Source: https://www.ecode360.com/31313899
Timestamp: 2020-02-28 19:37:38
Document Index: 28378872

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 29', '§ 40', '§ 40', '§ 40', '§ 53', '§ 196', '§ 40', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 196', '§ 1', '§ 40', '§ 21', '§ 21', '§ 1', '§ 40']

Town of Randolph, MA Wetlands
§ 196-2 Prohibited uses.
§ 196-3 Permitted uses.
§ 196-4 Variances.
§ 196-5 Notice and hearings.
§ 196-6 Coordination with other boards.
§ 196-7 Permits and conditions.
§ 196-8 Regulations.
§ 196-9 Definitions.
§ 196-10 Security.
§ 196-11 Enforcement.
§ 196-12 Burden of proof.
§ 196-13 Appeals.
§ 196-14 Relation to the Wetlands Protection Act.
Chapter 196 Wetlands
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town of Randolph 4-18-1995 ATM by Art. 8, approved 10-27-1995; amended 5-26-2009 ATM by Art. 29. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this ordinance is to protect the wetlands, water resources, flood prone areas, and adjoining upland areas in the Town of Randolph by controlling activities deemed by the Conservation Commission likely to have a significant or cumulative effect on resource area values, including but not limited to the following: public or private water supply, groundwater supply, flood control, erosion and sedimentation control, storm damage prevention including water quality, prevention and control of pollution, fisheries, wildlife habitat, rare species habitat including rare plant and animal species, agriculture, aquaculture, and recreation values, deemed important to the community (collectively, the "resource area values protected by this ordinance").
This ordinance is intended to utilize the Home Rule authority of this municipality so as to protect the resource areas under the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40; the Act) to a greater degree, to protect additional resource areas beyond the Act recognized by the Town as significant, to protect all resource areas for their additional values beyond those recognized in the Act, and to impose in local regulations and permits additional standards and procedures stricter than those of the Act and regulations thereunder (310 CMR 10.00), subject, however, to the rights and benefits accorded to agricultural uses and structures of all kinds under the laws of the Commonwealth and other relevant ordinances of the Town of Randolph.
Except as permitted by the Conservation Commission no person shall commence to remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, discharge into, or otherwise alter the following resource areas: any wetlands, marshes, wet meadows, bogs, swamps, vernal pools, springs, banks, reservoirs, lakes, ponds of any size, land under water bodies; intermittent streams, brooks and creeks; lands adjoining these resource areas out to a distance of one hundred (100) feet, known as the buffer zone; perennial rivers, streams, brooks and creeks; lands adjoining these resource areas out to a distance of two hundred (200) feet, known as the riverfront area; lands subject to flooding or inundation by groundwater or surface water; and lands subject to flooding (collectively the "resource areas protected by this ordinance"). Said resource areas shall be protected whether or not they border surface waters.
The jurisdiction of this ordinance shall not extend to uses and structures of agriculture that enjoy the rights and privileges of laws and regulations of the Commonwealth governing agriculture, including work performed for normal maintenance or improvement of land in agricultural or aquacultural uses as defined by the Wetlands Protection Act regulations, found at 310 CMR 10.04.
The applications and permits required by this ordinance shall not be required for work performed for normal maintenance or improvement of land in agricultural and aquacultural use as defined by the Wetlands Protection Act regulations at 310 CMR 10.04.
The applications and permits required by this ordinance shall not be required for maintaining, repairing, or replacing, but not substantially changing or enlarging, an existing and lawfully located structure or facility used in the service of the public to provide electric, gas, water, telephone, telegraph, or other telecommunication services, provided that written notice has been given to the Conservation Commission prior to commencement of work, and provided that the work conforms to any performance standards and design specifications in regulations adopted by the Commission.
The applications and permits required by this ordinance 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 a political subdivision thereof; provided that advance notice, oral or written, has been given to the Commission prior to commencement of work or within twenty-four (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 twenty-one (21) days of commencement of an emergency project a permit application shall be filed with the Commission for review as provided by this ordinance. 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.
Other than stated in this ordinance, the exceptions provided in the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and regulations (310 CMR 10.00) shall not apply under this ordinance.
Written application shall be filed with the Conservation Commission to perform activities affecting resource areas protected by this ordinance. 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 ordinance. No activities shall commence without receiving and complying with a permit issued pursuant to this ordinance.
