The purpose of this chapter is to protect the wetlands of the city by controlling the 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 prevention, water pollution, fisheries, shellfish, wildlife, recreation and aesthetics (collectively, the "interest protected by this chapter").
(C.O. 83-329 § 2 (part))
A. 
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation of this chapter:
Alter.
The term "alter" includes, without limitation, the following actions when undertaken in areas subject to this chapter:
1. 
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel or aggregate materials of any kind;
2. 
Changing drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics, salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns and flood-retention characteristics;
3. 
Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table;
4. 
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material which may degrade water quality;
5. 
Driving of piles, erection of buildings or structures of any kind;
6. 
Placing of obstructions whether or not they interfere with the flow of water;
7. 
Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees;
8. 
Changing of water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand or other physical or chemical characteristics of the water.
Banks.
The term "banks" means that part of land adjoining any body of water which confines the water.
Improvement.
"Improvement" of land in agricultural use may also include more extensive practices such as the building of ponds, dams, structures for water control, water and sediment basins, and related activities, but only where a plan for such activity approved by the conservation district of the soil conservation service is furnished to the conservation commission prior to the commencement of the work. All such activity shall subsequently be carried out in accord with said plan. In the event that the work is not carried out in accordance with the required plan, the conservation commission may place a stop order on the work and have recourse to such measures as if the plan were an order of conditions.
Land in Agricultural Use.
The term "land in agricultural use" means any qualifying wetland within a farm which is qualified or eligible to be qualified under the Farmland Assessment Act, Massachusetts General Laws, Ch. 61A, Secs. 1 through 5.
Normal Maintenance or Improvement.
"Normal maintenance or improvement" of land in agricultural use means only:
1. 
Tilling practices customarily employed in raising of crops;
2. 
Pasturing of animals, including such fences and protective structures as may be required;
3. 
Use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and similar materials subject to state and federal regulations covering their use;
4. 
Constructing, grading or restoring of field ditches, subsurface drains, grass waterways, culverts, access roads and similar practices to improve drainage, prevent erosion, provide more effective use of rainfall, improve equipment operation and efficiency, in order to improve conditions for the growing of crops.
"Person"
includes any individual, group of individuals, association, partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust, estate, the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof to the extent subject to city ordinance, administrative agencies, public or quasi-public corporations or bodies, the city, and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
"Qualifying wetland"
means only inland freshwater areas which are seasonally flooded basins or flats or inland fresh meadows.
B. 
The commission may adopt additional definitions not inconsistent with this section in its regulations promulgated pursuant to Section 16.04.090.
(C.O. 83-329 §§ 8—9.5)
A. 
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon or within one hundred feet of any bank, fresh-water wetland, coastal wetland, beach, dune, flat, marsh, meadow, bog, swamp, or upon or within one hundred feet of lands bordering on the ocean or upon or within one hundred feet of any land under said waters or upon or within one hundred feet of any land subject to tidal action, coastal storm flowage, flooding or inundation, or within one hundred feet of the one-hundred-year storm line, 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 a permit so to remove, fill, dredge, alter or build upon, including such plans as may be necessary to describe such proposed activity and its effect on the environment, and receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this chapter.
B. 
Such application may be identical in form to a notice of intention filed pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Ch. 131, Sec. 40, and shall be sent by certified mail to the conservation commission (the commission). Copies of the application shall be sent at the same time, by certified mail, to the city council, the planning board and the board of health.
C. 
The commission shall set a filing fee by regulation, but no filing fee is required when the city files an application for a permit.
D. 
Upon written request of any person, the commission shall, within twenty-one days, make a written determination as to whether this chapter 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.
E. 
The provisions of this section shall not apply to work performed for normal maintenance or improvement of land in agricultural use.
(C.O. 83-329 § 2 (part))
A. 
The commission shall hold a public hearing on the application within twenty-one days of its receipt.
B. 
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 the city, and by mailing a notice to the applicant, the board of health, city council, planning board and to such other persons as the commission may by regulation determine.
C. 
The commission, its agents, officers and employees may enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing their duties under this chapter.
(C.O. 83-329 § 3)
The applicant shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the work proposed in the application will not harm the interests protected by this chapter. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the commission supporting a determination that the proposed work will not harm the interests protected by this chapter shall be sufficient cause for the commission to deny a permit or grant a permit 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.
(C.O. 83-329 § 7)
A. 
If, after the public hearing, the commission determinates that the area which is the subject of the application is significant to the interests protected by this chapter, the commission shall, within twenty-one days of such hearing issue or deny a permit for the work requested. If it issues a permit after making such determination, the commission shall impose such conditions as it determines are necessary or desirable for protection of those interests, and all work shall be done in accordance with those conditions. If the commission determines that the area which is the subject of the application is not significant to the interests protected by this chapter, or that the proposed activity does not require the imposition of conditions, it shall issue a permit without conditions within twenty-one days of the public hearing.
B. 
Permits shall expire one year from the date of issuance, unless renewed prior to expiration, and all work shall be completed prior to expiration.
(C.O. 83-329 § 3.1)
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 a bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities in an amount determined by the commission to be sufficient and payable to the city;
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).
(C.O. 83-329 § 10)
After due notice and public hearing, the commission may promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this chapter. 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 chapter.
(C.O. 83-329 § 6)
Any person who purchases, inherits or otherwise acquires real estate upon which work has been done in violation of the provisions of this chapter or in violation of any permit issued pursuant to this chapter shall 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 date of acquisition of the real estate by such person.
(C.O. 83-329 § 5)
A. 
Any person who violates any provision of this chapter or of any condition of a permit issued pursuant to it shall be punished by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars. 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.
B. 
This chapter may be enforced pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Ch. 40, Sec. 21D, by a city police officer or other officer having police powers. Upon request of the commission, the city council and city solicitor shall take such legal action as may be necessary to enforce this chapter and permits issued pursuant to it.
(C.O. 83-329 § 11)