Town of Belchertown, MA Chapter 1 General Provisions

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Meeting of the Town of Belchertown as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I Acceptance of Bylaws

[Adopted 12-7-1998 STM by Art. 4]

[At the Special Town Meeting on December 7, 1998, the Town voted under Article 4 to accept and approve the codification of the bylaws of the Town of Belchertown in the format presented by General Code Publishers Corp., said codification contained in a renumbering, recaptioning and repositioning of the present bylaws, to be known as the "Code of the Town of Belchertown." Consult Town Meeting records for a complete description of the action taken under Article 4.]

[Pursuant to Art. 13, adopted by the 6-27-2020 ATM, the Town’s General Bylaws were amended to delete the words “Board of Selectmen” and “Selectmen,” in each place where they appear and replace them with the words “Select Board.”]

Article II Penalties and Enforcement

[Adopted 5-13-1985 ATM by Art. 17 as Ch. III, Art. 12 of the 1985 Compendium of Bylaws]

§ 1-1 General penalty.

Whoever violates any of the provisions of these bylaws, unless otherwise specifically provided therein or otherwise provided by law, shall be punished with a fine of not more than $20.

§ 1-2 Noncriminal disposition.

[Added 3-20-1995 STM by Art. 19]

A. Any bylaw of the Town of Belchertown, or rule or regulation of its officers, boards or departments, the violation of which is subject to a specific penalty, may, in the discretion of the Town official who is the appropriate enforcing person, be enforced by the method provided in MGL c. 40, § 21D. The noncriminal fine for each such violation, if not otherwise specified, shall be $50.

B. "Enforcing person," as used in this section, shall mean any police officer of the Town of Belchertown with respect to any offense and the Building Inspector and his designees, the members of the Conservation Commission and its designees, the members of the Board of Health and its designees and the Dog Officers, and such other officials as the Select Board may from time to time designate, each with respect to violation of bylaws and rules and regulations within their respective jurisdictions. If more than one official has jurisdiction in a given case, any such official may be an enforcing person with respect thereto.

C. Without intending to limit the generality of the foregoing, it is the intention of this provision that the following bylaws, rules and regulations are to be included within the scope of this section, that the specific penalties as listed herein shall apply in such cases and that, in addition to police officers, who shall in all cases be considered enforcing persons for the purpose of this provision, the municipal personnel listed for each section, if any, shall also be enforcing persons for such sections. Each day on which any violation exists shall be deemed to be a separate offense.