The Commission in an appropriate case may accept as the application and plans under this ordinance any application and plans filed under the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and regulations (310 CMR 10.00), but the Commission is not obliged to do so.
Any person desiring to know whether or not a proposed activity or an area is subject to this ordinance may in writing request a determination from the Commission. Such a Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) or Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD) filed under the Act shall include information and plans as are deemed necessary by the Commission.
At the time of an application, 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 and regulations.
Pursuant to MGL c. 44, § 53G and regulations promulgated by the Commission, the Commission may impose reasonable fees upon applicants for the purpose of securing outside consultants including engineers, wetlands scientists, wildlife biologists or other experts in order to aid in the review of proposed projects. Such funds shall be deposited with the Town treasurer, who shall create an account specifically for this purpose. Additional consultant fees may be requested where the requisite review is more expensive than originally calculated or where new information requires additional consultant services.
Only costs relating to consultant work done in connection with a project for which a consultant fee has been collected shall be paid from this account, and expenditures may be made at the sole discretion of the Commission. Any consultant hired under this provision shall be selected by, and report exclusively to, the Commission. The Commission shall provide applicants with written notice of the selection of a consultant, identifying the consultant, the amount of the fee to be charged to the applicant, and a request for payment of that fee. Notice shall be deemed to have been given on the date it is mailed or delivered.
The applicant may withdraw the application or request within five (5) business days of the date notice is given without incurring any costs or expenses.
The entire fee must be received before the initiation of consulting services. Failure by the applicant to pay the requested consultant fee within ten (10) business days of the request for payment shall be cause for the Commission to declare the application administratively incomplete and deny the permit without prejudice, except in the case of an appeal. The Commission shall inform the applicant and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) of such a decision in writing.
The applicant may appeal the selection of an outside consultant to the Town Council, who may disqualify the consultant only on the grounds that the consultant has a conflict of interest or is not properly qualified. The minimum qualifications shall consist of either an educational degree or three (3) or more years of practice in the field at issue, or a related field. The applicant shall make such an appeal in writing, and must be received within ten (10) business days of the date that request for consultant fees was made by the Commission. Such appeal shall extend the applicable time limits for action upon the application.
Any person filing a permit or other application or RDA or ANRAD or other request with the Conservation Commission at the same time shall give written notice thereof, by certified mail (return receipt requested) or hand delivered, to all abutters at their mailing addresses shown on the most recent applicable tax list of the Assessors, including owners of land directly opposite on any public or private street or way, and abutters to the abutters within three hundred (300) feet of the property line of the applicant, including any in another municipality or across a body of water. The notice shall state a brief description of the project or other proposal and the date of any Commission hearing or meeting date if known. The notice to abutters also shall include a copy of the 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.
The Commission shall conduct a public hearing on any permit application, RDA, or ANRAD with written notice given at the expense of the applicant, at least five (5) business days prior to the hearing, in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. The Commission shall commence the public hearing within twenty-one (21) days from receipt of a completed permit application, RDA, or ANRAD unless an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant. The Commission shall have authority to continue the hearing to a specific date announced at the hearing, for reasons stated at the hearing, which may include the need for additional information from the applicant or others as deemed necessary by the Commission in its discretion, based on comments and recommendations of the Boards and officials listed in § 196-6.
The Commission shall issue its permit, other order or determination in writing within twenty-one (21) days of the close of the public hearing thereon unless an extension is authorized in writing by the applicant. The Commission in an appropriate case may combine its hearing under this ordinance with the hearing conducted under the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and regulations (310 CMR 10.00).
Any person filing a permit application, RDA, or ANRAD with the Conservation Commission shall provide a copy thereof at the same time, by certified mail (return receipt requested) or hand delivery, to the Town Council, Planning Board, Board of Appeals, Board of Health, Town Engineer, and Building Inspector. A copy shall be provided in the same manner to the Commission of the adjoining municipality, if the application or RDA pertains to property within three hundred (300) feet of that municipality. An affidavit of the person providing notice, with a copy of the notice mailed or delivered, shall be filed with the Commission. The Commission shall not take final action until the above boards and officials have had fourteen (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 comments and recommendations, and to respond to them at a hearing of the Commission, prior to final action.
