A.
Local administration of the Westerly Land Development
and Subdivision Regulations shall be under the direction of the Administrative
Officer, who shall report to the Planning Board.
B.
The Administrative Officer shall oversee and coordinate
the review, approval, recording and enforcement provisions of the
local regulations. The Administrative Officer shall serve as the Chair
of the Technical Review Committee, when it is activated. The Town
Planner is designated by the Planning Board to be the Administrative
Officer. Appointment of the Town Planner shall be the responsibility
of the Town Manager. Qualifications of the Administrative Officer
shall be determined by the Town Manager as provided in the Town personnel
position description for the Town Planner/Environmental Coordinator.
C.
The Administrative Officer shall be responsible for
coordinating reviews of proposed land development projects and subdivisions
with adjacent municipalities as is necessary to be consistent with
applicable federal, state and local laws and as directed by the Planning
Board.
D.
Enforcement of the local regulations shall be under
the direction of the Administrative Officer
A.
The Planning Board may establish a Technical Review Committee of
not fewer than three members, to conduct technical reviews of applications
subject to their jurisdiction. Where a Technical Review Committee
is established, the Administrative Officer shall serve as Chair. Membership
of this subcommittee, to be known as the "Technical Review Committee,"
may include, but shall not be limited to, members of the Planning
Board, Planning Department staff, other municipal staff representing
departments with responsibility for review or enforcement, conservation
Commissioners or other duly appointed local public commission members.
B.
If the Planning Board establishes a Technical Review Committee, they
shall adopt written procedures establishing the committee's responsibilities.
C.
Reports of the Technical Review Committee to the Planning Board shall
be in writing and shall be kept as part of the permanent documentation
on the development application. In no case shall the recommendations
of the Technical Review Committee be binding on the Planning Board
in its activities or decisions. All reports of the technical review
committee shall be made available to the applicant prior to the meeting
of the Planning Board meeting at which the reports are first considered.
The Town Council has established the Westerly Zoning Board of
Review as the Board of Appeal to hear appeals of decisions of the
Planning Board or the Administrative Officer on matters of review
and approval of land development and subdivision projects.
A.
Any person who fails or refuses to adhere to all of the terms and
conditions or any land development or subdivision plan that has been
approved by the Planning Board or the Administrative officer shall
be in violation of these regulations.
B.
Violation of the regulations shall include any action related to
the transfer or sale of land in unapproved subdivisions. Any owner,
or agent of the owner, who transfers, sells or negotiates to sell
any land by reference to or exhibition of, or by other use, a plat
of the subdivision before the plat has been approved by the Planning
Board and recorded in the Town's land evidence records shall
be in violation of the local regulations and subject to the penalties
described in this chapter.
C.
The Administrative Officer shall give a written notice of violation
to any person who has been determined to be in violation of these
regulations. The Administrative Officer shall inform the Planning
Board of all such notices of violation sent out and the status of
their resolution. The Planning Board may, within its discretion, order
the Administrative Officer to record such notice of violation in the
Westerly land evidence records. Upon satisfactory curing of said violation,
the Planning Board shall instruct the Administrative Officer to release
said notice of violation.
D.
The Town may also cause suit to be brought in the Supreme or Superior
Court, or any Municipal Court, including a Municipal Housing Court
having jurisdiction in the name of the municipality, to restrain the
violation of, or to compel compliance with, the provisions of its
local regulations. The Town may consolidate an action for injunctive
relief and/or fines under the local regulations in the Washington
County Superior Court.
E.
The penalty for violation shall reasonably relate to the seriousness
of the offense and shall not exceed $500 dollars for each violation,
and each day of existence of any violation shall be deemed to be a
separate offense. Any such fine shall inure to the Town.
A.
Town Council. Where an applicant requires both Planning Board approval and Council approval for a change to Chapter 260, Zoning, or a Zoning Map change, the applicant shall first obtain an advisory recommendation on the zoning change from the Planning Board, as well as conditional Planning Board approval for the first approval stage for the proposed project, which may be simultaneous, then obtain a conditional zoning change from the Council, and then return to the Planning Board for subsequent required approval(s).
B.
Zoning Board.
(1)
Where an applicant requires both a variance from Chapter 260, Zoning, and Planning Board approval, the applicant shall first obtain an advisory recommendation from the Planning Board, as well as conditional Planning Board approval for the first approval stage for the proposed project, which may be simultaneous, then obtain conditional Zoning Board relief, and then return to the Planning Board for subsequent required approval(s).
(2)
Where an applicant requires both a special-use permit under Chapter 260, Zoning, and Planning Board approval, the applicant shall first obtain an advisory recommendation from the Planning Board, as well as conditional Planning Board approval for the first approval stage for the proposed project, which may be simultaneous, then obtain a conditional special use permit from the Zoning Board, and then return to the Planning Board for subsequent required approval(s).
A.
All records of the Planning Board proceedings and decisions shall
be written and kept permanently available for public review in the
Planning Office, in the Westerly Town Hall. Completed applications
for proposed land development and subdivision projects under review
by the Planning Board shall be available for public review at the
Planning Office.
B.
