[MassHistPres] Fwd: Public Hearing Deadlines

[Steve & Diane Derby]

I received the reply at the bottom.  At the top is my reply - wanted to 
share in case others are interested in this issue.      Diane

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Steve & Diane Derby <derby01 at comcast.net>
> Date: October 5, 2006 9:59:01 PM EDT
> To: stylisz at aol.com
> Subject: Re: Public Hearing Deadlines
>
> Historic Districts are required by state law to act on an application 
> within 60 days of applying, unless a written extension is provided by 
> the applicant.  We are, of course, very careful to require those 
> extensions so that we don't have any applications being approved by 
> default.  The 60 day deadline is very frequently not enough time for 
> all the material to be gathered and discussions held.  So for that 
> reason and the fact that the deadline can be extended at the request 
> of the applicant, the 60 day deadline does no address the question I 
> posed.  I will check, but I don't think our commission is under any 
> other town deadlines.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts.
>
> Diane Derby
>
> On Oct 5, 2006, at 9:24 PM, stylisz at aol.com wrote:
>
>>  You might want to check and see if your local town or zoning bylaws 
>> impose a deadline by which your Commission has to vote on the 
>> application, or else it becomes automatically approved.  It may be 
>> that the deadline is imposed on the Historic District Commission, not 
>> the applicant, in which case you might want to take your vote using 
>> the best available information before your deadline expires.
>>  
>> In a recent incident in our town (Westborough), a local dentist 
>> applied to replace aluminum with vinyl siding, even though the zoning 
>> bylaws for the property specifically prohibited vinyl siding.  The 
>> dentist appealed to the Zoning Board of Appeals. 
>>  
>> Unfortunately, the ZBA's hearings kept getting postponed and 
>> continued - several times at the applicant's legitimate request - 
>> until after the deadline expired. 
>>  
>> Even though there was no question that several of the delays were 
>> caused by the applicant, the local zoning enforcement officer then 
>> ruled that the deadline had passed and so the applicant's request to 
>> use vinyl siding was automatically approved.  The ZBA and other local 
>> preservation groups were not happy, but there wasn't anything they 
>> could do since the town bylaw provided for automatic approval in the 
>> ZBA or commission didn't act in a timely fashion.
>>  
>> Stan Tyliszczak
>> former member, Westborough Historical Commission
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>
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