[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Lunenburg 5-14-1988 STM by Art. 3; amended 1998 ATM by Art. 16 (Art. XXI of the Town Bylaws). Subsequent
amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this bylaw is to protect the wetlands, related
water resources, and adjoining land areas in the Town of Lunenburg
by prior review and control of activities deemed by the Conservation
Commission likely to have a significant or cumulative effect upon
wetland values, including but 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, shellfish, wildlife habitat, rare species habitat including
rare plant species, agriculture, aquaculture and recreation values
deemed important to the community (collectively, the "wetland values
protected by this bylaw"). This bylaw is intended to utilize the Home
Rule authority of this municipality to protect additional standards
and procedures stricter than those of the Wetlands Protection Act,
MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations thereunder, 310 CMR 10.00.
[Amended 5-7-2016 ATM
by Art. 43]
Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission or as provided
in this bylaw, no person shall commence to remove, fill, dredge, build
upon, degrade, discharge into, or otherwise alter the following resource
areas: any freshwater wetlands; marshes; wet meadows; bogs; swamps;
vernal pools; banks; reservoirs; lakes; ponds of any size; creeks;
beaches; lands under water bodies; lands subject to flooding or inundation
by groundwater or surface water; lands subject to flooding; lands
within 100 feet of any of the aforesaid resource areas; perennial
rivers and streams and lands within 200 feet of such rivers and streams
(collectively the "resource areas protected by this bylaw"). Said
resource areas shall be protected whether or not they border surface
waters. Lands within 100 feet of the aforesaid resource areas and
within 200 feet of rivers or perennial streams located within the
corporate boundary of Lunenburg shall be protected regardless of the
location of the wetland with respect to the municipal corporate boundary.
A.
The permit and application required by this bylaw shall not be required
for maintaining, repairing, or replacing, but not substantially changing
or enlarging, any existing and lawfully located structure or facility
used in the service of the public to provide electric, gas, water,
telephone, telegraph or other telecommunications, provided that written
notice has been given to the Commission prior to commencement of work,
and provided that the work conforms to performance standards and design
specifications in regulations adopted by the Commission.
B.
The application and permit required by this bylaw shall not be required
for work performed for normal maintenance or improvement of land which
is lawfully in agricultural use at the time the work takes place,
provided that written notice has been given to the Commission prior
to commencement of work, and provided that the work conforms to performance
standards and design specifications in regulations adopted by the
Commission.
C.
The permit and application required by this bylaw shall not apply
to emergency projects necessary for the protection of the health or
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 a 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 Conservation
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 this 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.
D.
Other than as stated in this section, the exemptions provided in
the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations,
310 CMR 10.00, shall not apply.
A.
Written application shall be filed with the Commission to perform
activities affecting resource areas protected by this bylaw. The permit
application shall include such information and plans as are deemed
necessary by the Commission to describe proposed activities and their
effects on the resource areas protected by this bylaw. No activities
shall commence without receiving and complying with a permit issued
pursuant to this bylaw.
B.
The Commission in an appropriate case may accept as the permit application
and plans under this bylaw the notice of intent and plans filed under
the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations,
310 CMR 10.00.
C.
Any person desiring to know whether or not a proposed activity or
an area is subject to this bylaw may in writing request a determination
from the Commission. Such a request for determination (RFD) shall
include information and plans as are deemed necessary by the Commission.
D.
At the time of a permit application or RFD, or application for a
certificate of compliance, the applicant shall pay a filing fee specified
in regulations of the Commission. The fee is in addition to that required
by the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations,
310 CMR 10.00.
E.
Upon receipt of a permit application or RFD, 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. This fee is called the "consultant
fee." The specific consultant services may include, but are not limited
to, performing or verifying the accuracy of a resource area survey
and delineation, analysis of resource area functions, including wildlife
habitat evaluations, hydrogeologic and drainage analysis, and environmental
or land use law.
(1)
The Commission may waive the filing fee, consultant fee, and costs
and expenses for an application or RFD filed by a government agency.