If the Conservation 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 individual or cumulative effect on the resource area values protected by this ordinance, the Commission, within twenty-one (21) days of the close of the hearing, shall issue or deny a permit for the activities requested. The Commission shall take into account the extent to which the applicant has avoided, minimized and mitigated any such effect. The Commission also shall take into account any loss, degradation, isolation, and replacement or replication of such protected resource areas elsewhere in the community and the watershed, resulting from past activities, whether permitted, unpermitted or exempt, and foreseeable future activities.
If it issues a permit, the Commission shall impose conditions which the Commission deems necessary or desirable to protect said resource area values, and all activities shall be conducted in accordance with those conditions. Where no conditions are adequate to protect said resource area values, the Commission is empowered to deny a permit for failure to meet the requirements of this ordinance. It may also deny a permit: for failure to submit necessary information and plans requested by the Commission; for failure to comply with the procedures, design specifications, performance standards, and other requirements in regulations of the Commission; or for failure to avoid, minimize or mitigate unacceptable significant or cumulative effects upon the resource area values protected by this ordinance. Due consideration shall be given to any demonstrated hardship on the applicant by reason of denial, as presented at the public hearing. The Commission may waive specifically identified and requested procedures, design specifications, performance standards, or other requirements set forth in its regulations, provided that: the Commission finds in writing after said public hearing that there are no reasonable conditions or alternatives that would allow the proposed activity to proceed in compliance with said regulations; that avoidance, minimization and mitigation have been employed to the maximum extent feasible; and that the waiver is necessary to accommodate an overriding public interest or to avoid a decision that so restricts the use of the property as to constitute an unconstitutional taking without compensation.
In reviewing activities within the buffer zone, the Commission shall presume the buffer zone is important to the protection of other resource areas because activities undertaken in close proximity have a high likelihood of adverse impact, 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 may establish, in its regulations, design specifications, performance standards, and other measures and safeguards, including setbacks, no-disturb areas, no-build areas, and other work limits for protection of such lands, including without limitation strips of continuous, undisturbed vegetative cover, unless the applicant convinces the Commission that the area or part of it may be disturbed without harm to the values protected by the ordinance.
In reviewing activities within the riverfront area, the Commission shall presume the riverfront area is important to all the resource area values unless demonstrated otherwise, and no permit issued hereunder shall permit any activities unless the applicant, in addition to meeting the otherwise applicable requirements of this ordinance, has proved by a preponderance of the evidence that (1) there is no practicable alternative to the proposed project with less adverse effects, and that (2) such activities, including proposed mitigation measures, will have no significant adverse impact on the areas or values protected by this ordinance. 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 purpose (e.g., residential, institutional, commercial, or industrial), logistics, existing technology, costs of the alternatives, and overall project costs.
To prevent resource area loss, the Commission shall require applicants to avoid alteration wherever feasible; to minimize alteration; and, where alteration is unavoidable and has been minimized, to provide full mitigation. The Commission may authorize or require replication of wetlands as a form of mitigation, but only with specific plans, professional design, proper safeguards, adequate security, and professional monitoring and reporting to assure success, because of the high likelihood of failure of replication.
The Commission may require a wildlife habitat study of the project area, to be paid for by the applicant, whenever it deems appropriate, regardless the type of resource area or the amount or type of alteration proposed. The decision shall be based upon the Commission's estimation of the importance of the habitat area considering (but not limited to) such factors as proximity to other areas suitable for wildlife, importance of wildlife "corridors" in the area, or actual or possible presence of rare plant or animal species in the area. The work shall be performed by an individual who at least meets the qualifications set out in the wildlife habitat section of the Wetlands Protection Act regulations (310 CMR 10.60).
The Commission shall presume that all areas meeting the definition of "vernal pools" under § 196-9 of this be overcome only by the presentation of credible evidence which, in the judgment of the Commission, demonstrates that the basin or depression does not provide essential habitat functions. Any formal evaluation should be performed by an individual who at least meets the qualifications under the wildlife habitat section of the Wetlands Protection Act regulations.
A permit, Determination of Applicability (DOA), or Order of Resource Area Delineation (ORAD) shall expire three (3) years from the date of issuance. Notwithstanding the above, the Commission in its discretion may issue a permit expiring five (5) 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. 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 identify requirements which shall be enforceable for a stated number of years, indefinitely, or until permanent protection is in place, and shall apply to all present and future owners of the land.
