Town of Boxford, MA General Regulations

§ 375-1 Introduction and purpose.

Introduction. These regulations are promulgated by the Boxford Conservation Commission ("Commission") pursuant to the authority granted to it under the Boxford Wetlands Protection Bylaw (hereinafter referred to as "the Bylaw").[1] These regulations shall complement the Bylaw and provide additional detail on its implementation. Article I herein provides definitions and procedures. Article II herein provides standards for work within protected resource areas. Although the Bylaw and these regulations are adopted under home rule and are independent of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and implementing regulations, these regulations have been generally arranged in the same subject order as 310 CMR 10.00 for convenient cross reference.

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 192, Wetlands Protection.

Purpose. The Bylaw sets forth a public review and decision-making process by which activities affecting resource areas, which are set forth in § 375-2A(1) through (18) below as areas subject to protection under the Bylaw and subject to jurisdiction under the Bylaw, are to be regulated to protect the resource area values set forth below.

(1)

Public or private water supply.

(2)

Groundwater.

(3)

Flood control.

(4)

Erosion and sedimentation control.

(5)

Storm damage prevention.

(6)

Water quality.

(7)

Water pollution control.

(8)

Fisheries.

(9)

Wildlife habitat.

(10)

Rare species habitat including rare plant species.

(11)

Agriculture.

(12)

Recreation areas deemed important to the community.

(13)

Riverfront area values.

§ 375-2 Statement of Jurisdiction.

Areas subject to protection under the Bylaw. Resource areas are jurisdictional whether or not they border surface water. The following resource areas are subject to protection under the Bylaw:

Freshwater wetlands;

Marshes;

Wet meadows;

Bogs;

Swamps;

Lakes;

Ponds;

Rivers;

Streams;

Creeks;

Banks;

Beaches;

Vernal pools;

Large isolated wetlands;

(15)

Land under water in the above resource areas (1 through 14);

(16)

Buffer zone;

(17)

Riverfront area; and

(18)

Bordering and isolated land subject to flooding.

Activities subject to regulation under the Bylaw.

(1)

Any activity proposed or undertaken which will remove, fill, dredge, build upon, or alter a resource area is subject to regulation under the Bylaw and requires the filing of a permit application.

(2)

In the event the Commission determines that an activity will alter or has altered a resource area, it shall impose such conditions on the activity or any portion thereof as it deems necessary to achieve the protection of one or more of the resource area values protected by the Bylaw.

§ 375-3 General provisions.

Burden of proof. 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 significant or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by the Bylaw. 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.

Presumption concerning Title 5 of the State Environmental Code. Presumption of the Bylaw shall be in accordance with 310 CMR 10.03.3 as it may be amended, except the following additional restrictions apply:

(1)

None of the components of the subsurface disposal system may be located within 50 feet of the following resource areas: freshwater wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, lakes, ponds, streams, creeks, banks, beaches, vernal pools, or large isolated wetlands.

(2)

The soil absorption system (leaching facility) of said system, including the reserve area, shall be set back at least 100 feet from any resource area identified in Subsection B(1) and outside of any riverfront area.

(3)

The setback distances specified in Subsection B(1) and (2) shall not be required for the renovation or replacement (but shall be required for the enlargement) of septic systems constructed prior to May 19, 1994, provided such work has been approved by the Boxford Board of Health, as required by law.

Deviations for hardship. Consistent with § 192-6B of the Bylaw, in acting on an application for a permit under the Bylaw and these regulations, the Commission may grant, at its sole discretion, permission for work closer than the tabulated minimum distances set forth in the Minimum Setback Table, § 375-98 of these regulations. Deviations from other sections of these regulations shall not be allowed. Additionally, the Commission shall only grant deviations that are allowable pursuant to the Bylaw, as well as the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131 § 40, and 310 C.M.R. 10.00 et seq. In considering a deviation for hardship or request for same, the Commission shall give due consideration to any hardship on the applicant that would be caused by a denial of the application, as demonstrated by the applicant by a preponderance of the credible evidence presented at the public hearing; provided, however, that no deviation from the regulations shall be allowed except:

(1)

In the case of a single-family dwelling or structure for seasonal use legally in existence as of May 19, 1994 (the original date of issuance of these regulations);

[Amended 5-2-2019]

(2)

When a wetlands permit application was filed for said single-family dwelling or structure for seasonal use on or before May 19, 1994, and said wetlands permit was subsequently granted; and provided further that no deviation from the regulations shall be allowed for any lot shown on a subdivision plan or approval not required plan endorsed by the Boxford Planning Board under MGL c. 41, § 81L et seq., after May 19, 1994, not otherwise allowed by Subsection C(1) and (2); or

[Amended 5-2-2019]

(3)

When the Commission finds that denial of proposed work could constitute a regulatory taking.

