§ 189-5. Special permit regulations.

A. 

Authority and jurisdiction. These rules and regulations are established and promulgated by the Selectmen of Great Barrington pursuant to the provisions of MGL c. 40A, § 9, as amended; Chapter 593 of the Acts of 1989, and § 171-40 of the Great Barrington Code, and are intend to augment and complement said statutes and the Great Barrington Code.

B. 

When effective. These rules and regulations shall take effect upon a majority vote of the Selectmen after a public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in Great Barrington, said advertisement to be published not less than seven days before the public hearing. They shall apply with the force of law to all special permit applications filed on or after the date of said vote.

C. 

Applications.

(1) 

Applications for special permits shall be filed with the Town Clerk on either Form SP-1 (short form) or SP-2 (long form) as determined by the Town's Inspector of Buildings. At least one complete copy, including all maps, plans and other documentation, shall be on sheets no larger than 11 by 14 inches.

(a) 

The long form (SP-2) shall be used for any special permit application under the following subsections of Chapter 171-16 of the Great Barrington Code.

[1] 

Subsection A(5), Housing for the elderly.

[2] 

Subsection A(7), Trailer or mobile home parks.

[3] 

Subsection A(8), Planned unit residential development.

[4] 

Subsection A(9), Cluster development.

[5] 

Subsection B(2)(b), Private schools and other educational uses, including group residences not regulated in Subsection B(2)(a).

[6] 

Subsection B(7), Hospitals, sanitariums, nursing or convalescent homes, etc.

[7] 

Subsection B(8), Golf or country clubs.

[8] 

Subsection B(9), Commercial amusements.

[9] 

Subsection B(10), Riding stables.

[10] 

Subsection B(11), Ski tows.

[11] 

Subsection B(12), Summer camps (not less than 10 acres).

[12] 

Subsection B(13), Camping facilities.

[13] 

Subsection C(7), Motels or overnight cabins for automobile tourists.

[14] 

Subsection C(8), Hotels.

[15] 

Subsection C(11), Public garages.

[16] 

Subsection C(12), Gasoline service stations.

[17] 

Subsection C(13), Lumberyards and fuel storage and sales, excluding gasoline stations.

[18] 

Subsection C(16), Institutional administrative offices or professional offices (if in R2/R4 Districts, special requirements exist).

[19] 

Subsection E(1), Aviation fields, public or private.

[20] 

Subsection E(2), Freight terminals, truck or rail.

[21] 

Subsection E(7), Nonmunicipal water towers, reservoirs, water pumping stations or treatment plants.

[22] 

Subsection F(1), Contractor's yard.

[23] 

Subsection F(2), Gravel, loam, sand and gravel pits.

[24] 

Subsection F(3), Light manufacturing.

[25] 

Subsection F(4), Sawmills and manufacturing of forest products (special provisions).

(b) 

All other special permit applications may be filed on Form SP-1 (short form) unless the Inspector of Buildings or the Special Permit Granting Authority (SPGA), by majority vote, requires the filing of Form SP-2 (long form). Applications may be submitted to the Inspector of Buildings or a representative of the SPGA for review before filing with the Town Clerk.

(2) 

Elevation contours on plans submitted with any application filed under § 171-16F(2) shall be at intervals of no more than two feet. Elevation contours on plans submitted with all other special permit applications may be at intervals of 10 feet, unless the SPGA shall require otherwise.

(3) 

All plans submitted with special permit applications shall be drawn to scale and signed, sealed and dated by an engineer registered in Massachusetts.

(a) 

Specific scales on drawings and plans shall be as follows:

[1] 

Site plan, parking plan, landscaping plan and drainage plan: one inch shall equal 40 feet.

[2] 

Separate plan showing general characteristics of land: one inch shall equal a maximum of 100 feet.

(b) 

Separate scaled drawing of the fully constructed building or change to the existing building shall be submitted.

(4) 

Every application for a special permit shall be accompanied by a drainage plan demonstrating that all drainage is either accommodated on the property or directed to a drainage system approved by the SPGA. If post-development flows off the property will differ in any way from predevelopment flows, the drainage system shall be designed by a civil engineer registered in Massachusetts and shall be reviewed and approved by the Town's consulting engineer at the applicant's expense as provided by Subsection D of this section.

(5) 

Every application for a special permit shall be accompanied by a parking plan showing the specific locations of an adequate number of off-street parking and loading places to comply with the provisions of Chapter 171, Zoning, Article VIII, Off-Street Parking and Loading, of the Great Barrington Code and any additional requirements of the SPGA. Each parking space on the plan shall be numbered. Designated loading areas, employee parking and handicapped parking shall be labeled as such.

(6) 

If requested by the Planning Board, an application for special permit shall be accompanied by a landscaping plan satisfactory to that Board, and the Planning Board shall certify in writing to the SPGA its approval of the plan before the SPGA acts on the application. Shall a continuance of the hearing be necessary to complete and certify such plan, it may be granted by the SPGA upon request of the Planning Board.

(7) 

In the event that a continuance of the special permit hearing or decision beyond the statutory time limit of 155 days from the date of application is required for the purpose of completing any plan to the satisfaction of the SPGA, the Planning Board or any other Town board or official, the applicant and the SPGA may agree in writing to such continuance under the provisions of § 171-44B of the Great Barrington Code. Failure of the applicant to agree to such continuance shall be prima facie evidence that the applicant is not in compliance with all provisions and requirements of Chapter 171 of the Code as required by § 171-45B(1) and shall be grounds for rejection of the special permit application.

