The purpose of this by-law is to protect the wetlands, water resources, and adjoining land areas in Rockport by controlling activities deemed by the Conservation Commission likely to have a significant or cumulative effect upon resource area values, including but not limited to the following: public or private water supply; groundwater; flood control; erosion and sedimentation control; storm damage prevention, including coastal storm flowage; water quality; water pollution control; fisheries; shellfish; wildlife habitat; rare species habitat, including rare plant species; agriculture; aquaculture; and recreation values deemed important to the community (collectively, the "resource area values protected by this by-law"). This by-law is intended to utilize the Home Rule authority of this municipality to protect additional resource areas, for additional values, with additional standards and procedures stricter than those of the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and Regulations thereunder (310 CMR 10.00).
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Rockport 3-29-1999 (Ch. 14A of the 1997 Code of By-laws). Amendments noted where applicable.]
B. ALTER(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) QUARRY PIT
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation of this by-law:
Includes, without limitation, the following activities when undertaken to, upon, within or affecting resource areas protected by this by-law:
Removal, excavations, or dredging of soil, sand, gravel or aggregate materials of any kind.
Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics, salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns or 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.
Placing of fill or removal of material which would alter elevation.
Driving of piles, erection, or repair of buildings or structures of any kind.
Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees.
Changing temperature; biochemical oxygen demand; or other physical, biological, or chemical characteristics of any waters.
Any activities, changes or work which may cause or tend to contribute to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
Incremental activities which have, or may have, a cumulative adverse impact on the resource areas protected by this by-law.
Includes any open pit previously used for cutting stone, which has since become inundated with water from rain, runoff, or springs. This includes small pits known locally as "motions."
[Amended 9-8-2025 FTM by Art. G]
Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided in this by-law, no person shall commence to remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, discharge into, or otherwise alter the following resource areas: any freshwater or coastal wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, vernal pools, banks, reservoirs, lakes, ponds of any size, quarry pits and motions, rivers, streams, creeks, beaches, dunes, estuaries, the ocean, lands under water bodies, lands subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater or surface water, lands subject to tidal action, lands within 100 feet of above-cited resource areas, coastal storm flowage, or flooding (collectively the "resource areas protected by this by-law"). Said resource areas shall be protected whether or not they border surface waters.
A.
Written applications shall be filed with the Commission to perform activities affecting resource areas protected by this by-law. The permit application shall include such information and plans as are deemed necessary by the Commission to describe proposed activities and their effects on the resource areas protected by this by-law. No activities shall commence without receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this by-law.
C.
Any person desiring to know whether or not a proposed activity or an area is subject to this by-law may, in writing, request a determination from the Commission. Such a request for determination (RFD) shall include information and plans as are deemed necessary by the Commission.
D.
At the time of a permit application or RFD, or application for a certificate of compliance, the applicant shall pay a filing fee specified in regulations of the Commission. The fee is in addition to that required by the Wetlands Protection Act on anything relative thereto (MGL c. 131, § 40) and Regulations (310 CMR 10.00). The fee shall be deposited in a dedicated account, for use only for wetlands protection activities, from which the Commission may withdraw funds with the approval of the Select Board.
[Amended 9-11-2000]
A.
Any person filing a permit application with the Commission at the same time shall give written notice thereof, by certified mail (return receipt requested) or hand delivered, to all abutters and abutters to the abutters within 300 feet of the property line of the parcel or parcels of land where the proposed activity is to take place 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, including any in another municipality or across a body of water. The notice to abutters shall have enclosed a copy of the permit application or request, with plans, or shall state where copies may be examined and obtained by abutters. The applicant shall obtain a certified list of names and addresses of all persons required to be notified from the Rockport Board of Assessors Office. The applicant shall file with the Commission an affidavit of service signed by the person serving the notices, the certified list of names and addresses from the Rockport Board of Assessors Office and a copy of the notices mailed and delivered. When a person requesting a determination is other than the owner of the property where the activity is proposed, the request (RFD) or permit application (NOI) shall also be mailed or delivered to the owner by the applicant and proof of service shall be filed with the Commission. The Commission shall send a copy of the notice of hearing and a copy of the determination or permit to both the owner and applicant.
B.
The Commission shall conduct a public hearing on any permit application or RFD, with written notice given at the expense of the applicant five business days prior to the hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality.
C.
The Commission shall commence the public hearing 21 days from receipt of a completed permit application or RFD unless an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant.
D.
The Commission shall issue its permit or determination in writing within 21 days of the close of the public hearing thereon unless an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant.
F.
The Commission shall have the authority to continue the hearing to a certain date announced at the hearing, for reasons stated at the hearing, which may include receipt of additional information from the applicant or others deemed necessary by the Commission in its discretion, or comments and recommendations of other boards and officials.
A.