The Conservation Commission and all permit applicants shall consider all practicable and substantially equivalent economic alternatives to a proposed project. Only the alternative with the least adverse impacts on resource area values as specified in § 375-1B of these regulations shall be permitted. Alternatives to avoid, minimize or mitigate alterations of resource areas protected by the Bylaw may include, but are not limited to, redesigning or scaling back the project, relocating roads or structures or other work, using best available technologies, or choosing another project/land use.

§ 375-4 Definitions.

The definitions as set forth in the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations 310 CMR 10.00 as they may be amended, are incorporated by reference. The definitions in the Boxford Wetlands Protection Bylaw[1] and these regulations in some cases are stricter or expanded and shall take precedence in the event of conflict or inconsistency with the definitions in MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations 310 CMR 10.00. The following definitions apply to the interpretation of the bylaw and these regulations:

ABUTTER

The owner of any property, any portion of which lies within 250 feet radially from any lot line of the subject property, 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. In the case of property that has frontage on a pond, abutters shall include all those properties with frontage on the pond or pond association if in existence.

[Amended 1-7-2010]

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDERS

Include but not be limited to enforcement orders, violation notices, orders of conditions and orders of resource area delineation.

ALTER

Shall include, without limitation, the following activities when undertaken to, upon, within or affecting resource areas protected by the Bylaw:

(1)

Removal, excavation, or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, or aggregate materials of any kind;

(2)

Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics, salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, or 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)

Placing of fill, or removal of material, which would alter elevation;

(6)

Driving of piles, erection, or repair of buildings, or structures of any kind;

(7)

Placing of obstructions or objects (including docks and piers) in water;

(8)

Destruction of plant life, including the cutting of trees;

(9)

Changing water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, or other physical, biological, or chemical characteristics of water;

(10)

Any activities, changes, or work which may cause or tend to contribute to pollution of any body of water or groundwater;

(11)

Incremental activities which have, or may have a cumulative adverse impact on the resource areas protected by this Bylaw;

(12)

Application of pesticides or herbicides.

BANK

Includes the land area which normally abuts and confines a water body; the lower boundary being the mean annual low flow level, and the upper boundary being the first observable break in the slope or the mean annual flood level, whichever is higher.

BEACH

A naturally or man-made unvegetated bank which normally abuts and confines a water body.

BOGS

Areas where standing or slowly running water is near or at the surface during a normal growing season and where a vegetational community has a significant portion of the ground or water surface covered with sphagnum moss (Sphagnum), and where the vegetational community is made up of a significant portion of one or more of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of the following plants or groups of plants: aster (Aster nemoralis), azaleas (Rhododendron canadense and R. viscosum), black spruce (Picea mariana), bog cotton (Eriophorum), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), larch (Larix laricina), laurels (Kalmia angustifolia and K. polifolia), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), orchids (Arethusa, Calopogon, Pogonia), pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea), sedges (Cyperaceae), sundews (Droseraceae), sweet gale (Myrica gale), white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides).

BORDERING LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING

An area with low, flat topography adjacent to and inundated by floodwaters rising from creeks, streams, rivers, ponds or lakes. The boundary of bordering land subject to flooding is the one-hundred-year floodplain. It extends from the outer edge of a bank or bordering vegetated wetland.

BORDERING VEGETATED WETLANDS

Freshwater wetlands which border on creeks, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. Bordering vegetated wetlands are areas where the soils are saturated and/or inundated such that they support a predominance (50% or greater) of wetland indicator plants. Wetlands and their boundaries shall be identified in the manner designated in the Massachusetts DEP Handbook "Delineating Bordering Vegetated Wetlands under Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act," March 1995, and future amendments, or other DEP guidance documents generally accepted by Conservation Commissions for purposes of bordering vegetated wetland delineation.

BUFFER ZONE

That area of land extending 100 feet horizontally outward from the boundary of the following resource areas: freshwater wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, creeks, banks, beaches, vernal pools, large isolated wetlands, lands under water bodies, lands subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater or surface water.

CLEAR-CUT

The removal of all or substantially all overstory trees within a prescribed area, such as within the footprint of a proposed structure or portion thereof.

