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<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Betsy, <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lexington has a sketch plan review process, where a very preliminary plan is submitted for feedback during a public meeting. There is no public notice or legal ad. The Planning Board gives non-binding feedback and we create a “meeting summary”
instead of a decision. The meeting summary looks more like our staff memos to the Planning Board, but with comments from the public and Planning Board members added to the end, rather than an official decision. It’s very informal, and the comments listed in
the meeting summary are just suggestions. The applicant doesn’t need to take the suggestions, and the Planning Board members can also change their minds later on when the formal review occurs. We also include a blanket statement in the summary, stating that
it is not a decision, and it does not promise approval of plans. We find that projects that go through this process are better prepared for their official submittal. We also encourage applicants to inform abutters that this public meeting is taking place and
it seems that they usually do as we get abutters attending these meetings. If not, then abutters will still be noticed for the definitive plan anyway.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Molly <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bell MT",serif">Molly Belanger
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bell MT",serif">Planner, Town of Lexington
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bell MT",serif">1625 Massachusetts Avenue<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bell MT",serif">Lexington, Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Bell MT",serif">Direct: 781-698-4564<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces@masscptc.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Daniel Fortier via MassPlanners<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, November 18, 2022 10:57 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> robert leavens <rtleavemware@gmail.com><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Listserv (massplanners@masscptc.org) <massplanners@masscptc.org><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Massplanners] Planning Board "determination" and decision<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:#FDEB9A"><strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">USE CAUTION:</span></strong><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> This email
came from outside the Town of Lexington. <strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Do not</span></strong> click links, open attachments or respond to the email
<strong><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">unless</span></strong> you recognize the sender, you are expecting the communication and you know the content is safe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">No, not at all. No informal meetings even, everything should be through proper notice.
<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dan Fortier <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Retired <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Interim Dennis Town Planner <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Fri, Nov 18, 2022, 10:53 PM robert leavens via MassPlanners <<a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org">massplanners@masscptc.org</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">A late Friday question............. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I recently started working as interim town planner for a small town north of Boston.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I was recently contacted by an architect who wanted to go to the Planning Board for an "advisory determination" for a project within the water supply district. There is a provision that the impervious surface of a lot has to be lower than
15%. While the bylaw is oddly worded, this "advisory determination" of the Planning Board involves attending a Planning Board meeting, having the Planning Board review the plans, have someone else review the drainage calculations and then a "decision" would
be issued and filed with the town clerk. No notice to abutters and the architect wanted to get on the next agenda, which is 12 days away.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I've been in this profession for over 30 years, with work mainly in Massachusetts and I have some concerns about this process. I don't believe that the Planning Board can make an "advisory determination" and then issue a decision that
gets filed with the Town Clerk without due notice and a public hearing. The language throughout the bylaw implies special permit but that is not how it has been interpreted in the past years.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Do any of your Planning Boards issue "advisory determinations", with no public hearing or abutters notice, with an end result of a written decision that get filed with the Town Clerk?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks for any insights I may have missed,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Betsy Ware<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Interim Town Planner<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <br>
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