Town of Middleton, MA General Rules

Town Code § 5-4-2: Two alternate members shall be appointed jointly by the Select Board and the Planning Board for one-year terms. The Chairperson of the Planning Board may designate an alternate member to sit on the Planning Board to vote and act on all matters in the event of a Board member's absence, inability to act, conflict of interest or vacancy on the Board.

Vacancies. The process to fill a vacancy on the Planning Board, other than the expiration of a term, is governed by MGL c. 41, § 11. Within one month of any vacancy, the Planning Board must give written notice to the Select Board. After one week's notice, the Select Board, with the remaining members of the Planning Board, by roll call vote, may act to fill any vacancy to perform the duties of the office until the next Town election. This vote requires a majority of the two boards; i.e., a vote of at least five of nine to fill a vacancy. The appointee must be a registered voter of the Town.

Member requirements. Before any full or alternate member takes their place on the Board, they will receive communication from either the Town Clerk or Select Board to be sworn in as a Planning Board member by the Town Clerk. Written notification of appointment will be issued to newly appointed members and reappointed members. Appointees must report to the Town Clerk's office, within two weeks of being appointed, to be sworn to faithful performance of their duties prior to taking any official action as a member of the Board. Members must be sworn in before sitting on the Board. The Town Clerk will provide each member being sworn in with a copy of the Open Meeting Law Guide. Members must complete a "Certificate of Receipt of Open Meeting Law Materials" that certifies that the member understands the requirements of the Open Meeting Law and the consequences for violating it and return it to the Town Clerk's office. Within 30 days of becoming a Board member each member is also furnished with a summary of the Conflict-of-Interest Law and signs an acknowledgment to be filed with the Town Clerk's office. Board members must also biennially complete an on-line conflict of interest training exercise.

Duties. The Board has the duties and rights assigned to it by General Laws, Chapters 40A (The Zoning Act) and 41 (Subdivision Control Law), as amended, and any other duties and rights as may be directly, or indirectly, assigned to it by General Laws, by the action of the General Court, or by a vote of the Town Meeting. Below are duties assigned to the board by Town Meeting.

(1)

Town Code § 8-1-1: The Planning Board shall make recommendations to the Select Board on all matters concerning the physical, economic, and environmental development of the Town, as prescribed by General Law, and this Charter.

(2)

Town Code § 8-1-2: The Board shall be responsible for the development and periodic updating of a Comprehensive Plan, which shall be utilized as the basis of all planning activities, procedures, and recommendations in the Town.

(3)

Town Code § 8-1-3: A copy of the Comprehensive Plan shall be kept available for inspection at the office of the Town Administrator, Town Clerk and Public Library.

(4)

Town Code § 2-4-9: Town Meeting Articles involving planning, zoning, subdivision control, land acquisition, conservation, extension of sewer lines, and all other matters relating to the environment shall not be voted on by the Town Meeting unless they have been considered previously and a recommendation issued thereon by the Planning Board.

Conduct. No Board or staff member may represent, act, speak for, or express the opinion of the Board, except in accordance with a general or specific vote or decision of the Board. To avoid confusion with any official position of the Board, members and staff must clearly identify personal opinions as their own. Members shall conduct themselves in accordance with MGL Ch. 268A (conflict of interest) and not take any action that could create an appearance of conflict unless a proper public disclosure has been properly filed with the Select Board.

Officers.

(1)

At the first regularly scheduled meeting in May of each year, or at the first regularly scheduled meeting following annual Town elections, the Board must elect from its members: a Chair, and a Vice-Chair, and a Clerk. In the event of a vacancy in office due to resignation or otherwise, the Board must promptly elect a successor to hold such office for the remainder of the term. Officers serve until a successor is elected. Each member of the Board must be eligible for election or re-election to each such office. Alternate members are not eligible. The offices of Vice-Chair and Clerk may be held by the same member.

(2)

The Chair of the Board presides at its meetings, calls special meetings of the Board, appoints study committees, and makes oral or written statements and agreements on behalf of the Board, as authorized by and within the limits of a vote or a decision of the Board. The Vice-Chair of the Board performs the duties of the Chair in the latter's absence and performs other duties as may be delegated by the Chair. The Clerk shall be responsible for taking Planning Board meeting minutes in the absence of the Planning Board staff.

1.2.

Minutes.

Minutes of all Planning Board meetings shall be prepared by the Clerk or Planning Board staff in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. Written format to be used shall be provided by the Administrative Coordinator.