For good cause the Commission may revoke any permit, DOA, or ORAD or any other order, determination or other decision issued under this ordinance after notice to the holder, the public, abutters, and Town boards, pursuant to § 196-5 and § 196-6, and after a public hearing.
Amendments to permits, DOAs, or ORADs shall be handled in the manner set out in the Wetlands Protection Act regulations and policies thereunder.
The Commission in an appropriate case may combine the decision issued under this ordinance with the permit, DOA, ORAD, or Certificate of Compliance (COC) issued under the Wetlands Protection Act and regulations.
No work proposed in any application shall be undertaken until the permit, or ORAD 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 document has been recorded. If the applicant fails to perform such recording, the Commission may record the documents itself and require the Applicant to furnish the recording fee therefor, either at the time of recording or as a condition precedent to the issuance of a COC.
After public notice and public hearing, the Conservation Commission shall promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this ordinance, effective when voted and filed with the Town Clerk.
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 ordinance. At a minimum these regulations shall reiterate the terms defined in this ordinance, define additional terms not inconsistent with the ordinance, and impose filing and consultant fees and penalties for noncompliance.
The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation of this ordinance.
Shall refer to the definition as provided by MGL c. 128, § 1A.
Includes, without limitation, the following activities when undertaken to, upon, within or affecting resource areas protected by this ordinance:
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.
Driving of piles, erection, expansion or repair of buildings, or structures of any kind.
Destruction of plant life including cutting or trimming of trees and shrubs
Any activities, changes, or work which may cause or tend to contribute to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
Incremental activities which have, or may have, a cumulative adverse impact on the resource areas protected by this ordinance.
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 ordinances, administrative agency, public or quasi-public corporation or body, this municipality, and any other legal entity, its legal representatives, agents, or assigns.
Shall follow the definition of 310 CMR 10.04 except that the size threshold of ten thousand (10,000) square feet shall not apply.
Includes, without limitation, all vertebrate and invertebrate animals and all plant species listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, regardless whether the site in which they occur has been previously identified by the Division.
Includes, in addition to scientific definitions found in the regulations under the Wetlands Protection Act, any confined basin or depression not occurring in existing lawns, gardens, landscaped areas or driveways which, at least in most years, holds water for a minimum of two (2) continuous months during the spring and/or summer, contains at least two hundred (200) cubic feet of water at some time during most years, is free of adult predatory fish populations, and provides essential breeding and rearing habitat functions for amphibian, reptile or other vernal pool community species, regardless of whether the site has been certified by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The boundary of the resource area for vernal pools shall be the mean annual high-water line defining the depression.
Except as otherwise provided in this ordinance or in associated regulations of the Conservation Commission, the definitions of terms and the procedures in this ordinance shall be as set forth in the Wetlands Protection Act (MGL c. 131, § 40) and regulations (310 CMR 10.00).
As part of a permit issued under this ordinance, in addition to any security required by any other municipal or state board, agency, or official, the Conservation 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 (1) or both of the methods described below:
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.
No person shall remove, fill, dredge, build upon, degrade, or otherwise alter resource areas protected by this ordinance, 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 ordinance.
The Conservation Commission, its agents, officers, and employees shall have authority to enter upon privately owned land for the purpose of performing their duties under this ordinance 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 this ordinance, its regulations, and permits issued thereunder by letters, phone calls, electronic communication and other informal methods, violation notices, non-criminal citations under MGL c. 40, § 21D, and civil and criminal court actions. Any person who violates provisions of this deemed necessary to remedy such violations, or may be fined, or both.
Upon request of the Commission, the Town Council and 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.
Any person who violates any provision of this ordinance, or regulations, permits, or administrative orders issued thereunder, shall be punished by a fine in accordance with the Fine Schedule.[1] 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 ordinance, 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 with specific penalties pursuant to the non-criminal disposition procedure set forth in MGL c. 40, § 21D, which has been adopted by the Town in § 1-9 of the Town's General Ordinances.
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 unacceptable significant or cumulative effect upon the resource area values protected by this ordinance. Failure to provide adequate evidence to the Conservation Commission supporting this burden shall be sufficient cause for the Commission to deny a permit or grant a permit with conditions.
This ordinance 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 (310 CMR 10.00) thereunder. It is the intention of this ordinance that the purposes, jurisdiction, authority, exemptions, regulations, specifications, standards, and other requirements shall be interpreted and administered as stricter than those under the Wetlands Protection Act and regulations.