CONSERVANCY DISTRICT

As defined in the Zoning Bylaw of the Town of Boxford, Chapter 196, § 196-17 of the Town Code, as it may be amended.

CREEK

The same as a stream.

DEPARTMENT

The Department of Environmental Protection.

DETERMINATION OF NEGLIGIBLE IMPACT (DNI)

Pursuant to § 192-4E of the Bylaw, may be issued by the Boxford Conservation Commission (BCC) when a proposed project or activity would have a negligible or no impact on the resource areas or resource area values protected under the Bylaw and regulations. Issuance of a DNI is strictly at the discretion of the BCC, and is reserved for truly minor projects having a negligible or no impact on such resource areas or resource area values. The DNI process is a way to avoid the more formal permitting procedures required for most projects within a wetland resource area or buffer zone. Application instructions are available from the Conservation Office. A DNI, when issued, takes the form of a letter to the applicant, which may or may not contain conditions, and does not need to be recorded at the Registry of Deeds. Denial of a DNI by the Commission may be appealed to Superior Court.

DISCRETIONARY CUTTING AREA

The area of any buffer zone located between the applicable no-disturb zone and the one-hundred-foot limit of the buffer zone as measured horizontally from the boundary of the wetland resource area.

DREDGE

To deepen, widen, or excavate, either temporarily or permanently.

EXTENDED DROUGHT

Shall be defined at 310 CMR 10.58.2 as it may be amended.

FRESHWATER WETLANDS

Wet meadows, marshes, swamps and bogs.

ISOLATED LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING

Any isolated depression without an inlet or outlet which at least once a year confines standing water to a volume of at least one-fourth-acre-foot of water with an average depth of at least six inches. The boundary is the perimeter of the largest observed or recorded volume of water confined in the basin.

LAKE

Any open body of fresh water with a surface area of 10 acres or more, and shall include Great Ponds.

LARGE ISOLATED WETLANDS

Isolated wetlands 5,000 square feet or larger.

MAJORITY VOTE

A vote by a majority of the Commission for all actions taken under § 192-6 of the Bylaw (permit-related actions) and issuance of enforcement orders, and a vote by a majority of a quorum of the Commission as defined by § 192-5J of the Bylaw for all other matters under the Bylaw or under these regulations.

MARSHES

Areas where a plant community exists in standing or running water during the growing season and where a significant part of the vegetational community is composed of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups of plants: arums (Araceae), bladder worts (Utricularia), burr reeds (Sparganiaceae), button bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), cattails (Typha), duck weeds (Lemnaceae), eelgrass (Vallisneria), frog bits (Hydrocharitaceae), horsetails (Equisetaceae), hydrophilic grasses (Gramineae), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), pickerel weeds (Pontederiaceae), pipeworts (Eriocaulon), pond weeds (Potamogeton), rushes (Juncaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), smartweeds (Polygonum), sweet gale (Myrica gale), water milfoil (Haloragaceae), water lilies (Nymphaeaceae), water starworts (Callitrichaceae), water willow (Decodon verticillatus).

MEAN ANNUAL HIGH-WATER LINE

Shall be defined in the Wetlands Protection Act Regulations 310 CMR 10.58.2, as they may be amended.

OVERSTORY TREES

Trees that measure 4 inches or greater in diameter at breast height (4.5 feet above ground level).

PERMIT APPLICATION

Any application for a permit or other action under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131 § 40, or the Boxford Wetlands Protection Bylaw, Town Code Chapter 192. Examples include, but are not limited to, notices of intent, abbreviated notices of resource area delineation, requests for determination of applicability, requests for a determination of negligible impact, requests for an extension to an order of conditions, requests for an amended order of conditions, requests for a certificate of compliance, and requests for an amended order of resource area delineation.

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 Town bylaws, administration agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body, this municipality, and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents, or assigns.

PONDS

(1)

Shall include any substantially open body of fresh water with a surface area observed or recorded, within ten years prior to the date of application, of at least 5,000 square feet. Ponds may be either naturally occurring or man-made by impoundment, excavation, or otherwise. Ponds shall contain standing water except for periods of extended drought. For purposes of this definition, "extended drought" shall be defined in the Wetlands Protection Bylaw Regulations.

(2)

Notwithstanding the above, the following man-made bodies of open water shall not be considered ponds: swimming pools or other impervious man-made basins, fire ponds for approved subdivisions, approved stormwater management structures, irrigation ponds for agricultural purposes, golf courses, and individual gravel pits or quarries excavated from upland areas unless such gravel pit or quarry has been inactive for five or more consecutive years.