Minutes of open sessions shall become public record immediately, regardless of form. Minutes should be marked "DRAFT" until they are officially adopted by the Planning Board. The state encourages minutes to be approved at a public body's next meeting whenever possible; therefore, members may vote on minutes of meetings they were not present at.

Executive Session minutes remain closed to the public for as long as their publication would defeat the purpose of the session. Executive Session minutes must be made public as soon as the reason for secrecy no longer applies.

1.3.

Meetings: time, location, quorum.

Regular meetings of the Board are typically held on the second Wednesday of each month, in the Fuller Meadow School at 7:00 p.m. Special meetings may be called by the Chair or by a majority of Board members, who must notify all members in person or in writing at least 48 hours in advance of such special meeting, if possible.

Persons wishing to meet with the Board may obtain an appointment through the Planning Office staff or the Chair. Any group of persons securing an appointment with the Board should designate a single point of contact to represent the group. Persons wishing to meet with the Board on matters other than routine submission of plans under the Subdivision Control Law, site plan reviews, or special permits should secure an appointment no later than 4:00 p.m. on Thursday of the preceding week and inform the Board at that time, through the Planning Director, of the subject matter to be discussed or presented.

Except for emergencies or compliance with legal requirements, the agenda for each meeting will be closed at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday of the week preceding such meeting. The only exception to this rule is for properly filed Approval Not Required plans.

The Board will generally not take action on or respond to plans, proposals, or other material presented by applicants or others with business before the Board which has not been filed with the staff by the time the agenda closes and is not distributed to Board members in advance of the meeting. Action or discussion of previously unseen material will be deferred to a subsequent Board meeting.

Three members of the Board constitutes a quorum, and the concurring vote, upon a motion duly made and seconded, of at least three members is required for any decision or action of the Board. If not unanimous, the vote of each member must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting, or by means of a specific instrument or plan endorsed by vote, decision, action or intention to act, or policy of the Board. Remote participation by members of the Planning Board at a public meeting is authorized by 940 CMR 29.00 and the Select Board's "Remote Participation Policy" (8-12-2014).

Planning Board members present may be counted to determine whether a quorum is present, even if they abstain from voting affirmatively or negatively. Exception: If the Planning Board member is abstaining due to conflict of interest, he/she cannot be counted as being present for the quorum for that portion of the meeting for which he/she is disqualified by reason of conflict of interest.

Public hearings are conducted formally under the direction of the Chair, or Acting Chair, of the Board, who must open the hearing, explain the procedure to be followed, and describe the proposal. Anyone wishing to speak must be recognized by the Chair and all remarks must be addressed to the Chair, although the Chair may permit others to answer questions. Customary parliamentary procedures will normally be followed, except where the number of people attending a hearing is so small as to permit a less formal procedure.

1.4.

Planning Staff.

The Town Planner makes studies and recommendations to the Planning Board, manages the office of the Board, assists other Town agencies and civic groups in matters related to municipal planning and land development, promulgates and implements the decisions of the Board and carries out other specific tasks assigned by the Board.

If voted by the Board, and the vote is recorded in the Southern Essex Registry of Deeds, the Town Planner is authorized to sign plans and instruments to certify action taken by the Board relative to such plans and instruments in accordance with General Laws, Chapter 40A and Chapter 41, Sections 81-K to 81-GG, inclusive.

The Town Planner may make recommendations to the Board on any matter to come before the Board for action or decision, including, where appropriate, the preparation of proposed correspondence, resolutions, and votes to be taken by the Board.

The Town Planner ensures that Board meeting minutes are taken and prepared. The Planning staff must make available to each member copies of the agenda, together with such explanatory notes, recommendations as to the action to be taken by the Board as may be appropriate and such copies of correspondence or other material relevant to the agenda as may be available. This should occur on the Friday preceding each regular meeting of the Board.

1.5.

Site visits. A "site visit" is defined as a visit by the Planning Board to a location that is the subject of an application before the Planning Board. All site visits will be announced at a regular public meeting of the Planning Board. The visit shall be in the company of the owner, applicant, and/or the applicant's representative when it involves visiting areas which are not customarily available for public inspection. The purpose of the site visit is to understand the proposal before them and to ask the applicant questions specific to the land and/or proposal. The applicant and members shall both refrain from any discussion that could be viewed as a deliberation of the proposal.

§ 2 Fees for applications.