(2)
The Commission may require the payment of the consultant fee at any
point in its deliberations prior to a final decision. 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 meetings. This revolving account
shall be authorized annually and the amount expended by the Commission
from this fund shall be limited for the ensuing fiscal year.
(3)
The exercise of discretion by the Commission in making its determination
to require the payment of a consultant fee shall be based on its reasonable
finding that additional information acquirable only through outside
consultants would be necessary for the making of an objective decision.
(4)
The Commission shall return any unused portion of the consultant
fee to the applicant unless the Commission decides at a public meeting
that other action is necessary. Any applicant aggrieved by the imposition
of, or size of, the consultant fee, or any act related thereto, may
appeal according to the provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws.
(5)
The maximum consultant fee charged to reimburse the Commission for
reasonable costs and expenses shall be according to the following
schedule:
|
Project Cost
|
Maximum Fee
| |
|---|---|---|
|
Up to $100,000
|
$500
| |
|
$100,001 to $500,000
|
$2,500
| |
|
$500,001 to $1,000,000
|
$5,000
| |
|
$1,000,001 to $1,500,000
|
$7,500
| |
|
$1,500,001 to $2,000,000
|
$10,000
|
|
Each additional $500,000 project cost increment (over $2,000,000)
shall be charged at an additional $2,500 maximum fee per increment.
|
(6)
The "project cost" means the estimated, entire cost of the project,
including, but not limited to, building construction, site preparation,
landscaping, and all site improvements. The consultant fee shall be
paid pro rata for that portion of the project applicable to those
activities within resource areas protected by this bylaw. The project
shall not be segmented to avoid being subject to the consultant fee.
The applicant shall submit estimated project costs at the Commission's
request, but the lack of such estimated project costs shall not avoid
the payment of the consultant fee.
[Amended 5-7-2016 ATM
by Art. 43]
A.
Any person filing an application or RDA with the Commission at the
same time shall give written notice thereof, by certified mail (return
receipt requested), certificate of mail or hand delivery, to all abutters
according to the most recent applicable tax list of the Assessors,
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. The notice to abutters shall enclose a copy of the permit
application or request, with plans, or shall state where copies may
be examined and obtained by abutters. An affidavit of the person providing
such notice, with a copy of the notice mailed or delivered, shall
be filed with the Commission. When a person requesting a determination
is other than the owner, the request, the notice of the hearing, and
the determination itself shall be sent by the Commission to the owner
as well as to the person making the request.
B.
The Commission shall conduct a public hearing on any application
or RDA, with written notice given at the expense of the applicant,
five business days prior to the hearing, in a newspaper of general
circulation in the municipality.
C.
The Commission shall commence the public hearing within 21 days from
receipt of a completed application or request for determination unless
an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant.
D.
The Commission shall issue its permit or determination in writing
within 21 days of the close of the public hearing thereon unless an
extension is authorized in writing by the applicant.
E.
The Commission, in an appropriate case, may combine its hearing under
this bylaw with the hearing conducted under the Wetlands Protection
Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations, 310 CMR 10.00.
F.
The Commission shall have authority to continue the hearing, with the applicant's consent written or granted verbally on the record during the course of the public hearing or meeting, to a certain date announced at the hearing, for reasons stated at the hearing, which may include receipt of additional information from the applicant or others deemed necessary by the Commission in its discretion, or comments and recommendations of boards and officials listed in § 239-6.
[Amended 5-7-2016 ATM
by Art. 43; 5-7-2022 ATM by Art. 24]
Any person filing a permit application or RDA with the Commission
shall provide written notice thereof at the same time, by certified
mail or hand delivery, to the Select Board, Planning Board, Zoning
Board of Appeals, Board of Health and Building Commissioner. The Commission
shall not take final action until such boards and officials have had
14 days from receipt of notice to file written comments and recommendations
with the Commission, which the Commission shall take into account
but which shall not be binding on the Commission. The applicant shall
have the right to receive any such comments and recommendations, and
to respond to them at a hearing of the Commission, prior to final
action.
A.