RARE SPECIES

Include, without limitation, all vertebrate and invertebrate animal and plant species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, regardless of whether the site in which they occur has been previously identified by the Department.

RESOURCE AREAS

Include any freshwater wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, creeks, banks, beaches, vernal pools, large isolated wetlands, land under water in each resource area, riverfront area, land subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater or surface waters, and buffer zones as defined in the Bylaw.

RESOURCE AREA VALUES

Include, but are not limited to the following: public or private water supply, groundwater, flood control, erosion and sedimentation control, storm damage prevention, water quality, water pollution control, fisheries, wildlife habitat, rare species habitat including rare plant species, agriculture, riverfront area values and recreation values deemed important to the community.

RIVER

Shall be defined as a natural flowing body of water of any size that empties to any ocean, lake or other river and which flows throughout the year.

RIVERFRONT AREA

Shall be defined by 310 CMR 10.58.2 as amended, and as amended in the Town of Boxford's Wetlands Protection Bylaw Regulations § 375-58.

STREAM

A body of running water, and the land under the water, including brooks, creeks, and man-made watercourses, which moves in a definite channel in the ground due to hydraulic gradient. A portion of a stream may flow through a culvert, or beneath a bridge or beneath the surface of the ground. Such a body of running water which does not flow throughout the year (i.e., which is intermittent) is a stream except for that portion upgradient of all wetland resource areas including freshwater wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, creeks, banks, beaches, vernal pools, and large isolated wetlands.

STRUCTURE FOR SEASONAL USE

Structures intended for intensive use for no more than 18 consecutive weeks per year (e.g., summer camps), in addition to incidental use other times of year.

[Added 5-2-2019]

SWAMPS

Areas where groundwater is at or near the surface of the ground for a significant part of the growing season or where runoff water from surface drainage frequently collects above the soil surface, and where a significant part of the vegetational community is made up of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of the following plants or groups of plants: alders (Alnus), ashes (Fraxinus), azaleas (Rhododendron canadense and R. viscosum), black alder (Ilex verticillata), black spruce (Picea mariana), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), American or white elm (Ulmus americana), white Hellebore (Veratrum viride), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), larch (Larix laricina), cowslip (Caltha palustris), poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), red maple (Acer rubrum), skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum), spice bush (Lindera benzoin), black gum tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), willow (Salicaceae), common reed (Phragmites communis), and jewelweed (Impatiens capensis).

SWIMMING POOL PATIO

Any impervious surface located within 15 feet of a swimming pool and utilized primarily for swimming-pool-related activities.

[Added 10-6-2005]

UNDERSTORY VEGETATION

All saplings, shrubs and other vegetation that measures less than four inches in diameter at 4.5 feet above ground level.

VERNAL POOL

Includes a confined basin depression of any size which is free of naturally occurring fish populations and which contains evidence of breeding by obligate vernal pool species as recognized by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

VISTA PRUNING

The selective thinning of tree branches or understory shrubs to establish a specific "window" to improve visibility. Vista pruning does not include the cutting of trees nor the mowing or removal of understory brush.

WETLAND RESOURCE AREA

Any resource area other than the buffer zone.

WET MEADOWS

Areas where groundwater is at the surface for the significant part of the growing season and near the surface throughout the year and where a significant part of the vegetational community is composed of various grasses, sedges, and rushes, made up of, but not limited to nor necessarily including all of the following plants or groups of plants: blue flag (Iris), vervain (Verbena), thoroughwort (Eupatorium), dock (Rumex), false loosestrife (Ludwigia), hydrophilic grasses (Gramineae), loosestrife (Lythrum), marsh fern (Dryopteris thelypteris), rushes (Juncaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), and smartweed (Polygonum).

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch 192, Wetlands Protection.

List of abbreviations:

ANRAD	—	Abbreviated notice of resource area delineation.
BVW	—	Bordering vegetated wetland.
CoC	—	Certificate of compliance.
CMR	—	As in 310 CMR 10.00 is "Code of Massachusetts Regulations."
DEP	—	Department of Environmental Protection.
DNI	—	Determination of negligible impact.
LIW	—	Large isolated wetland.
LUW	—	Land under water.
MGL	—	Massachusetts General Laws.
NoI	—	Notice of intent.
OoC	—	Order of conditions.
ORAD	—	Order of resource area delineation.
PE	—	Professional engineer.
RDA	—	Request for determination of applicability.
PLS	—	Professional land surveyor.
SFH	—	Single-family house.

