THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEAL’SPOSITION ON CITIZEN’S PETITION TO

CHANGE AUTHORITY OVER SITE PLAN REVIEW (SPR) FROM THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS TO THE PLANNING BOARD

On November 17, 2014, a Citizen’s Petition was filed with the Town Clerk proposing to amend the Town by-laws to change authority over Site Plan Review from the Zoning Board of Appeals to the Planning Board. The Zoning Board of Appeals discussed the Petition at its December 2014 meeting and unanimously voted to oppose the Petition.

Reasons the Zoning Board of Appeals does not support the Citizen’s Petition.

1. The Zoning Board of Appeals has the experience. For over 30 years the Zoning Board of Appeals has been the approving board for Site Plan Review. The Board of Appeals understands the intricacies of the Zoning By-Law and has the experience and expertise to apply it to projects. We believe this has served the Town well over the years.

2. We believe that the current system in which the applicant meets first with the Planning Board which provides an advisory letter to the Board of Appeals is a good one. Projects which come before the Board for Site Plan Review are generally large ones such as the shopping center expansion a number of years ago. For these large projects it is useful to have a second set of eyes review the project.

3. The Planning Board is already tasked with a number of responsibilities. The Planning Board has a major role in long term planning for the Town. The Planning Board is the primary proponent of zoning initiatives including changes to the by-laws. The Planning Board also has jurisdiction over any subdivisions in the town. We do not believe that it is good practice for a board to be both drafter of zoning by-laws and then approving authority for those by-laws.

4. By Contrast the Zoning Board of Appeals presently has jurisdiction over petitions for Variances, Extensions of Non-Conforming Uses and Structures, and for granting a number of Special Permits. We believe that Site Plan Review which involves approving single projects more closely aligns with these responsibilities.

5. The Planning Board presently meets twice a month and has had discussions about increasing to three times a month because of its existing work load. The Zoning Board of Appeals meets only once a month. We believe it would be inefficient and not serve the interests of applicants to further unbalance the work load.

6. While Site Plan Review lies more with Planning Boards statewide, in some very well run towns such as Wellesley approving Authority lies with the Zoning Board of Appeals. We believe it should remain that way in Hamilton.

7. The proposed by-law provides that a party aggrieved by a decision of the Planning Board on Site Plan Review has the right of de novo appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. We think this is likely to increase the number of appeals and hence legal fees over the current by-law since an appeal will be much more readily available.