If the Commission, after a public hearing, determines that the activities
which are subject to the permit application or the land and water
uses which will result therefrom are likely to have a significant
or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by this
bylaw, the Commission, within 21 days of the close of the hearing,
shall issue or deny a permit for the activities requested. If it issues
a permit, the Commission shall impose conditions which the Commission
deems necessary or desirable to protect those values, and all activities
shall be done in accordance with those conditions. The Commission
shall take into account the cumulative adverse effects of loss, degradation,
isolation, and replication of protected resource areas throughout
the community and the watershed, resulting from past activities permitted
and exempt, and foreseeable future activities.
B.
The Commission is empowered to deny a permit for failure to meet
the requirements of this bylaw; for failure to submit necessary information
and plans requested by the Commission; for failure to meet the design
specifications, performance standards, and other requirements in regulations
of the Commission; for failure to avoid or prevent unacceptable significant
or cumulative effects upon the resource area values protected by this
bylaw, and where no conditions are adequate to protect those values.
Due consideration shall be given to any demonstrated hardship on the
applicant by reason of denial, as presented at the public hearing.
C.
Lands within 100 feet of specific resource areas, and within 200
feet of rivers and streams, are presumed important to the protection
of these resources because activities undertaken in close proximity
to wetlands and other resources have a high likelihood of adverse
impacts upon them, either immediately as a consequence of construction,
or over time as a consequence of daily operation or existence of the
activities. These adverse impacts from construction and use can include,
without limitation, erosion, siltation, loss of groundwater recharge,
poor water quality, and loss of wildlife habitat. The Commission therefore
may require that the applicant maintain a strip of continuous, undisturbed
vegetative cover within the aforesaid one-hundred-foot or two-hundred-foot
area, unless the applicant convinces the Commission that the area
or part of it may be disturbed without harm to the values protected
by the bylaw.
D.
In the case of areas within 200 feet of rivers and streams, no permit
issued hereunder shall permit any activities unless the applicant,
in addition to meeting the otherwise applicable requirements of this
bylaw, has proved by a preponderance of evidence that (1) there is
no practicable alternative to the proposed project with less adverse
impacts, and, as well, should there be no such practicable alternative,
(2) such activities, including proposed mitigation measures, will
have no significant adverse impact on the areas or values protected
by this bylaw. The Commission shall regard as practicable an alternative
which is reasonably available and capable of being done after taking
into consideration the proposed property use, overall project purposes,
logistics, existing technology, costs of the alternatives, and overall
project costs.
E.
To prevent wetlands loss, the Commission shall require applicants
to avoid wetlands alteration wherever feasible, shall minimize wetlands
alteration and, where alteration is unavoidable, shall require full
mitigation. The Commission may authorize or require replication of
wetlands as a form of mitigation, but only with adequate security,
professional design, and monitoring to assure success, because of
the high likelihood of failure of replication.
F.
A permit shall expire three years from the date of issuance. Notwithstanding
the above, the Commission in its discretion may issue a permit expiring
five years from the date of issuance for recurring or continuous maintenance
work, provided that annual notification of time and location of work
is given to the Commission. The Commission may extend a permit or
a previous extension for an additional period of no greater than three
years per extension. Any permit may be renewed once for an additional
one-year period, provided that a request for a renewal is received
in writing by the Commission prior to expiration. Notwithstanding
the above, a permit may contain requirements which shall be enforceable
for a stated number of years, indefinitely, or until permanent protection
is in place, and shall apply to all owners of the land.
[Amended 5-7-2016 ATM
by Art. 43]
H.
No work proposed in any permit application shall be undertaken until
the permit 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
certifies in writing to the Commission that the permit has been recorded.
[Amended 5-7-2016 ATM
by Art. 43]
After public notice and public hearing, the Commission shall
promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this
bylaw. 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 bylaw. At a minimum,
these regulations shall define key terms in this bylaw not inconsistent
with the bylaw and procedures governing the amount and filing of fees.