§ 375-5 Procedures.

Application for permits. Written applications shall be filed with the Commission to officially determine the boundaries of resource areas and / or to perform activities altering resource areas protected by the Bylaw. The permit application, (notice of intent, abbreviated notice of intent, abbreviated notice of resource area delineation, request for certificate of compliance, request for a determination of negligible impact, request for an amended order of conditions, or request for determination of applicability) shall include such information and plans and completed DEP Field Data Forms, Stormwater Management Form, and Riverfront Area Form as are deemed necessary by the Commission to determine resource area boundaries, to describe proposed activities and their effects on the resource areas and areas protected by the Bylaw, or to determine whether completed work was in compliance with the all applicable permits, laws and regulations.

(1)

A permit application is not complete until all required application materials have been received by the Conservation Commission. No hearing or meeting for the proposed project will be scheduled until all required application materials have been received. Required application materials are specified in the applicable permit application instructions. In addition, the following requirements must be met for a permit application to be considered complete:

(a)

Copies: All permit applications, except for requests for a determination of negligible impact, shall contain one set of the complete filing and seven copies of the application plan(s). The applicant shall also submit to the Commission eight sets of any revised, amended, or supplemented information introduced or referred to by the applicant during the course of the public hearings on the application, unless directed otherwise by the Commission. The Commission may, at any time during the review process, require the submission of additional copies of any material submitted to the Commission by the applicant.

[Amended 2-23-2009]

(b)

Plan requirements. The following minimum requirements apply to plans submitted with a notice of intent, request for an amended order of conditions, request for a certificate of compliance, or abbreviated notice of resource area delineation. At its sole discretion the Commission may relax these requirements for small projects. The Commission may also, at its sole discretion, relax the sheet size and scale requirements for projects involving land areas too large to be contained on a sheet meeting the size and scale requirements.

[1]

Sheet size: maximum 30 inches by 42 inches.

[2]

As needed to show all necessary details, but at a ratio no greater than 1:480 (e.g., one inch = 40 feet).

[Amended 1-22-2004]

[3]

Title block: located at the right hand lower corner.

[a]

Name of owner of record, applicant, PLS/PE (if involved).

[b]

Lot number, street number, street, Tax Assessor's Map, block and parcel/lot numbers.

[c]

Original date.

[d]

Revision area for dates and nature of revisions.

[e]

Scale.

[f]

Description of project purpose.

[Added 2-23-2009]

[4]

North arrow.

[5]

Locus map.

[6]

Nearest utility pole number, if applicable.

[7]

Reference benchmark (vertical datum used).

[8]

Legend depicting all natural resources and significant site features.

[9]

All resource areas.

[10]

Wetland boundaries indicated by numbered points corresponding to flags placed in the field with elevation of flags.

[11]

Buffer zone boundary lines:

[a]

One hundred feet to bordering vegetated wetlands.

[b]

One hundred feet to vernal pools.

[c]

One hundred feet to large isolated wetlands.

[d]

One hundred feet to ponds and lakes.

[e]

One hundred feet to banks.

[f]

One hundred feet to beaches.

[g]

One hundred feet to intermittent creeks and streams.

[h]

One hundred feet to one-hundred-year floodplain.

[12]

Resource areas per § 375-2A(1) through (14) within 100 feet of proposed work (or in the case of a perennial river or a river, stream, or creek with designated riverfront area, within 200 feet), regardless of property boundaries.

[13]

Existing improvements, e.g. buildings, stone walls, trails.

[14]

All existing topography and proposed contours at a contour interval no greater than two feet.

[15]

Cross sections.

[16]

All proposed or completed alterations.

[17]

Location of well and septic system with reserve area.

[18]

Erosion/sedimentation control measures.

[19]

Replication areas.

[20]

All discharge points.

[21]

Property boundaries, rights-of-way, easements, restrictions.

[22]

Conservancy district, if applicable (show as cross-hatched area, including all adjacent bordering vegetated wetlands).

[23]

Applicable no disturb zone.

[24]

Pre- and post-development overstory tree canopy line within buffer zone. [See § 375-98D(2)(a).]

[25]

Record the person(s) and firm that delineated the resource areas.

[26]

Placement of underground utilities.

[27]

Applicable zone where no structures requiring a building permit are allowed.

[28]

Stamp and signature of a registered professional land surveyor or a registered professional engineer. In circumstances where the Commission determines that no survey is required, the stamp and signature of a registered sanitarian may be acceptable.