Participation in a Planning Board meeting or other proceedings by
any party shall not be a cause for civil action or liability except
for acts not in good faith, intentional misconduct, knowing violation
of law, transactions where there is an improper personal benefit,
or malicious, wanton, or willful misconduct.
C.
All final written comments to the Planning Board from the Administrative
Officer, Town departments, the Technical Review Committee, state and
federal agencies, and local commissions shall be part of the permanent
record of the development application.
D.
All votes of the Planning Board shall be made part of the permanent
record and shall show the members present and their votes. A decision
by the Planning Board to approve any land development or subdivision
application shall require the affirmative vote of no less than four
members.
E.
All written
decisions of the Planning Board shall be recorded in the land evidence
records within 20 days after the Planning Board vote. A copy of the
recorded decision shall be mailed within one business day of recording,
by any method that provides confirmation of receipt, to the applicant
and to any objector who has filed a written request for notice with
the administrative officer.
[Added at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions,
Art. I)]
A.
All approved final plans and plats for land development
and subdivision projects shall be signed by the appropriate Planning
Board official with the date of approval. Plans and plats for major
land developments and subdivisions shall be signed by the Planning
Board Chairperson or the Secretary of the Planning Board attesting
to the approval by the Planning Board. All minor land development
or subdivision plans and plats and administrative plats shall be signed
by the Planning Board Chairperson or Secretary or the Board's designated
agent.
B.
Upon signature, all plans and plats shall be submitted
to the Administrative Officer prior to recording and filing in the
appropriate Town departments. The material to be recorded for all
plans and plats shall include all pertinent plans with notes thereon
concerning all the essential aspects of the approved project design,
the implementation schedule, special conditions placed on the development
by the Town, permits and agreements with state and federal reviewing
agencies, and other information as required by the Planning Board.
C.
Other parts of the applications record for subdivisions
and land development projects, including all meeting records, approved
master plan and preliminary plans, site analyses, impact analyses,
all legal agreements, records of the public hearing and the entire
final approval set of drawings shall be kept permanently by the Town
departments responsible for implementation and enforcement.
D.
The Administrative Officer shall notify the statewide
"911" emergency authority and the local police and fire authorities
servicing the new plat with the information required by each of the
authorities.
A.
For all changes to the approved plans of land development projects or subdivisions subject to these regulations, an amendment of the final development plans shall be required prior to the issuance of any building permits for construction upon the subject property. Any changes approved in the final plan shall be recorded as amendments to the final plan in accordance with the procedure established for recording of plats and plans in § A261-42.
B.
Minor changes to an approved land development or subdivision plan
may be approved administratively by the Administrative Officer at
his/her/their discretion without public hearing and without review
and approval by the Planning Board.
(1)
For the purposes of these regulations, a minor change shall
be limited to any change which, in the opinion of the Administrative
Officer, is consistent with the intent of the original approval. Such
minor changes shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a)
Amendments to grading plans and/or drainage plans which are
acceptable to the Town Engineer and which have the approval of the
required state and/or federal agency;
(b)
Amendments to utility plans which are acceptable to the Utilities
Superintendent or designee, or to the appropriate utility company;
or
(c)
Modifications which are required by a state or federal permitting
agency, such as the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management
(RIDEM), the Rhode Island Coastal Resource Management Council (RCMC),
the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), the Rhode Island Historic Preservation
and Heritage Commission (RIHPHC), or any other nonmunicipal agency
having jurisdiction over the project.
(2)
All such minor changes shall be made part of the permanent record
of the project application. Denial of the proposed change(s) shall
be referred to the Planning Board for review as a major change.
C.
Major changes to an approved land development or subdivision plan shall be approved only by the Planning Board and must follow the same review and public hearing process required for approval of preliminary plans as described in § A261-28. For the purposes of these regulations, a major change shall be any change which, in the opinion of the Administrative Officer, is clearly contrary to the intent of the original approval Such major changes shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1)
Changes to lot boundaries and/or areas;
(2)
Changes which would result in the creation of one or more additional
lots and/or units in a development;
(3)
Changes in the dimensions and/or configuration of a proposed
street or street system;
(4)
Changes which would be contrary to any applicable provision(s) of Chapter 260, Zoning, and/or which would require the issuance of a variance or special use permit from the Zoning Board of Review;
(5)
Changes to the scale, massing, orientation and proportions of
buildings and/or public spaces; or
(6)
Changes which may have significant negative impacts on abutting
property to the proposed subdivision or land development.
D.
Rescission procedure. The Planning Board, only upon application by all landowners of the plat to be affected, may determine that the application for plat rescission is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and is not in compliance with the standards and provisions of Chapter 260, Zoning, and/or these land development and subdivision review regulations and shall hold a public hearing, which adheres to the requirements for notice described in § A261-28. The Planning Board shall approve, approve with conditions or modifications, or deny the application for rescission of the plat according to the requirements of § A261-41. If it is necessary to abandon any street, the Planning Board shall submit to the Town Council the documents necessary for the abandonment process. Once the required process for rescission or for rescission and abandonment has been completed, the revised plat shall be signed and recorded as specified in § A261-42.
