such rules and regulations or a legal declaration of their invalidity by a court of law shall not act to suspend or invalidate the effect of the bylaw.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 348, Wetlands Regulations.
The applicant shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the work proposed in the application will not harm the interests protected by this bylaw. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the Commission supporting a determination that the proposed work will not harm the interests protected by this bylaw shall be sufficient cause for the Commission to deny a permit or grant a permit with conditions or, in the Commission's discretion, to continue the hearing to another date to enable the applicant or others to present additional evidence.
A. 
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation of this bylaw:
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
(1) 
LAND IN AGRICULTURAL USEAny qualifying wetland within a farm which is qualified or eligible to be qualified under the Farmland Assessment Act, MGL c. 61A, §§ 1 to 5;
(2) 
QUALIFYING WETLANDOnly areas which are seasonally flooded basins of flats or inland freshwater meadows;
(3) 
NORMAL MAINTENANCE OF LAND IN AGRICULTURAL USEThe same meaning as the definition contained in the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection found at 310 CMR 10.04(b).
ALTER
Includes, without limitation, the following actions when undertaken in areas subject to this bylaw:
(1) 
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel or aggregate materials of any kind;
(2) 
Changing drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns and flood-retention characteristics;
(3) 
Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table;
(4) 
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material which may degrade water quality;
(5) 
Driving of piles, erection of buildings or structures of any kind;
(6) 
Placing of obstructions whether or not they interfere with the flow of water;
(7) 
Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees and shrubs;
(8) 
Changing of water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand or other physical or chemical characteristics of the water.
BANKS
That part of land adjoining any body of water which confines the water.
FRESHWATER WETLANDS
Wet meadows; marshes; swamps; bogs; areas where groundwater, flowing or standing surface water or ice provides a significant part of the supporting substrate for a plant community for at least five months of the year; emergent or submergent plant communities in island waters; that portion of any bank which touches any inland waters.
ISOLATED WETLANDS
Freshwater wetlands that do not border on creeks, rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. Some isolated depressions which hold standing water for extended periods of time, perhaps continuously, such as certain kettle holes too small to be called "ponds" or "lakes" are isolated wetlands.
PERSON
Includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust estate, the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof to the extent subject to Town bylaws, administrative agencies, public or quasi-public corporations or bodies, the Town of Longmeadow, and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
B. 
Additional definitions. The Commission may adopt additional definitions not inconsistent with this section in its regulations promulgated pursuant to § 304-6 of this bylaw.
The Commission may require, as a permit condition, that the performance and observance of other conditions be secured by one or both of the following methods:
A. 
By a bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities in an amount determined by the Commission to be sufficient and payable to the Town of Longmeadow;
B. 
By a conservation restriction, easement or other covenant running with the land, executed and properly recorded (or registered, in the case of registered land).
A. 
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, or otherwise alter resource areas protected this bylaw, or cause, suffer, or allow such activity, or leave in place unauthorized fill, or otherwise fail to restore illegally altered land to its original condition, or fail to comply with a permit or an enforcement order issued pursuant to this bylaw.
B. 
The Commission, it agents, officers, and employees shall have authority to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing their duties under this bylaw and may make or cause to be made such examinations, surveys, or sampling as the Commission deems necessary, subject to the constitutions and laws of the United States and the commonwealth.
C. 
The Commission shall have authority to enforce this bylaw, its regulations and permits issued thereunder by violation notices, orders and civil and criminal court actions. Any person who violates any provisions of this bylaw or any condition of a permit issued pursuant to this bylaw may be ordered to restore the property to its original condition and take other action deemed necessary to remedy such violations, or may be fined, or both. When the Conservation Commission determines that an activity is in violation of this bylaw, the regulations or an order, the Commission may issue an enforcement order.
D. 
Upon request of the Commission, the Select Board and Town Counsel shall take legal action for enforcement under civil law. Town boards and officers, including any Town police officer or other officer having police powers, shall have authority to assist the Commission in enforcement.
E. 
Any person who violates any provision of this bylaw or regulations, permits, or orders issued thereunder, or has failed to obtain the necessary Commission approval, shall be punished by a fine of $300 pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 21D. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense, and each provision of this bylaw, regulations, permits, or orders violated shall constitute a separate offense.[1]
[Amended 5-16-2021 ATM by Art. 31]
[1]
Editor's Note: The following text was disapproved and deleted by the Attorney General 10-19-2020: "a fine of not more than $300 pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40, Section 21D."
A decision of the Commission shall be reviewable in the Superior Court in accordance with MGL c. 249, § 4.
This bylaw is adopted under the home rule amendments of the Massachusetts Constitution and the home rule statutes, independent of the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations of the Department of Environmental Protection, 310 CMR 10.00.
The invalidity of any section or provision of this bylaw shall not invalidate any other section or provision thereof, nor shall it invalidate any permit or determination which previously has been issued pursuant to this bylaw.