(c)

Abutters list. An abutters list listing the owner of any property that lies within 250 feet radially from any lot line of the subject property, 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 (e.g., lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and creeks). In the case of property that has frontage on a pond, abutters shall include all those properties with frontage on the pond, or pond association if in existence. The abutters list must be certified by the Boxford Tax Assessor's office, and must be included with all notices of intent, abbreviated notice of resource area delineation, request for determination of applicability, and request for amendment to the order of conditions or order of resource area delineation permit application.

[Amended 1-7-2010]

(d)

Review of stormwater management plans and structures. Applicants proposing any work that includes the management of stormwater must submit information to the Superintendent of the Boxford Department of Public Works (DPW) on the same day the permit application is submitted to the Conservation Commission. The information shall consist of one copy of the site plan submitted with the permit application, with each stormwater structure highlighted in a color different from others on the plan, and one copy of a concise written report detailing all stormwater operation and maintenance requirements. The report must specifically describe both the type and frequency of maintenance that will be required for each stormwater structure, as well as general maintenance, such as street sweeping, after road acceptance by the Town. One copy of the plan and report specified in this section shall also be submitted to the Conservation Commission.

(2)

An applicant filing a permit application (including any request for amendment to an order of conditions or order of resource area delineation) with the Commission shall at the same time give written notification thereof, by delivery in hand or certified mail, return receipt requested or certificates of mailing, to all abutters as defined in § 375-4A of these regulations. Said notification shall be at the applicant's expense, and shall state where copies of the permit application may be examined and obtained and shall state a brief description of the proposed work, as well as the date, time and place of the public hearing. The Conservation Commission's Secretary will automatically type said notice and provide it to the applicant at time of permit filing. Proof of such notification, with a copy of the notice mailed or delivered, shall be filed with the Commission.

[Amended 2-21-2008]

Consultant fee. Upon receipt of a permit application, the Commission is authorized to require an applicant to pay a fee for the reasonable costs and expenses borne by the Commission for specific expert engineering and other consultant services deemed necessary by the Commission to come to a final decision on the application. The applicant shall pay the fee to be put into a revolving fund, which may be drawn upon by the Commission for specific consultant services approved by the Commission at one of its public hearings or meetings. This fee is called the consultant fee. The specific consultant services may include but are not limited to resource area survey and delineation, analysis of resource area values, including wildlife habitat evaluations, hydrogeologic and drainage analysis, and environmental or land use law. No such costs or expenses shall be incurred by the applicant if the application or request is withdrawn within five days of the date of the public hearing or meeting wherein the Commission declared its intention to seek expert consultation. The consultant shall be chosen by, and report only to, the Commission and/or its Administrator.

(1)

Prior to the initiation of consultation services, the Conservation Commission shall submit to the applicant or his or her designated representative a request for payment of the anticipated consultant fee. The Commission may also request additional consultant fees if necessary review requires a larger expenditure than originally anticipated. Failure by the applicant to pay the consultant fee specified by the Commission within five business days of the request for payment shall be cause for the Commission to deny the issuance of a permit or other requested action.

(2)

The Commission shall make proper provision to continue the hearing until all information is received, but in no case shall this procedure be used so as to cause unreasonable delay to the applicant.

(3)

No activities shall commence without receiving and complying with a permit, issued pursuant to the Bylaw and regulations.

Security. The Commission may require the applicant to file a performance bond or a deposit of money in an amount determined by the Commission to be sufficient to cover the cost of all or any part of the site alterations, monitoring, and maintenance specified in the permit and/or shown on the plans approved by the Commission. Bond amounts will be set so that funds will be adequate to comply with the order of conditions, repair damage to wetlands and to permanently stabilize the work site and all soils. Bonds shall be determined on a site-by-site basis. Bonds shall be funded prior to work commencing.

Recording.

(1)

No work proposed in any NoI shall be undertaken until the OoC 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 provides evidence (book and page number or certificate number) in writing to the Commission that the permit has been recorded.

(2)

Extension permits, amendments, and certificates of compliance issued by the Conservation Commission must be 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, before any activity covered by the OoC resumes.