Chapter 6, Alarm Systems. Article II, False Alarms.
§ 6-2. The owner or occupant of premises shall be liable for a fine for each violation of the Alarm Bylaw after the third false alarm in any given calendar year:
Fine allowed	$25
Enforcement agent	Police officer
Chapter 15, Animals, Article I, Dog Control.
§ 15-5, Failure to have kennel license if owner of five or more dogs over six months of age:
Fine allowed	$50
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$25
	Second offense	$35
	Third offense	$50
§ 15-6A, Failure to properly license a dog over six months of age:
Fine allowed [Amended 5-8-2017 ATM by Art. 45]	$50, plus court action fee
Court action fee [Added 5-8-2017 ATM by Art. 45]	$100
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$10
	Second offense [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$30
	Third offense	$50
Fines will be assessed per dog [Added 5-8-2017 ATM by Art. 45]
§ 15-6B, Running at large:
Fine allowed [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$35
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$10
	Second offense [Amended 5-10-2004 by Art. 23]	$20
	Third offense [Amended 5-10-2004 by Art. 23]	$35
§ 15-6C, Chasing pedestrian, bicycle or any vehicle:
Fine allowed [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$40
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	First offense	$20
	Second offense	$30
	Third offense	$40
§ 15-6D, Excessive barking:
Fine allowed [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$40
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	First offense	$20
	Second offense	$30
	Third offense	$40
§ 15-6E, Worrying domestic animals:
Fine allowed	$50
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$10
	Second offense	$25
	Third offense	$50
§ 15-6F, Vicious dog:
Fine allowed [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$100
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$25
	Second offense	$50
	Third offense [Amended 5-10-2004 ATM by Art. 23]	$100
§ 15-6J, Untagged dog:
Fine allowed	$15
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule:	First offense	$5
	Second offense	$10
	Third offense	$15
§ 15-8, Removal of dog waste:
Fine allowed	$15
Enforcement agent	Dog Officers Police officers Animal Control Advisory Board [Added 5-10-2010 ATM by Art. 20]
Fine schedule	First offense	$5
	Second offense	$10
	Third offense	$15
Chapter 23, Buildings, Numbering of.
Fine allowed	$50
Enforcement agent	Building Inspector Police officers Fire Chief
Fine schedule	$50 each offense
Chapter 36, Excavations, Article I, Barriers.
Fine allowed	$200 per day
Enforcement agent	Zoning Enforcement Officer
Fine schedule	$200 per day
Chapter 82, Noise. [Added 5-10-1999 ATM by Art. 29]
Enforcement agent	Police officers Zoning Enforcement Officer Board of Health members Director of Health
Fine schedule	First offense	Written warning
	Second offense	$150
	Each subsequent offense	$300
Chapter 112, Stormwater Management. [Added 5-14-2007 by Art. 26]
Fine allowed:	First violation:	$100
	Second violation:	$200
	Third and subsequent violations shall be:	$300 Each day or part thereof that such violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
Enforcement agent:	Stormwater Authority or an authorized agent of the Stormwater Authority.
Chapter 129, Vehicles and Traffic.
Article II, Handicapped Parking.
§ 129-9 Unauthorized vehicles; obstruction of curb ramp [Added 5-14-2001 ATM by Art. 29]
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Police officers
Fine schedule	First and subsequent offenses: $100
Fine allowed	$50
Enforcement agent	Police officer Department of Public Works Director
Fine schedule	$50
Chapter 133, Vehicles, Unregistered.
Fine allowed	$5 per day
Enforcement agent	Zoning Enforcement Officer
Fine schedule	$5 per day
Chapter 139, Wetlands Protection.
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Conservation Commission member Conservation Administrator Police officer
Fine schedule	First offense	$50
	Second offense or failure to recognize ticket	$100
Chapter 145, Zoning.
§ 145-67J (applies to violations of Zoning Bylaw and decisions made by the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals; approved at Annual Town Meeting on 5-14-1990 as Section IX A 8 and 9.)
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Zoning Enforcement Officer
Fine schedule	$100 each offense
Chapter 212, Dumping.
Fine allowed	$25 per day; each day violation remains unabated by offender constitutes a separate offense
Enforcement agent	Board of Health or its agents Department of Public Works Director
Fine schedule	$25 per day; each day violation remains unabated by offender constitutes a separate offense
Chapter 252, Septic Systems, Article II, Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems. (local additions to Title V of the State Environmental Code)
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Board of Health or its agents
Fine schedule	First offense	$25
	Second offense	$50
	Third offense or subsequent offense	$100
Chapter 252, Septic Systems, Article III, Installers.
(in addition to obtaining required license)
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Board of Health or its agents
Fine schedule	First offense	$25
	Second offense	$50
	Third offense or subsequent offense	$100
Chapter 261, Smoking and Access to Tobacco. [Added 5-12-1998 ATM by Art. 34]
(Adopted by the Board of Health pursuant to MGL c. 111, § 31, effective 8-1-1997)
§ 261-10A, Smoking in a smoke-free area:
Fine allowed	$100
Enforcement agent	Board of Health Board of Health members Director of Health Tobacco Control Coordinator Law enforcement agents (Police officers and enforcement agents designated by the Board of Health)
Fine schedule	First offense	Written notice of penalties levied for future violations
	Second offense	$50
	Third offense and each subsequent offense	$100
§ 261-10B, Failure of proprietor(s) or other person(s) in charge of a public place or workplace to comply with smoking and access to tobacco regulations:
Fine allowed	$200
Enforcement agent	Board of Health Board of Health members Director of Health Tobacco Control Coordinator Law enforcement agents (Police officers and enforcement agents designated by the Board of Health)
Fine schedule	First offense	Written notice of penalties levied for future violations
	Second offense and each subsequent offense	$200
§ 261-10C, Tobacco retail permit violations:
Fine allowed	$200
Enforcement agent	Board of Health Board of Health members Director of Health Tobacco Control Coordinator Law enforcement agents (Police officers and enforcement agents designated by the Board of Health)
Fine schedule	First offense within a 12-month period	Written notice of penalties levied for future violations, including, where applicable, permit revocation
	Second offense and subsequent offenses within a 12-month period	$200
Chapter 265, Solid Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Center. [Added 10-2-1995 STM by Art. 11]
Enforcement agent	Department of Public Works Director Police officer
Fine schedule	$25 per offense
Chapter 285, Wells, Private.
(in addition to obtaining required permit)
Fine allowed	$50
Enforcement agent	Board of Health or its agents
Fine schedule	First offense	$25
	Second offense or failure to rectify first offense within 30 days	$50