[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Groveland
as Ch. 5, Art. II, of the General Bylaws. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This bylaw shall apply to the removal of material in connection
with the future issuance of a building permit or where any amount
of material in excess of that required solely for foundations and
utility work, as defined on duly filed plans, will be removed concurrent
with construction or at a later date from the Town.
No person, persons, partnerships or corporations (hereinafter
called "the applicant") shall remove, nor cause to be removed, nor
permit the removal of any soil, loam, sand or gravel or aggregate
from any land not in public use within the Town, unless such applicant
is the holder of a written special permit duly issued by the Board
of Selectmen (hereinafter called "the authority") after a public hearing
in accordance with the provisions of this bylaw.
The authority's public hearing shall be held within 65 days after the filing of one application and two sets of preliminary plans with the authority. Preliminary plans may be drawn by a nonregistered engineer or land surveyor. If a special permit is granted by the authority, the applicant must then provide the authority with definitive plans as per § 235-6, drawn by a registered land surveyor who is licensed to practice in Massachusetts, before the applicant can proceed with earth removal operations. Failure of the authority to take final action upon an application for a special permit within said 90 days following the date of the public hearing shall be deemed a grant of the permit applied for.
Any petition for an earth materials removal special permit which
has been transmitted to the authority may be withdrawn without prejudice
by the petitioner prior to the publication of the notice of public
hearing thereon, but thereafter may be withdrawn without prejudice
only with the approval of the authority.
Any proposed earth materials removal operation shall require
the written recommendations of Town boards and/or agencies as specified
in this bylaw. Any such board or agency to which petitions are referred
for review shall make such recommendations as it deems appropriate
and shall send copies thereof to the authority and to the applicant;
provided, however, that failure of any such board or agency to make
recommendations within 35 days of receipt by such board or agency
of the petition shall be deemed lack of opposition thereto.
A.
The content of the application and plan(s) shall include at least
the following information:
(1)
The legal name and address of the applicant (owner) of the property
involved. Corporations or partnerships shall file with the authority
a list of their officers and designate their authority to sign legal
documents.
(2)
All boundaries of property where material is to be removed with the
boundaries of removal areas shown in detail.
(3)
All buildings on and within 100 feet of said property, including
buildings across private or public ways.
(4)
All internal roads and roads within 100 feet of said property, with
their elevations and established grades.
(5)
All waterways, brooks, swamps and other water bodies on or within
100 feet of said property, with their elevations, boundaries and presently
defined courses.
(6)
The height of the water table at its highest elevation as determined
by a minimum of two observations spaced at least three weeks apart
during the months of April and May. The observations shall be taken
at locations as designated by the Selectmen or their agent(s).
(7)
Contour lines for the entire property at five-foot intervals, showing
existing surface elevations and proposed elevations for the excavated
earth prior to reloaming at the completion of operations.
(8)
A profile through the property showing the steepest finished slopes
or banks.
(9)
Any and all easements, existing and proposed, public or private.
(10)
Any and all benchmarks on or within 100 feet of said property.
(11)
All land to be operated on, divided into square grids 300 feet
on each side unless the property involved is less than such grid area,
and in such case the grid shall constitute the lesser area.
(12)
The above-mentioned plan shall be drawn by a registered land
surveyor, licensed to practice in Massachusetts, to a scale of one
inch equals 40 feet for areas up to 20 acres, and at a scale of one
inch equals 80 feet for larger areas. All profiles shall be drawn
to a scale of one inch equals four feet. In addition, a plan shall
be provided which will show the relationship of said property to easily
identifiable landmarks. The authority, after study, may make such
corrections and revisions, in conjunction with the applicant, prior
to the public hearing as it deems advisable in the public interest.
(13)
Estimated quantities of each substance to be excavated as calculated
by a registered professional engineer.
(14)
Estimate and analysis by a registered professional engineer
of materials and plantings required to repair the site and the approximate
cost of restoration for completion of site after removal of authorized
materials.
B.
The plan(s) and application shall be available at the public hearing.
[Amended 4-24-2023 ATM by Art.
16]
The applicant shall pay a filing fee in an amount set from time
to time by the Board of Selectmen and pay such expenses for consultants
or other services as the authority may require in connection with
the petition. This filing fee is to be used in connection with the
special permit and its subsequent regulation, of which the unexpended
amount is refundable if the petition is not granted.
A.
