[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Freetown 3-10-1956 ATM (Art. 6 of the 1956 Bylaws Compilation); amended 5-3-1975 ATM. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
[Amended 6-4-2012 ATM; 6-7-2021 STM by Art. 3]
A. 
A Soil Conservation Board is hereby established in the Town of Freetown for the purpose of regulating the removal of earth minerals from land within the Town and in enforcing the provisions of this bylaw. The Soil Conservation Board shall adopt rules and regulations relative to the issuance of permits for the removal of earth minerals and quarry operations. The affirmative vote of at least three members shall be required for the granting modification, revocation or removal of any permit authorized hereunder.
B. 
Effective July 1, 2021, the Conservation Commission shall serve as the Soil Conservation Board.
A. 
The stripping or removal of earth minerals from any parcel of land not in public use in the Town of Freetown, except as hereinafter provided, is prohibited unless a written permit therefor is obtained from the Board after a public hearing of which due notice is given.
B. 
Denial to remove. After permission for an earth mineral permit has been denied by the Board, no operator or owner shall be allowed to reapply for a period of one year.
Whenever the Board is satisfied that the removal of any earth minerals had previously been undertaken in a particular location and was in continuous operation at the time when notice of the warrant for the Town Meeting at which this bylaw was adopted was given, a permit for the further continuance of such operation with the same territorial limits shall be issued without a hearing, but such permit may be issued subject to conditions in the same manner as other permits.
[Amended 6-4-2012 ATM]
In issuing a permit under this bylaw, the Board may impose such conditions not specifically provided for herein as it may deem necessary for the adequate protection of the neighborhood and the Town. Any conditions imposed by the Board shall be attached to and made a part of the permit. The Board shall require a bond for the compliance with said conditions as evidence of good faith for the completion of any proposed construction. The Board shall, after a public hearing on proof of violation of any condition, revoke any permit so issued. No permit shall be issued under the provisions of said bylaw for a period of more than three years, provided that such permits may be renewed by the Board, without further public hearing, at a duly noticed open meeting of the Board. No revocation shall endure for less than 30 days.
Earth minerals may be removed from any parcel of land within the Town only after a permit authorizing such removal has been issued by the Board after satisfactory evidence that such removal will not be seriously detrimental, injurious or hazardous to the neighborhood; provided, further, that the Board shall impose reasonable conditions as to the method of removal, the maintaining or reestablishment of ground levels and grades, and the planting of the area to suitable cover, as it may deem necessary. The Board may also designate the Town roads over which such earth minerals may be transported in the process of removal. Removal of earth minerals under authority of this section shall be further subject to the provision of §§ 134-3 and 134-4.
No permit shall be required by an owner of real estate for the transfer of earth minerals from one part of his own premises to another part thereof for the improvement of his own premises, nor shall any permit be required for removal of earth minerals in connection with the improvement or construction of any road over his premises, provided such earth minerals so removed are used on said premises to improve the same and is not contrary to the regulations of this bylaw as adopted. No permit shall be required by quarries operating at the time this bylaw is adopted so long as the sale of earth minerals is not involved.
No person interested in the application for a permit for the removal of earth minerals shall be eligible to participate in the action of the Board with reference to such permit. Replacement of any member or members so disqualified shall be determined by the other members of the Soil Conservation Board. A majority of the Board shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall elect its own Chairman and Secretary. Its Secretary need not be a member of the Board. The Secretary shall keep a true record of the proceedings of the Board, which shall be public record.
The penalty for violation of this chapter shall be for the first offense, $50; for the second offense, $100; and for each subsequent offense, $200.
[Amended 5-3-1975 ATM]
EARTH MINERALS
Are defined in this bylaw to include all forms of soil without limitation, specifically including loam, sand, gravel, clay, humus, peat, hardpan or rock, iron, coal, etc.
REMOVAL
Is defined as stripping, digging, excavating, or blasting of earth minerals from a lot for the purpose of removing or clearing it away from the lot.
[Amended 10-22-2001 STM]
The Soil Conservation Board may establish reasonable fees for soil removal permits and soil removal operations. Such fee schedule may be implemented after a public hearing, the time, date, and place subject of which must be published seven days in advance in at least one newspaper of general circulation.