Review of materials. The Commission will not accept any material from the applicant or his representative intended for discussion at subsequent meetings/hearings less than seven calendar days prior to that scheduled meeting/hearing. Late filed materials shall be excluded from the record and shall be considered irrelevant to the decision. However, the Commission reserves the right on a case-by-case basis to grant a waiver to this requirement. All public materials received or produced by the Conservation Commission pertinent to a permit application shall be placed in the applicable public file folder, and shall be available to the public for viewing at the Conservation Commission's office during regular business hours. Upon request, said materials will also be copied and provided by the Commission for a fee in accordance with the Public Records Law, MGL c. 66, § 10, and its regulations at 950 C.M.R. 32.00 et seq., as they may be amended from time to time.

Public meeting and hearing procedures. The Conservation Commission shall comply fully with the Open Meeting Law, MGL c. 39, § 23. In addition, the Commission shall comply with the following procedures:

(1)

Presentation of materials after the close of a public hearing. After the close of a public hearing, no materials pertinent to a decision on a permit application may be submitted to or received by the Conservation Commission, with the following exception: Commission members may distribute documents to the Commission that they have produced which summarize all or part of the public information that was presented at prior public hearings or is contained in the Commission's public files. Said documents may also express a Commission member's opinions. No information shall be distributed or presented that constitutes new information, defined as substantive information concerning the project not previously presented at a public hearing or contained in the Commission's public files. A Commission member's opinions shall not constitute new information.

(2)

Review and execution of orders of conditions. After the close of a public hearing, the Conservation Commission will discuss one or more draft orders of conditions for possible approval. Approval consists of a successful motion to approve the order and the signatures of a majority of the Commission. Review and approval will take place at a public meeting, held either at the same meeting that the public hearing was closed, or at a subsequent meeting.

Fee schedule.

[Amended 10-6-2005; 8-4-2011; 3-23-2023]

Type of Permit/Service			Fee
(1)	Request for determination of applicability		$350
(2)	Notice of intent
	(a)	Category 1 (e.g., addition/alteration)	$475
	(b)	Category 2 (e.g., new single-family house)	$1,475
	(c)	Category 3 (e.g., site development without a house, road construction)	$1,475
	(d)	Category 4 (e.g., subdivisions)	$3,975 plus $2 per linear foot after first 1,500 feet of road
	(e)	Category 5 (work on docks)	$475
	(f)	Additional fees for stream crossings	$400 for driveway crossing of intermittent stream $1,000 for driveway crossing of perennial stream $1,000 for road crossing of intermittent stream $2,000 for road crossing of perennial stream
	(g)	Additional fee for wetland resource area alteration other than buffer zone	$0.50 per square foot
	(h)	Additional fee for bank alteration	$0.50 per linear foot
(3)	Boundary verification for resource areas
	(a)	First 100 feet	Free
	(b)	Per 100 linear feet or any portion thereof	$50
(4)	Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD)		$475 plus $50 per 100 feet after the first 100 feet
(5)	Certificate of compliance (within 1 year of expiration of order)		$50
(6)	Certificate of compliance (after 1 year of expiration of order)		$100
(7)	Partial certificate of compliance		$50
(8)	Amended order of conditions		$725
(9)	Extension permit		$150
(10)	Request for written project status review*
	(a)	Standard review	$100
	(b)	Expedited review (within 10 business days, Monday to Friday, excluding state holidays)	$200
(11)	Affidavit for any Conservation Commission document		$200
(12)	Request for determination of negligible impact		$50
(13)	Emergency certification		$50
(14)	Site visit without application (nonowner)		$50
(15)	Site visit without application (owner)		$50
(16)	Sign-off in reliance upon soil policy		$50

NOTES:

* Service to be provided at Conservation Commission discretion only.

* Charge may be pro-rated higher (at sole discretion of Conservation Commission or its Administrator) if other than one single-family house lot is to be reviewed.

NOTES:
1.	The fees listed above are in addition to the filing fees charged under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, as amended.
2.	The payment of any fee does not guarantee approval of a project.
3.	Town, county, state, federal and legal nonprofit organizations may be exempted from fees at the discretion of the Conservation Commission.
4.	If the activity is within riverfront area as well as another resource area or a buffer zone, add 50% to the total Subsection G(2) (notice of intent) fee (i.e., multiply the fee by 1.5).
5.	If a project triggers more than one category [e.g., a new single-family house (Subsection G(2)(b) requiring a boundary delineation for resource areas (Subsection G(3)], the fees for each category shall be added separately to the total permit fee.
6.	The boundary verification for resource areas fee listed at Subsection G(3) applies whenever the Conservation Commission is asked to verify delineation of resource areas. This fee applies regardless of the type of permit application (i.e., the fee is payable under a notice of intent, abbreviated notice of resource area delineation, and determination of negligible impact). The Commission does not review wetland delineations under requests for determination of applicability.
7.	Permit filing fees shall not be refunded by the Commission even if an applicant withdraws his application or the permit request is denied, with the following exception: the fees specified at Subsection G(2)(h) and (i) (wetland resource area and bank alteration) may be partially or fully refunded, at the Commission's sole discretion, if the applicant amends his permit application to reduce or eliminate wetland resource area or bank alteration. Also, application fees may be refunded, at the Commission's sole discretion, if the applicant withdraws his application prior to the first public hearing or meeting.