D. 

Schedule of fees.

(1) 

The minimum filing fee for a special permit shall be $100. No special permit application shall be accepted without payment in full of the required filing fee. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the SPGA shall be empowered to waive all or part of any fee for applications submitted by municipal or charitable organizations.

(2) 

Employment of experts or consultants.

(a) 

All reasonable costs approved by the majority vote of the SPGA as necessary for the employment of experts or consultants by any board, agency or official of the Town for the purpose of analyzing or evaluating any project that is the subject of a special permit application shall be assessed to the applicant and shall constitute part of the filing fee. Such costs shall be determined to the satisfaction of the SPGA on the basis of estimates from professionals such as civil engineers, traffic engineers, hydrologists, botanists and the like, as well as the experience of Town boards, departments, agencies and officials derived from similar projects.

(b) 

Upon determination by the SPGA of the moneys required for evaluation or analysis, the SPGA shall notify the applicant in writing, by first-class mail, postage prepaid, of the consultant or the consultants chosen to evaluate the project and the fees required for such evaluation. The SPGA shall notify all other parties in interest by first-class mail, postage-prepaid, of the nature of the evaluation and the choice of consultant.

(c) 

All required fees shall be paid by the applicant to the Town within 10 business days of receipt of such notification. Payment shall be by a check certified by a bank doing business in Massachusetts or issued by such a bank. For the purpose of this section, receipt of notification shall be construed to be two business days after the date of written notification to the applicant, or the postmark thereon, if such postmark is a later date.

(d) 

In the event additional evaluation of the project is requested by any board, agency or official of the Town after the initial deposit of funds, and if such additional evaluation is approved by a majority vote of the SPGA, the SPGA shall determine the additional moneys required and shall require those amounts to be paid to the Town.

(e) 

The SPGA shall notify the applicant in writing, by first-class mail, postage prepaid, of the consultant or consultants chosen and the fees required for such additional evaluation. The SPGA shall notify all other parties in interest by first-class mail, postage prepaid of the nature of the additional evaluation and the choice of consultant.

(f) 

Such additional fees shall be paid within 10 business days of receipt of notification by the application. Payment shall be by a check certified by a bank doing business in Massachusetts or issued by such a bank. For the purpose of this section, receipt of notification shall be construed to be two business days after the date of written notification to the applicant or the postmark thereon, if such postmark is a later date.

(3) 

Establishment of special account.

(a) 

All fees paid under the provisions of Subsection D(2) shall be deposited in a special account established by the Town Treasurer in the Town Treasury and shall be kept separate and apart from other moneys. The special account, including accrued interest, if any, shall be expended at the direction of the SPGA without further appropriation; provided, however, that such funds shall be expended only in connection with carrying out the responsibilities of such SPGA under law.

(b) 

Any excess amount in the account attributable to a specific project, including any accrued interest at the completion of said project shall be repaid to the applicant or to the applicant's successor in interest, and a final report of said account shall be made available to the applicant or to the applicant's successor in interest. For the purposes of this regulation, a project shall be deemed complete upon issuance of a final certificate of occupancy by the Inspector of Buildings or, if no certificate of occupancy is required, by written certification by the Inspector of Buildings that the project has been completed to his satisfaction.

(c) 

The Town Accountant shall submit annually to the Selectmen a report of such special account for their review. Said report shall be published in the Annual Town Report, and the Town Accountant shall submit a copy of same annually to the Director of the Bureau of Accounts.

(4) 

Failure or refusal to pay any fee assessed to the applicant by the SPGA, acting under the provisions of this regulation, shall be grounds for summary denial of the special permit application under the provisions of §§ 171-40 and 171-41 of the Great Barrington Code.

E. 

Administrative appeal.

(1) 

In the event any party in interest in a special permit proceeding is dissatisfied with any consultant selected by any board, agency or official of the Town to analyze or evaluate any project that is the subject of said permit application, that person may file with the Selectmen a written appeal of the selection.

(2) 

Any such appeal shall be accompanied by a filing fee of $50 and shall be filed within 10 business days of the appellant's receipt of notification of the selection of the consultant. For the purpose of this section, receipt of notification shall be construed to be two business days after the date of written notification or the postmark thereon if said postmark is a later date.

(3) 

Any appeal filed under this section shall be administrative in nature and shall be limited in its grounds to claims that the consultant selected has a conflict of interest or does not possess minimum qualifications consisting of an educational degree in or related to the field at issue or three or more years of practice in the field at issue or a related field.

(4) 

The required time limits for action by the SPGA on the special permit application that is the subject of any such appeal shall be extended by the duration of the administrative appeal. In the event that no decision is made by the Selectmen within the one month following the filing of the appeal, the selection of the consultant shall stand.

(5) 

Such an administrative appeal shall not preclude further judicial review, if otherwise permitted by law, on the grounds provided for in this section.

F. 

Severability. The invalidity of any section or provision of these rules and regulations shall not invalidate any other section or provision thereof, nor shall it invalidate any special permit previously issued, not proceeding previously conducted thereunder.

G. 

Filing of record of proceedings and order of conditions. The Town Manager shall file the order of conditions and the record of proceedings on any special permit with the Town Clerk within 30 days following the Board of Selectmen's vote approving or denying the special permit.