If the Commission, after a public hearing, determines that the activities which are subject to the permit application or the land and water uses which will result therefrom are likely to have a significant individual or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by this by-law, the Commission, within 21 days of the close of the hearing, shall issue or deny a permit for the activities requested. If it issues a permit, the Commission shall impose conditions which the Commission deems necessary or desirable to protect those values, and all activities shall be done in accordance with those conditions. The Commission shall take into account the cumulative adverse effects of loss, degradations, isolation, and replication of protected resource areas throughout the community and the watershed, resulting from past activities, permitted and exempt, and foreseeable future activities.
B.
The Commission is empowered to deny a permit for failure to meet the requirements of this by-law; for failure to submit necessary information and plans requested by the Commission; for failure to meet the design specifications, performance standards, and other requirements in regulations of the Commission; for failure to avoid or prevent unacceptable significant or cumulative effects upon the resource area values protected by this by-law; and where no conditions are adequate to protect those values. Due consideration shall be given to any demonstrated hardship on the applicant by reason of denial, as presented at the public hearing.
C.
To prevent wetlands loss, the Commission shall require applicants to avoid wetlands alteration wherever feasible; shall minimize wetlands alteration; and, where alteration is unavoidable, shall require mitigation. The Commission may authorize or require replication of wetlands as a form of mitigation, but only with adequate security, professional design and monitoring to assure success, because of the high likelihood of failure of replication.
D.
A permit shall expire three years from the date of issuance. Notwithstanding the above, the Commission in its discretion may issue a permit expiring five years from the date of issuance for recurring or continuous maintenance work. Provided that annual notification of time and location of work is given to the Commission, any permit may be renewed once for an additional one-year period, provided that a request for a renewal is received in writing by the Commission prior to expiration. Notwithstanding the above, a permit may contain requirements which shall be enforceable for a stated number of years, indefinitely, or until permanent protection is in place, and shall apply to all owners of the land.
E.
For good cause, the Commission may revoke or modify a permit or determination issued under this by-law after notice to the holder of the permit or determination; notice to the public, abutters, and Town boards, pursuant to § 336-5 above; and a public hearing.
G.
No work proposed in any permit application shall be undertaken until the permit issued by the Commission with respect to such work has been recorded in the Registry of Deeds or, if the land affected is registered land, in the Registry section of the Land Court for the district wherein the land lies, and until the holder of the permit certifies in writing to the Commission that the permit has been recorded.
A.
After a public notice and public hearing, the Commission shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this by-law, effective when voted and filed with the Town Clerk and approved by the Select Board. 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 on anything relative thereto to suspend or invalidate the effect of this by-law.
B.
At a minimum, these regulations shall define key terms in this by-law not inconsistent with the by-law and procedures governing the amount and filing fees.
As part of a permit issued under this by-law, in addition to any security required by any other municipal or state board, agency, or official, the Commission may require that the performance and observance of the conditions imposed thereunder (including conditions requiring mitigation work) be secured wholly or in part by one or more of the methods described below:
A.
By a proper bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities or other undertaking of financial responsibility sufficient, in the opinion of the Commission, to be released in whole or in part upon issuance of a certificate of compliance for work performed pursuant to the permit.
B.
By accepting a conservation restriction, easement, or other covenant enforceable in a court of law, executed and duly recorded by the owner of record, running with the land to the benefit of this municipality, whereby the permit conditions shall be performed and observed before any lot may be conveyed other than by mortgage deed. This method shall be used only with the consent of the applicant.
A.
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, or otherwise alter resource areas protected by this by-law; 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 by-law.
B.
The Commission, its agents, officers, and employees may enter upon the land where 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 by-law, and may make or cause to be made such examination or survey as deemed necessary.
C.
The Commission shall have the authority to enforce this by-law, its regulation, and permits issued thereunder, by violation notices, administrative orders (if the community has accepted MGL c. 40, § 21D[1]), and civil and criminal court actions. Any person who violated provisions of this by-law 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.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
D.
Upon request of the Commission, the Town Counsel may take legal action for enforcement under civil law. Upon request of the Commission, the Chief of Police may take legal action for enforcement under criminal law.
E.
Municipal boards and officers, including any police officer or other officer having police powers, shall have authority to assist the Commission in enforcement.
F.
Any person who violates any provision of this by-law, or regulations, permits, or administrative orders issued thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation continues, or unauthorized fill or other alteration remains in place, shall constitute a separate offense, and each provision of the by-law, regulations, permits, or administrative orders violated shall constitute a separate offense.
The applicant for a permit shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the work proposed in the permit application will not have unacceptable significant or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by this by-law. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the Commission supporting this burden shall be sufficient cause for the Commission to deny a permit or grant a permit with conditions.
A decision of the Commission shall be reviewable in the Superior Court in accordance with MGL c. 249, § 4.
The invalidity of any section or provision of this by-law shall not invalidate any other section or provision thereof, nor shall it invalidate any permit or determination which previously has been issued.