The fees found below are set by the Middleton Select Board and are subject to change.

Application	Fee
Approval Not Required Plans (ANR)	$50 plus $100 per new lot created
Preliminary Subdivision Plan	$100
Definitive Subdivision Plan	$2,000 plus: $500 per lot shown on approved preliminary plan or $1,000 per lot not shown on preliminary plan Consultant Review Fee*: $5,000 for 1-3 Lots $10,000 for 4+ Lots
Roadway Improvement Plan	$300
Definitive Subdivision Modification	$200 plus $100 per lot changed
Performance Guarantee Posting/Reduction/Request to Release	$100
Special Permit	$100 per unit
Zoning Bylaw Amendment Petitions	$200 plus the cost of legal notice requirements

*	The consultant review account for each project may have to be replenished during the review of the project. See § 240-4, Rules for hiring outside consultants.

§ 3 Providing parties-in-interest notification and decision materials.

When state law requires parties-in-interest (abutter) notification under MGL c. 40A, § 11 or MGL c. 41, § 81T, or any other case where abutter notification is required, each applicant shall submit the following materials with the hard copy of their application and attachments to the Planning Office.

3.1.

Types of parties-in-interest lists.

Definitive subdivision plans: The laws governing Definitive Plans (MGL c. 41, § 81T) specify that parties in interest (abutters) are entitled to receive notice of the public hearing for a definitive plan application and the decision on that application. This statute defines "parties in interest" as the owners of land abutting the land included in the definitive plan application as certified by the Town's Assessor.

Special permit applications: The laws governing special permits can be found in MGL c. 40A, § 9. The abutter notification requirements for special permits can be found in MGL c. 40A, § 11. This section defines "parties in interest" as the petitioner, owners of land abutting the subject land, owners of land directly opposite on any public or private street or way, and abutters to the abutters within 300 feet of the property line of the subject land (abutters outside Town boundary also must receive notice) as certified by the Town's Assessor, and the Planning Boards of all abutting towns.

3.2.

Required application materials.

Each applicant for definitive subdivision and/or special permit is required to submit self-addressed stamped envelopes to send out required notices with each application. Specific requirements for each type of application can be found below. Please be sure that all envelopes submitted with each application are legibly addressed with enough postage on them to mail one sheet of paper in each, and the following return address must also be placed on the upper left-hand corner of each envelope:

Middleton Planning Board

195 North Main Street

Middleton, MA 01949

Definitive subdivision applications: The original copy of the abutters list certified by the Assessing Department must be submitted with the definitive plan application materials. The abutters list shall be used by the applicant to address enough stamped envelopes necessary to send the required notifications to each abutter for the public hearing. Additionally, one stamped envelope with the applicant's name and address must be submitted with the application. Submit these envelopes along with the required hard copy of your completed application. The Planning Office will mail the public hearing notices using these addressed and stamped envelopes.

Special permit applications: The original copy of the abutters list certified by the Assessing Department must be submitted with the special permit application materials. The abutters list shall be used by the applicant to address enough stamped envelopes necessary to send the required notifications for the public hearing and a notice of decision to each abutter. Additionally, two stamped envelopes shall be submitted for the applicant and each of the surrounding towns' Planning Boards (addresses below). Submit these envelopes along with the required hard copy of your completed application. The Planning Office will mail the public hearing notice and notice of decision using these addressed and stamped envelopes.

Boxford Planning Board	7A Spofford Road	Boxford, MA 01921
Topsfield Planning Board	8 West Common Street	Topsfield, MA 01983
North Andover Planning Board	120 Main Street	North Andover, MA 01845
North Reading Planning Board	235 North Street	North Reading, MA 01864
Lynnfield Planning Board	55 Summer Street	Lynnfield, MA 01940
Peabody Planning Board	24 Lowell Street	Peabody, MA 01960
Danvers Planning Board	1 Sylvan Street	Danvers, MA 01923

§ 4 Rules for hiring outside consultants under MGL c. 44, § 53G.

Purpose. As provided by MGL c. 44, § 53G, and authorized under Section 9.3.5 of the Zoning Bylaws, the Middleton Planning Board may impose reasonable fees for the employment of outside consultants, engaged by the Planning Board, for specific expert services. Such services shall be deemed necessary by the Board to come to a final decision on an application submitted to the Planning Board pursuant to the requirements of the Zoning Bylaw (MGL c. 40A), Subdivision Control (MGL c. 41, §§ 81-L through 81-GG) or any other state or municipal statute, bylaw or regulation, as they may be amended or enacted from time to time. The Planning Board may also impose fees for other consultant services related to application review, or permit conditionings or monitoring, under any of the above-referenced laws or regulations.

