[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Sherborn
1981; amended 2013 (Ch. 17 of the 1968 Bylaws). Subsequent amendments
noted where applicable.]
A.
The purpose of this bylaw is to protect the wetlands of the Town
of Sherborn by controlling activities deemed to have a significant
effect upon wetland values, including, but not limited to, the following:
public or private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion
control, storm damage, water pollution, and wildlife habitat (collectively,
the "interests protected by this bylaw").
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
B.
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon or within
100 feet of, any bank, fresh water wetland, beach, marsh, meadow,
bog, swamp, or on or within 100 feet of lands bordering on any estuary,
creek, river, stream, pond or lake, or any land under said waters
or on or within 100 feet of any land subject to storm flowage, flooding
or inundation, or within 100 feet of the 100-year storm line, or within
the riverfront area 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, telephone, telegraph
and other telecommunication services, without filing written application
for an order of conditions to remove, fill, dredge, alter or build
upon, and receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to
this bylaw. The application shall be accompanied by plans and analyses
required by the Sherborn Conservation Commission.
C.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to mosquito control
work done under the provisions of MGL c. 252 or any special act; maintenance
of drainage and flooding systems of cranberry bogs; to work performed
for normal maintenance or improvement of land in agricultural or aquacultural
use; or to any project authorized by special act prior to January
1, 1973, and to qualifying forest management practices.
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
D.
Such application may be identical in form to a notice of intent filed
pursuant to MGL c. 131, § 40, shall be filed by delivery
in hand with receipt from the Commission or sent by certified mail
to the Sherborn Conservation Commission ("the Commission"), shall
be accompanied by a filing fee in an amount established by regulation
payable to the Town of Sherborn and must be filed concurrently or
after applications for all other permits, variances and approvals
required by the Zoning Bylaw, the Subdivision Control Law[1] or any other bylaw or regulation.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG.
E.
Any person desiring to know whether or not a proposed activity or
an area is subject to this bylaw may in writing request a determination
from the Commission. Such a request for determination of applicability
(RDA) or abbreviated notice of resource area delineation (ANRAD) filed
under the Act shall include information and plans as are deemed necessary
by the Commission.
F.
Upon written request of any person, the Commission shall, within
21 days, make a written determination (determination of applicability)
as to whether this bylaw is applicable 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 owner as well as
to the requesting person.
G.
The applicant shall give written notice of the filing of notice of
intent and abbreviated notice of resource area delineation at the
time of such filing, by certified mail and return receipt requested,
or hand delivery written acknowledgement of receipt, to all abutters
within 100 feet of the property line of the land where the activity
is proposed at their mailing addresses shown on the most recent applicable
tax list of the Assessors, including owners of land directly opposite
on any public or private street or way, and in another municipality
or across a body of water and to such other persons as the Commission
may, by regulation, determine. The notice shall state a brief description
of the project and the date of the Commission hearing or meeting date
if known.
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
A.
The Commission shall hold a public hearing on the application 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 the hearing, by publication in a
newspaper of general circulation in Sherborn and by mailing a notice
to the applicant, the Board of Health, the Select Board, the Planning
Board, all abutters, and to such other persons as the Commission may,
by regulation, determine.
B.
Order of conditions.
(1)
If, after the public hearing, the Commission determines that the
area and/or activity that 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 an order of conditions for
the work requested. If it issues an order of conditions after making
such determination, the Commission shall impose such conditions as
it determines are necessary for protection of those interests and
all work shall be done in accordance with those conditions. The conditions
may include a condition that certain land or portions thereof not
be built upon or altered, filled or dredged, that streams not be diverted,
dammed or otherwise disturbed. The applicant may file a new application
on any project, provided that the new application is accompanied by
plans and analyses which reflect significant differences from the
original filing.
(2)
If the Commission determines that the area that is the subject of
the application is not significant to the interests protected by the
bylaw, or that the proposed activity does not require the imposition
of conditions, it shall issue a determination of applicability without
conditions within 21 days.
This bylaw shall not apply to any emergency project as defined
in MGL c. 131, § 40.
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
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 pursuant
to this bylaw shall forthwith comply with any such order or restore
such land to its condition prior to any such violation; provided,
however, that no action, civil or criminal, shall be brought against
such person unless commenced within three years following the recording
of the deed or the date of 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 the bylaw. 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 this bylaw.
The applicant shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance
of the credible evidence that the work proposed in the application
will not have significant effects upon the values protected by this
bylaw. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the Commission supporting
a determination that the proposed work will not have significant effects
upon the values protected by this bylaw shall be sufficient cause
for the Commission to deny an order of conditions or grant an order
of conditions 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.
ALTER
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
APPLICANT
BANKS
FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
(1)
(2)
(3)
FRESHWATER WETLANDS, SWAMPS, WET MEADOWS, BOGS, AND MARSHES
PERSON
PLANS AND ANALYSES
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation
of this bylaw:
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
Shall include, but without limitation, the following actions
when undertaken in areas subject to this bylaw:
[Amended 4-25-2023 ATM
by Art. 22]
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel or aggregate
material of any kind;
Changing drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics,
salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, and
flood retention characteristics;
Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table;
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material which may
degrade water quality;
Driving of piles, erection of buildings or structures of any
kind;
Placing of obstructions whether or not they interfere with the
flow of water;
Changing of water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand or
other physical or chemical characteristics of the water.
Shall mean any person requesting an order of conditions,
abbreviated notice of area delineation, or determination of applicability
under this bylaw.
Shall mean that part of land adjoining any body of water
which confines the water.
The term "qualifying forest management practices" shall mean
those forest management practices, including the harvesting of forest
products, carried out in accordance with the Forest Cutting Practices
Act (MGL c. 132, §§ 40 to 46) and the Slash Law (MGL
c. 48, § 16).
If a cutting plan under Chapter 132 is required, a copy of said
plan, approved by the State Forester, shall be forwarded to the Sherborn
Conservation Commission prior to the commencement of work.
In the event that such qualifying forest management practices
are carried out not in accordance with the above Acts and the relevant
plan, and in a manner determined by the Conservation Commission to
cause harm to wetlands, the Commission may take appropriate enforcement
measures.
Shall have the meanings set forth in MGL c. 131, § 40,
as the same may be amended time to time.
Shall include 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 Sherborn, and any other legal entity, its legal
representatives, agents or assigns.
The term "plans and analyses" shall mean such material, studies,
and information as the Commission determines are necessary to describe
the proposed activity and its effects on the interests protected by
this bylaw. Plans and analyses may include without limitation:
Engineering drawings signed by a registered engineer or land
surveyor;
Geological survey maps of the area in question;
Information regarding soil characteristics in the area;
Information regarding flood characteristics and maximum water
table levels in the area;
Erosion and sedimentation prevention plans for the proposed
activity.
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 bond or deposit of money in an amount determined by the Commission
to be sufficient and payable to the Town of Sherborn upon default;
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).
Any person who violates any provision of this bylaw or any condition of an order of conditions issued pursuant to it shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense; if more than one, each condition violated shall constitute a separate offense. Alternatively, this bylaw may be enforced pursuant to MGL c. 40, § 21D, under Chapter 1, Article II, § 1-4, of the Town of Sherborn General Bylaws. Upon request by the Commission, the Select Board and the Town Counsel shall take such legal action as may be necessary to enforce this bylaw and orders of conditions issued pursuant to it.