Rainfall data. All stormwater-related calculations and management designs submitted to the Commission under the Boxford Wetlands Protection Bylaw[1] shall be based upon the following rainfall data:

[Amended 3-5-2020]

Storm Event in Years	Inches per 24 Hours
2	3.24
10	5.12
25	6.29
50	7.15
100	8.10

(Taken from NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates, NOAA Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center, available at: hdsc.nws.noaa.gov/hdsc/pfds/pfds_map_cont.html, see also NOAA Atlas 14 Precipitation – Frequency Atlas of the United States, V.10, ver. 3.0: Northeastern States, Perica, et al, 2015, rev. 2019, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Silver Spring, MD.)

[1]

Editor's Note: See Ch.192, Wetlands Protection.

§ 375-6 Emergencies.

The application and permit required by the Bylaw shall not be required for emergency projects necessary for the protection of the health and safety of the public, provided that the work is to be performed by or has been ordered to be performed by an agency of the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof; provided that advance notice, oral or written, has been given to the Commission prior to commencement of work or within 24 hours after commencement; provided that the Commission or its agent certifies the work as an emergency project; provided that the work is performed only for the time and place certified by the Commission for the limited purposes necessary to abate the emergency; and provided that within 21 days of commencement of an emergency project a permit application shall be filed with the Commission for review as provided in the Bylaw. Upon failure to meet these and other requirements of the Commission, the Commission may, after notice and a public hearing, revoke or modify an emergency project approval and order restoration and mitigation measures.

§ 375-7 Exceptions.

Other than stated in the Boxford Wetlands Protection Bylaw and in this section, the exceptions provided in the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and Regulations, 310 CMR 10.00, shall not apply under the Bylaw.

§ 375-8 Enforcement.

No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade or otherwise alter resource areas protected by the Bylaw, 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 the Bylaw.

The Commission, its agents, officers, and employees shall have authority to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing their duties under the Bylaw and may make or cause to be made such examinations, surveys, or sampling as the Commission deems necessary, subject to the constitutions and laws of the United States and the commonwealth.

The Commission shall have authority to enforce the Bylaw, its regulations and permits issued thereunder by violation notices, administrative orders and civil and criminal court actions.

Upon request of a majority of the Commission, the Select Board and the Town Counsel may take legal action for enforcement under civil law. Upon the request of a majority of the Commission to the Select Board and the approval thereof, the Chief of Police shall take legal action for enforcement under criminal law.

[Amended 9-12-2020 ATM by Art. 19]

Municipal boards and officers, including any police officer or other officer having police powers, shall have authority to assist the Commission in the enforcement of the Bylaw.

Any person who violates any provision of the Bylaw or regulations thereunder, or any permits, enforcement order or violation notice of the Commission or of the Conservation Administrator issued thereunder, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $300.00. 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 Bylaw, regulations or permit, enforcement order or violation notice violated shall constitute a separate offense.

As an alternative to criminal prosecution in a specific case, the Commission may issue citations under the noncriminal disposition procedure set forth in MGL c. 40, § 21D, as set forth in Chapter 1 of the General Bylaws.

The specific penalties as listed here shall apply, and in addition to police officers, who shall in all cases be considered enforcing persons for the purpose of this provision, the municipal personnel listed shall also be enforcing persons for such penalties. Each day on which any violation exists shall be deemed to be a separate offense.

	Unauthorized Activity in Buffer Zone	Unauthorized in Wetlands Resource Area	Noncompliance with an Order of Conditions or Enforcement Order or Violation Notice
First offense	$25	$50	$50
Second offense	$50	$150	$200
Third offense (and any subsequent offense)	$300	$300	$300

Municipal personnel authorized: Commission members, administrator or agent.

§ 375-9 Severability.

The invalidity of any section or provision of the Bylaw or these regulations shall not invalidate any other section or provision thereof, nor shall it invalidate any order, certificate, or determination which previously has been issued.