The Conservation Commission will establish a draft of proposed changes
during regular, properly posted open meetings. Once there is consensus
on the proposed changes, a formal hearing will be scheduled and will
take place over two regularly scheduled meetings. Both hearings will
be televised. A notice of the hearings will be put in a local newspaper
at least five business days prior to the hearing dates. At the discretion
of the Conservation Commission, the hearing may be continued to the
next consecutive open, regularly scheduled meeting. Once the hearing
is closed, the final changes will be drafted and voted on. The proposed
and approved changes will be posted on the Commission's Town website.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and implementation of this bylaw:
Includes, without limitation, the following:
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand, gravel, or aggregate
materials of any kind.
Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics, flushing characteristics,
salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow patterns, or flood
retention characteristics.
Drainage or other disturbance of water level or water table.
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material which may
degrade water quality.
Placing of fill, or removal of material, which would alter elevation.
Driving of piles, erection or repair of buildings, or structures
of any kind.
Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
Destruction of plant life, including cutting of trees.
Changing water temperature, biochemical oxygen demand, or other
physical, biological, or chemical characteristics of water.
Any activities, changes or work which may cause or tend to contribute
to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
Application of pesticides or herbicides.
Incremental activities which have, or may have, a cumulative
adverse impact on the resource areas protected by this bylaw.
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 slope or
the mean annual flood level, whichever is higher.
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, administrative agency, public or quasi-public corporation
or body, this municipality, and any other legal entity, its legal
representatives, agents or assigns.
Includes, without limitation, all vertebrate and invertebrate
animal and plant species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special
concern by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, regardless
of whether the site in which they occur has been previously identified
by the Division.
Includes a confined basin depression which, at least in most
years, holds water for a minimum of two continuous months during the
spring and/or summer, and which is free of adult fish populations,
as well as the area within 100 feet of the mean annual boundary of
such a depression, regardless of whether the site has been certified
by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.
As part of a permit issued under this bylaw, in addition to
any security required by any other municipal or state board, agency
or official, the Commission may require that the performance and observance
of the conditions imposed thereunder (including conditions requiring
mitigation work) be secured wholly or in part by one or more of the
methods described below:
A.
By a proper bond or deposit of money or negotiable securities or
other undertaking of financial responsibility sufficient, in the opinion
of the Commission, to be released in whole or in part upon issuance
of a certificate of compliance for work performed pursuant to the
permit.
B.
By accepting a conservation restriction, easement or other covenant
enforceable in a court of law, executed and duly recorded by the owner
of record, running with the land to the benefit of this municipality
whereby the permit conditions shall be performed and observed before
any lot may be conveyed other than by mortgage deed. This method shall
be used only with the consent of the applicant.
A.
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, or otherwise
alter resource areas protected by this 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 this bylaw.
B.
The Commission, its agents, officers, and employees shall have authority
to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing their
duties under this 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.
C.
The Commission shall have authority to enforce this bylaw, its regulations,
and permits issued thereunder by violation notices, administrative
orders, and civil and criminal court actions. Any person who violates
provisions of this bylaw may be ordered to restore the property to
its original condition and take other action deemed necessary to remedy
such violations, or may be fined, or both.
D.
Upon request of the Commission, the Select Board and the Town Counsel
shall take legal action for enforcement under civil law. Upon request
of the Commission, the Chief of Police shall take legal action for
enforcement under criminal law.
[Amended 5-7-2022 ATM by Art. 24]
E.
Municipal boards and officers, including any police officer or other
officer having police powers, shall have authority to assist the Commission
in enforcement.
F.
Any person who violates any provision of this bylaw, or permits or
administrative orders issued thereunder, shall be punished by a fine
of up to $300. Each day or portion thereof during which a violation
continues shall constitute a separate offense, and each provision
of the bylaw, regulations, permits, or administrative orders 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.
The applicant for a permit shall have the burden of proving
by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the work proposed
in the application will not have unacceptable significant or cumulative
effect upon the wetland values protected by this 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.
A decision of the Commission shall be reviewable in the Superior
Court in accordance with MGL c. 249, § 4.
This bylaw is adopted under the Home Rule Amendment of the Massachusetts
Constitution and the Home Rule statutes, independent of the Wetlands
Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and regulations thereunder,
310 CMR 10.00.
The invalidity of any section or provision of this bylaw shall
not invalidate any other section or provision thereof, nor shall it
invalidate any permit or determination which previously has been issued.