The authority shall consider, among other things, the following:
method of removal, days and time of working, type of machinery to
be used, limitation of area for excavation, clearance of brush, elimination
of dust, soil, erosion, watershed areas, water table protection, drainage,
placing and size of culverts, contour grading and conditioning of
the land after operations are completed, routes of travel, planting
of area to suitable cover, disposition of topsoil, and reestablishing
of ground levels and grades. In case of soil or loam removal, the
recommendations of the appropriate soil district supervisor and the
county extension director or agent and their successors shall be considered,
except where the removal of the soil or loam is, in the opinion of
the authority, necessarily incidental to and in connection with the
construction of a road or other facility involving a permanent change
in the use of the land.
B.
In granting any special permit for the removal of material, the authority
shall consider, in addition to the enforcing officer or Selectmen's
agent(s) report in the case of renewal, a written report by the Conservation
Commission whether the land is suitable for the removal of said material;
and whether the operation will be injurious, noxious or offensive
to a neighborhood for the reason of odor, fumes, dust, smoke, vibration
or noise or other cause, and whether steps shall be taken so as not
to hinder or endanger traffic on public or private ways. The authority
may require, at its discretion, that police control of traffic be
provided by the applicant at his expense.
A.
Certificate of insurance. The applicant shall provide the Town counsel
a certificate of insurance containing a public liability and property
damage insurance with standard municipal "hold harmless" agreement.
The amount of insurance is to be determined by the authority, and
said certificate, after approval by the Town Counsel, is to be filed
with the Town Treasurer. Operations shall not begin until said insurance
is approved.
B.
Bond or cash deposit.
(1)
A bond or cash deposit shall be required for all removal operations.
The amount of the bond or cash deposit shall be determined by estimating
the approximate cost of final grading, loaming and planting of seed
and trees for the total parcel of land involved.
(2)
The bond or cash deposit shall be held by the Town for 12 months
after the termination of the project or until all conditions as required
by the authority have been completed to the satisfaction of the authority.
The terms of bond or cash deposit shall allow the authority, if after
12 months from the date of the termination of said special permit
all conditions as required have not been completed, to use said monies
to comply with the originally stated conditions.
A.
Notice. Upon the granting of a special permit or any extension, modification
or renewal thereof, the authority shall issue to the owners and to
the applicant, if other than the owner, a copy of its decision, certified
by the authority, containing the name and address of the owner, identifying
the land affected, setting forth compliance with the requirements
for the issuance of a special permit and certifying that copies of
the decisions and all plans referred to in the decision have been
filed with the Town Clerk.
B.
Filing. Such special permit, or any extension, modification or renewal
thereof, shall not take effect until a copy of the decision has been
filed with the Town Clerk.
If such special permit is granted it shall be nontransferable
and nonassignable.
A special permit for earth materials removal shall lapse within
one year after the granting date of the special permit (the granting
date being included in the one-year period). Renewal of a special
permit shall be applied for at least 90 days prior to the expiration
of a special permit. Prior to the renewal of a special permit, to
which mandatory specifications and restrictions shall be affixed and
additional ones may be affixed, the authority will hold a public hearing.
All procedures specified for the granting of an initial special permit
shall apply to renewals.
Before the renewal public hearing, the authority shall require
the enforcing officer or the Selectmen's agent(s) to submit in writing
to the authority, within 15 days following receipt of an application
for renewal, a statement of compliance or noncompliance with the restrictions
and specifications as set forth in the special permit. If the statement
reports noncompliance, the violations shall be indicated.
A.
When the statement of the enforcing officer or other Selectmen's
agent(s) indicates noncompliance with the restrictions and specifications
as set forth in the special permit, the authority shall cause a certified
letter, return receipt requested, to be written to the applicant.
This letter shall:
(1)
Indicate the existing violations;
(2)
Advise the applicant that he shall have 45 days from receipt of the
letter to comply with this bylaw and with all specifications and restrictions
set forth in the special permit under consideration for renewal; and
(3)
Advise him that the special permit will not be renewed unless he
complies with the restrictions and specifications.
B.
At the
end of the forty-five-day period allowed for compliance and prior
to the date of public hearing for renewal, the enforcing officer shall
be required to submit a follow-up report to the authority indicating
whether all violations have been corrected.
C.
Failure of the applicant to correct said violations shall prohibit
the authority from granting any extension, modification or renewal
of said special permit, and, further, shall prohibit the applicant
from applying for any other special permit under the earth removal
regulations until such time as all existing violations have been corrected
to the satisfaction of the enforcing officer and his written report,
indicating full compliance, has been filed with said authority.
A.
Upon the granting of any special permit, the following minimum specifications
and requirements shall be imposed and be affixed to all special permits:
(1)
Trees which are to be removed shall be cleared (not bulldozed).
(2)
All cleared trees, brush and stumps shall be chipped or removed from
the site. Wood chips may be placed on finished grade.