Special account. Funds received pursuant to these rules shall be deposited with the Town Treasurer, who shall establish a special account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special account may be made at the direction of the Planning Board without further appropriation as provided in MGL c. 44, § 53G. Expenditures from this account shall be made only in connection with a specific project or projects for which a consultant fee has been collected from the applicant. Expenditures of accrued interest may also be made for these purposes.

Consultant services. Specific consultant services may include, but are not limited to, traffic, drainage, noise. Services may also include on-site monitoring during construction, or other services related to the project deemed necessary by the Board. The consultant shall be chosen by and report only to the Board and/or its designee.

Notice. The Planning Board shall give written notice to the applicant of the selection of an outside consultant. Such notice shall state the identity of the consultant, the amount of the fee to be charged to the applicant, and a request for payment of said fee in its entirety. Such notice shall be deemed to have been given on the date it is mailed or delivered. No such costs or expenses shall be incurred by the applicant if the application or request is withdrawn within five days of the date notice is given.

Fee payment. The fee must be received prior to the initiation of consulting services. The Board may request additional consultant fees if a necessary review requires a larger expenditure than originally anticipated or new information requires additional consultant services. Failure by the applicant to pay the consultant fee specified by the Board within 10 business days of the request for payment, or refusal of payment, shall be cause for the Board to deny the application based on lack of sufficient information to evaluate whether the project meets applicable performance standards in the Zoning Bylaw or its regulations. An appeal by the applicant stops the clock on the above deadline; the countdown resumes on the first business day after the appeal is either denied or upheld. A denial for lack of information may be based solely on the lack of the third-party consultant review identified as necessary by the Board. Failure by the applicant to pay the consultant fee specified by the Board within 10 business days of the request for payment shall be cause for the Board to deny the permit application.

Appeals. The applicant may appeal the selection of the outside consultant to the Select Board, which may only disqualify the outside consultant selected on the grounds that the consultant has a conflict of interest or does not possess the minimum required qualifications. The minimum qualifications shall consist of either an educational degree or three or more years of practice in the field at issue or a related field. Such an appeal must be in writing and received by the Select Board and a copy received by the Board, so as to be received within 10 days of the date consultant fees were requested by the Planning Board. The required time limits for action upon the application shall be extended by the duration of the administrative appeal.

Return of unspent fees. When the Board's review of a project is completed and a permit/decision issued, any balance in the special account attributable to that project shall be returned within 30 days. The excess amount, including interest, shall be repaid 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 appropriate documentation. A final report of said account shall be made available to the applicant or applicant's successor in interest.

§ 5 Zoning Bylaw amendment petitions.

Before the Planning Board conducts the required public hearing for a proposed zoning amendment, the petitioner must submit a petition of 10 registered voters for an Annual Town Meeting or 100 registered voters for a Special Town Meeting to the Board of Selectmen for inclusion on the Town Warrant (MGL c. 39, § 10). Contact the Town Clerk for any deadlines and the required forms for submission.

If the Select Board accepts the proposed zoning amendment and forwards it to the Planning Board under MGL c. 40, § 3 for a public hearing, the petitioner must also submit a Planning Board Zoning Petition Form (see Forms) and required attachments along with the required fee to the Planning Board.

Types of zoning amendments and required attachments for each are found below. One petition may include both text and map changes.

(1)

A Zoning Text Amendment is the addition of new language and/or the alteration to existing language in the Zoning Bylaw. Applicants must include both a detailed narrative that supports the request and copies of the current and proposed bylaw text.

(2)

A Zoning Map Amendment is the addition of a new zoning district and/or alteration to the boundaries of a zoning district, or a change in the zoning designation of a particular district resulting in a change to the Zoning Map. Applicants must include both a detailed narrative that supports the request, maps/exhibits clearly showing existing and proposed zoning district of area subject to petition, parcel lot lines, ownership information, and abutting property owners and land uses; concept plans for any anticipated use/development; a legal metes and bounds description of the property to be rezoned.

