[MassHistPres] Public Hearing Notification Practices

Tue Jun 19 09:55:10 EDT 2012

Here are some compiled responses from previous masshistpres posters.
Chris.

The commission shall fix a reasonable time for the hearing on any
application and shall give public notice of the time, place and purposes
thereof at least fourteen days before said hearing in such manner as it may
determine, and by mailing, postage prepaid, a copy of said notice to the
applicant, to the owners of all adjoining property and other property deemed
by the commission to be materially affected thereby as they appear on the
most recent real estate tax list of the board of assessors, to the planning
board of the city or town, to any person filing written request for notice
of hearings, such request to be renewed yearly in December, and to such
other persons as the commission shall deem entitled to notice. 

***************************

ACTON

The Acton HDC notifies abutters in the same manner--directly adjoining, or
across the street.   This minimal amount of notification was chosen in order
to minimize the work load for the commissioners, as there is no staff
assistance for the commission.  While the Planning Board and other town
bodies send notices to a wider range of abutters, they require the
applicants to do it.  When the Acton commission was formed in the early
1990s, we were strongly urged to put as small a burden on applicants as
possible--hence the policy of having the commission itself send out the
notices.

ANDOVER

The BallardVale Historic District Commission (in Andover) operates as 

follows...

For Public Hearings:  Our secretary at Town Hall obtains a certified list of
abutters from the Assessor's Office, and mails them a notice two weeks in
advance of PH.  That includes all directly adjoining abutters, as well as
those across the street.  She also posts in the newspaper for 2 weeks in
advance, posts one in Town hall, and about one 

week before our meeting, she posts our agenda (which lists all PH's, PM's
and new Applications) on the town website (there's a link to click on).
Here's the website if you want to check it out...   http://andoverma.gov/
At the bottom of the page you'll see Meeting Agendas - look at the bottom of
the list for our link.

For Public Meetings (PH has been waived):  Same as above except newspaper
notice not required, and abutter only need 10 days advance notice.

New Applications:  Appear before us so we can determine if they need to come
before us, and if so, whether a PH is required or can be waived.  If waived,
we call it a Public Meeting)

BROOKLINE

In regard to the notification question, our process is automatic.  We call
up a GIS map and highlight surrounding properties that are abutters and
abutters of abutters.  The results are tied into the assessor's records.

CAMBRIDGE

We use the same notification standard as zoning:  Property owner,  owners of
abutting properties and those directly across the street, abutters to
abutters that occur within 300 feet of subject property.  Sometimes I'll add
in a few extras if they look to be materially affected and didn't make the
above cut.  As with Brookline, we have a computer mapping program that will
make the labels for selected properties, tied to the Assessor's database.
We've had several versions of this program in the last 6 years or so. But it
is a huge timesaver over the old way of doing it by hand.

NEWTON

Newton uses a GIS database which is tied to our assessor's records and
sounds a lot like Brookline's system.  We also notify direct abutters and
those across the street from the property, and will occasionally widen the
circle if the property has an unusual situation 

- for example, we had one district property next to a pond which was
substantially surrounded by small, undeveloped lots which were owned by a
trust company. It only had one or two direct abutters, but most of the area
was concerned for the property and in the end we came up with a separate
list for notification.  The GIS abutters program is a great tool which makes
the process very fast and easy - the only thing to be aware of is that there
can be a delay between the sale of the property and when the new owner
information goes into the system.  This delay can be a few months so
occasionally the notice goes to the previous owner - its something that we
try to double check but don't always catch. 

SALEM

We send notices to abutters, abutters to abutters, owners across the street
and their abutters.

SHARON

The Town of Sharon notifies all abutters within 250 feet of the property and
any town board or committee that might be affected.  Our Assessor's office
provides us with a list and pre-printed address labels.

SOMERVILLE

We notify all direct abutters including those directly across streets and on
a diagonal.  We have one building with approximately 30 condo owners.  They
all get notified if an abutting property is affected. 

WAYLAND

Our district is so small that for educational purposes we send notice of all
cases to all residents = 20 addresses.  However, in the past I have sent to
abutters - contiguous properties and across the street so that I count
anyone whose property would be contiguous if the street were not there.  

WESTPORT

Westport notifies all owners within 300 feet of a property.  The historic
district is tightly packed for the most part so neighbors are very  close.
The "historic district" neighborhood association notifies its members of
public hearings two weeks before the Commission meeting and of the  agenda
of the meeting.  Notice is placed at the post office (there is no mail
delivery so everyone has to come to the post office) and at Town  Hall.  The
Commission has a special bulletin board.  The Planning  Board also gets
notice.  Applicants supply the names and addresses (from the assessor's
list) but the clerk (volunteer) has to check them - so it does  not make it
easier.

Christopher C. Skelly

Director of Local Government Programs

Massachusetts Historical Commission

From: masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu
[mailto:masshistpres-bounces at cs.umb.edu] On Behalf Of Susan Bragdon
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2012 7:15 PM
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Subject: [MassHistPres] Public Hearing Notification Practices

I'm researching public hearing notification practices and have a question.
When Historic District Commissions in Massachusetts hold a public hearing
relative to an application for a certificate of appropriateness, MGL Chapter
40C, Section 11, Paragraph 3 states that the commission must notify by
mailing "to the owners of all adjoining property and other property deemed
by the commission to be materially affected.". In the past our town has
considered that to include abutters to abutters (which also happens to be
the requirement for ZBA notification under MGL Chapter 40A, Section 11,
Para. 1).  How do your towns determine who to notify? Have they adopted a
standard and is there any case law which addresses this issue?

-Susan Bragdon

 Past Member Marblehead OHDC & resident in Marblehead's Historic District

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