(3)
All loam and soil must be bulldozed into piles for future spreading.
No loam or soil may be removed from the property unless otherwise
provided for in this bylaw.
(4)
Material other than loam or soil may be removed relative to contours
as specified by the authority and as shown on the original plan or
amended plan submitted by the applicant and approved by the authority.
In material removal areas, ledge shall not be left exposed above the
approved grade and boulders shall be removed or buried at least such
that their tops are six feet below the approved grade. In the event
that ledge is encountered prior to reaching the approved grade, a
revision of the approved grade plan must be submitted to the authority
within 30 days and no work affecting the proposed revision shall be
done until the authority gives approval.
(5)
After the material has been removed from the first grid (300 feet
by 300 feet) and before proceeding to the next grid, the excavation
shall be graded to the approved grade and all loam and soil shall
then be respread over the entire excavation, except in such areas
as are required for egress in subsequent operations; and this shall
be limited to thirty-foot-wide roadways and 100-foot-wide turnarounds.
All banks prior to and resulting from operations shall be graded to
a slope no steeper than two feet horizontal to one foot vertical.
After all operations are completed, areas used for egress shall be
brought to grade and finished in accordance with regulations pertaining
to other areas as specified in this bylaw.
(6)
All timbers, temporary structures and the like shall be removed as
the operation is terminated.
(7)
Rye grass shall be seeded on this reloamed area at the rate of 200
pounds per acre.
(8)
Fingerling fir or other approved trees shall be planted over the
entire area, 12 feet on centers.
(9)
Upon completion and approval by the authority of each 300-foot by
300-foot grid, the security may be advanced to the next grid.
(10)
The authority shall reserve the right to limit the days and
hours of operation and shall require anti-dust treatment in those
areas that, in the authority's opinion, require such treatment.
(11)
Under no circumstances and at no time shall material be removed
to an elevation less than six feet above the maximum water table elevation,
such maximum water table elevation being previously defined herein.
Material shall also not be excavated at any time to a level that will
produce standing water, and drainage of surface water shall be maintained.
(12)
Backfilling shall be accomplished to the completed grades specified
in the original petition and shall be accomplished with suitable material
as approved by the authority, such backfilling to be covered by a
minimum of six inches of loam and rehabilitated in a manner previously
prescribed.
(13)
Operations authorized herein shall not be conducted closer than
100 feet to the boundary of all adjoining property without the written
consent of the owner of such property being on file with the authority.
Excavations shall not be closer than 75 feet to the right-of-way line
of any existing street, road or highway, or one approved but not constructed,
or a private way, except where such excavation is necessary to establish
the approved grades of a street.
(14)
At the applicant's expense, the authority shall require that
property markers be set to determine the total extent of the owner's
property to be involved in operations, and that each grid (300 feet
by 300 feet) of land, or less than a grid in the case of a complete
parcel, being operated shall be so marked. Furthermore, the level
of the water table as previously described herein shall be shown on
said parcels at a convenient location and in such a manner to allow
for measurements by the enforcing officer or other enforcing agent(s)
as they believe are necessary to ensure compliance with this bylaw.
(15)
All provisions of the Hatch Act and the Inland Wetlands Act
shall be observed.
B.
The authority may also affix any additional specifications as are
considered necessary.
A.
This bylaw is adopted under MGL c. 40, § 21, Clause 17,
for prohibiting or regulating the removal of soil, loam, sand or gravel
from land not in public use in the whole or in specified districts
of the Town.
B.
The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction in equity to compel compliance
with any ordinance or bylaw made hereunder.
A.
This bylaw shall not prohibit the removal of such material as may
be excavated solely for the purpose of construction of foundations
from buildings and other allowable structures for which plans showing
the limits of subsurface construction and excavation have been filed
and building permits have been issued or for the purpose of constructing
ways, utilities, services or other engineering works in accordance
with lines and grades shown on plans submitted to and approved by
the authority and other Town officials and boards having jurisdiction.
B.
This bylaw shall not apply to the transference of material from one
part of a duly registered lot, tract or parcel of land to another
part of said lot, tract or parcel of land.
C.
Any order or bylaw prohibiting such removal hereunder shall not apply
to any soil, loam, sand or gravel, or aggregate which is the subject
of a permit or license issued under the authority of the Town or by
the appropriate licensing board of the Town or by the Board of Appeals,
or which is to be removed in compliance with the requirements of a
subdivision plan approved by the Town Planning Board.
If any of the regulations in this bylaw are in conflict with
other regulations contained in the bylaws, the most stringent regulation
shall apply.
