7.1 BOARD OF APPEALS:
7.1.1 Establishment:
7.1.1.1 The Board of Appeals referred to herein shall be the Board of Appeals of the Town of Stoneham as constituted on the date of the acceptance of this recodification.
7.1.1.2 The Board of Appeals shall also act as the Board of Appeals required under the provisions of Section 81Z of Chapter 41 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as amended, relating to subdivision control.
7.1.1.3 Appointment of regular members: The Selectmen shall nominate and appoint members to the Board of Appeals annually during the month of April to fill such vacancies as may exist due to the expiration of members' terms.
7.1.1.4 Appointment of associate members: The Selectmen shall also annually during the month of April nominate and appoint two (2) associate members of the Board of Appeals who shall act as members thereof in the absence of any member or members of the Board when requested by the Board of Appeals. Said associate members shall have the power of regular members in the performance of their duties and shall be subject to the provisions of this Section relative to members of the Board of Appeals. The Selectmen may at any time appoint an associate member to fill an existing vacancy on the Board.
7.1.1.5 Terms: The terms of regular members shall be three (3) years. All terms of associate members shall be one (1) year. No member of the Board of Appeals shall serve more than one (1) full term as a regular member consecu-tively.
7.1.1.6 Residency and removal of members: Members of the Board of Appeals shall be residents of the Town of Stoneham, and shall hold office during such residence until their successors are duly qualified and may be removed for just cause after hearing by the Board of Selectmen.
7.1.1.7 Vacancies: The Selectmen shall nominate and appoint members to fill the unexpired terms of regular and associate members should a vacancy exist.
7.1.1.8 Concurrent membership: No regular member of the Board of Appeals or the Planning Board shall serve on both Boards concurrently. However, any person holding a position upon acceptance of this revised Zoning bylaw as a member of the Board of Appeals and member of the Planning Board shall continue his duties on both Boards until the normal expiration of either term.
7.1.2 Powers: The Board of Appeals shall have the following powers:
7.1.2.1 To hear and decide appeals in accordance with Section~8 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws, as amended.
7.1.2.2 To hear and decide petitions for variances in accordance with Section 10 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws, as amended.
7.1.2.3 To hear and decide petitions for exceptions as provided in this bylaw.
State law reference—Variances, G.L. c. 40A, Sec.~12.
7.1.3 Variance Procedure:
7.1.3.1 Deleted (4-03-01, Art. 6)
Editors note— See Chapter 18, Board of Appeals Rules & Regulations
7.2 BOARD OF SELECTMEN:
7.2.1 Establishment:
7.2.1.1 The Board of Selectmen referred to herein shall be the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Stoneham.
7.2.2 Powers:
7.2.2.1 To hear and decide petitions for Site Plan Approval whenever the contemplated use requires Site Plan Approval, either under this bylaw or under Chapter 16 of the Stoneham Town Code.
7.2.3 Conditions for Site Plan Approval:
7.2.3.1 The applicable Board shall not approve any application for Site Plan Approval unless it finds that said Site Plan complies in all respects with the requirements of this bylaw.
7.2.3.2 In approving a Site Plan, the applicable Board may attach such conditions, limitations, and safeguards as are deemed necessary to protect the District and the Town as enumerated in Chapter 16 of the Stoneham Town Code.
7.2.4 Review Fees for Outside Consultants:
(a) When reviewing an application for site plan approval or modification thereof (hereinafter also referred to as a "proposal"), the Board of Selectmen may determine that the assistance of outside consultants is warranted due to the size, scale or complexity of a proposed subdivision development or because of its potential impact. The Board may require that applicants pay a review fee consisting of the reasonable costs incurred by the Board for the employment of outside consultants engaged by the Board to assist in the review of an application.
(b) In hiring outside consultants, the Board may engage engineers, planners, traffic consultants and/or other appropriate professionals who can assist the Board in analyzing a proposal to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, bylaws and regulations. The minimum qualifications shall consist either 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.
(c) Funds received by the Board pursuant to this section may be deposited with the town treasurer who shall establish a special account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special account may be made at the direction of the Board without further appropriation. Expenditures from this special account shall be made only in connection with the review of a specific project or projects for which a review fee has been collected from the applicant. In the alternative, the funds received may, upon a determination by the Board, be deposited in the general fund subject to the requirement of providing a refund in the amount proscribed below. Failure of an applicant to pay a review fee shall be grounds for denial of the site plan approval or modification.
(d) Review fees may only be spent for services rendered in connection with the specific proposal from which they were collected. Accrued interest may also be spent for this purpose. At the completion of the Board's review of a project, any excess amount in the account, including interest, attributable to a specific project, shall be repaid to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest. A final report of said account shall be made available to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest. For the purpose of this regulation, any person or entity claiming to be an applicant's successor in interest shall provide the Board with documentation establishing such succession in interest.
(e) Any applicant may take an administrative appeal from the selection of an outside to the Board of Selectmen sitting outside of its site plan hearing process. The grounds for such an appeal shall be limited to claims that the consultant selected has a conflict of interest or does not possess the minimum, required qualifications. (5-5-97, Art. 1)
7.3 PLANNING BOARD:
7.3.1 Establishment:
7.3.1.1 The Planning Board referred to herein shall be the Planning Board of the Town of Stoneham.
7.3.2 Powers:
7.3.2.1 The Planning Board herein referred to shall have all the powers referred to under the provisions of Sections 81A through 81GG, Chapter 41, Massachusetts General Laws, as amended, relating to Planning Boards and to subdivision control.
7.3.2.2 To hear and decide petitions for Special Permits upon which the Board is empowered to act under this bylaw.
State law references—Municipal planning and planning boards, G.L. c. 41, secs. 81A-81J. Subdivision control law, G.L. c. 41, secs. 81K-81GG.
Cross reference—Planning Board, Regulations, Ch. 17.
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