The applicant shall bear the cost of processing applications and reviewing plans submitted to the Board for approval. Where a use requires both a special permit and a site plan approval fee, the applicant need only pay the larger amount.
A. 
Application fee. Any application for a permit from the Planning Board shall include a fee to cover the expenses incurred by the Board in processing the application. The applicant shall submit the application fee for the particular permit applied for as listed on the Harvard Planning Board application form. The fee is not refundable. The fee shall be submitted in check made payable to "Town of Harvard."
B. 
Legal notice.
(1) 
If the application requires a duly advertised public hearing or any subsequent notices, the applicant is responsible for the cost of the legal advertisement as described elsewhere in these regulations. The applicant shall pay a local newspaper of general circulation for the current cost of advertising the hearing. The applicant will be billed directly from the newspaper for the cost of the advertised hearing.
(2) 
If a deficiency in the application or a difficulty with a particular site requires, in the opinion of the Board, that the public hearing be continued to a date to be determined sometime in the future, requiring the re-advertisement of the legal notice and pending the submission of additional information by the applicant, then the applicant shall pay the cost of any additional advertising and mailing.
C. 
Mailing fee. The Planning Board shall mail the notice of the public hearing to the "parties in interest" contained on the list provided by the Assessors' office, and mail a "Notice of Decision" after the Board files its decision with the Town Clerk. The mailing fee is included in the application fee, but the Board may request additional funds if the amount is insufficient to cover the cost of all required mailings.
A. 
The Planning Board may determine that the assistance of outside consultants is warranted due to the size or scale of the proposed project or because of the project's potential impacts. The Board may engage traffic engineers, civil engineers, planners, landscape architects, lawyers or other appropriate professionals who can assist the Board in analyzing a project. Projects proposed by departments of the Town of Harvard are exempt from this requirement.
B. 
The Board may require the applicant to pay a review fee to cover the actual costs of the outside consultants engaged to review the application. The Board shall obtain an estimate from its consultant(s) for this review, and the applicant shall submit the estimated cost of the review to the Town Treasurer prior to the start of the review.
C. 
The Town Treasurer shall deposit funds received pursuant to this section in a special account established for this purpose. Expenditures from this account shall be made at the direction of the Planning Board without further appropriation and shall be made only in connection with the review of a specific project for which a review fee has been collected. Failure of an applicant to pay a review fee shall be grounds for disapproval of the application. When the review fee account is depleted, the applicant shall submit additional fees as the Board specifies.
D. 
Review fees may only be spent for services rendered in connection with the specific project for which they were collected. At the completion of the Planning Board's review of a project, any excess amount in the account shall be repaid to the applicant or to the applicant's successor in interest. The Board shall provide a final report of the account to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest upon request.
E. 
Any applicant may take an administrative appeal from the selection of the outside consultant to the Board of Selectmen.[1] The grounds for such an appeal shall be limited to those stated in MGL Chapter 44, § 53G.
[1]
Editor's Note: Now "Select Board."
A. 
All applications for scenic road consent that requires the replacement of roadside trees shall be secured by a security deposit, in the form of check made payable to the "Town of Harvard" or cash, as described in the Code of Harvard, § 90-4C, Tree Replacement Fund (the "security funds").
B. 
In accordance with MGL c. 44, § 53G 1/2, the security funds will be deposited in a special account established by the Town Treasurer, shall be kept separate and apart from other monies, and interest earned, if any, shall be retained by the Town.
C. 
In the event the replaced trees survive two years, as detailed within § 90-4C(3), some or all of an applicant's tree replacement funds may be expended without further appropriation, by the Planning Board, to complete work authorized by a permit issued pursuant to these regulations. Any unused funds shall be returned to the applicant, pursuant to MGL c. 44, § 53G 1/2.