MGL c. 40A requires that the Planning Board hold a public hearing on all zoning amendment requests. The notice for the public hearing must be posted at Memorial Hall and be advertised for two consecutive weeks. The Planning Board will be responsible for drafting and sending the required notice to a local newspaper; the applicant will be responsible for the legal advertisement cost and will be billed directly by the newspaper.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed zoning amendment request. Applicants should attend the public hearing and be prepared to present and defend the zoning amendment proposal. The Planning Board can choose to report its support or lack of support for an amendment proposal or it may choose to not report. A positive or negative report by the Planning Board allows Town Meeting action. If a public hearing is held less than 21 days before Town Meeting, no report by the Planning Board will have the effect of blocking Town Meeting action. If there are more than 21 days between the hearing and Town Meeting, Town Meeting may act without a Planning Board report (MGL c. 40A, § 5).

At the Town Meeting, the applicant should approach the microphone when the article number is announced by the Moderator and move that the article be adopted. No discussion will occur on the article until a motion is offered and seconded. If the applicant wishes to amend the printed language in the warrant, the new language needs to be read aloud in the motion. A 2/3 vote of Town Meeting is required to pass a Zoning Bylaw Text Amendment request; endorsed amendments are forward to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office for review and approval.

§ 6 Special permits.

6.1.

Authority.

Chapter 40A, § 9 of the Massachusetts General Laws provides for the issuance of special permits for specific uses when authorized by the Zoning Bylaws. The Middleton Zoning Bylaws designate the Planning Board as the special permit granting authority for Flexible Development (§ 235-7.3), multifamily or attached dwellings in the R-2 Zone (§ 235-7.1), conversion of single-family to more than one dwelling use (§ 235-7.1), two-family dwelling in R-1a and R-1b Zones (§ 235-3.1.3). All other special permits are granted by the Board of Appeals.

6.2.

Application procedure.

Submission of application.

(1)

The applicant shall submit a request for the issuance of a special permit by completing and submitting an application for a special permit by the Planning Board, plan(s) and any supporting documents via the online permitting portal and also deliver to the Planning Office at 195 North Main Street, the following number of collated paper copies of the executed special permit application, including all plans and supporting documents, and check made out to the Town of Middleton for the required fee to the Planning office (195 North Main Street):

(a)

Multifamily Projects: Six copies.

(b)

Residential Projects: Two copies.

(2)

After the application is received, the Planning Office will bring it to be filed with the Town Clerk's office. A Town Clerk stamped copy of the application will be uploaded to the online portal by the Planning Office.

The applicant is also responsible for the appropriate special permit fee; cost of the legal advertisement, which will be billed to the applicant directly by the newspaper; and any technical review fees warranted by the project.

Certified list of abutters, as defined by MGL c. 40A, § 11; as described in § 240-3, Providing parties-in-interest notification materials, in the Planning Board's General Rules.

If the project involves a subdivision of land, a definitive plan which conforms to the requirements of Chapter 250 (Planning Board Rules and Regulations regarding Subdivision of Land) should be submitted at the same time as the application for a special permit. Notification requirements for special permits will be followed for such joint applications.

Contents of the plan.

(1)

For flexible developments, the plans shall be in conformance with the requirements found in § 235-7.3 of the Zoning Bylaw.

(2)

For conversion of a one-family dwelling to two and two-family dwellings units (R-2 Zone, R1a and R1b Zones), the plan shall conform to the requirements for site plans (§ 235-9.5.4 and § 235-9.5.5).

(3)

The Board may, upon written request of the applicant, waive any of the technical requirements of this section where the project involves relatively simple development plans or constitutes a minor site plan.

6.3.

Hearing and notice; decision.

Upon receipt of the application and supporting plans, the Board will conduct a public hearing within 65 days. Notice of such hearing, prepared and sent by the Board, shall be given in each of two successive weeks by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town prior to such hearing. The Board shall notify the abutters by mail to be deposited with the United States Postal Service at least 14 days prior to the scheduled hearing. Whenever possible, the Board will schedule the public hearing on a special permit application and a definitive plan at the same meeting. The Board may approve, disapprove or approve with appropriate safeguards and conditions.

An affirmative vote of the Board shall require approval by at least four members prior to issuance of a special permit. The Board will report its decision to the Town Clerk, and to the applicant within 90 days of the close of the public hearing.

In rendering its decision, the Board will consider if the proposal is in harmony with the general purpose and intent of the Zoning Bylaws. The Board must also be satisfied that all provisions of the Zoning Bylaws have been met, unless specific waivers have been granted.

The Board shall provide that a special permit shall lapse within a specified period of time if the construction has not begun by that time.