<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>FYI, I am following up on the chain of emails regarding what does, or does not constitute a substantial change in a special permit that would trigger going through the entire process again (filing new application, notice, public hearing etc.)</div><div><br></div><div>No surprise, this issue has had a number of court decisions, all of them in agreement, in answering these questions.</div><div><br></div><div>Some excerpts below can help guide boards when confronted with a request to amend a special permit (or variance etc.)</div><div><br></div><div><ul><li>The SPGA’s power to amend its decision
without further hearing is limited to the correction of inadvertent or clerical errors; and even then,
the power does not permit any amendment that amounts to a reversal of its original decision, or that
grants different relief, or that would affect persons who relied upon it. Board of Selectmen of
Stockbridge v. Monument Inn, Inc., 8 Mass. App. Ct. 158 (1979). </li></ul><div><br></div><ul><li>In Tenneco Oil Co. v. City Council of Springfield, 406 Mass. 658 (1990), the SJC pointed out that any amendment purporting to rescind or revise the intended result of the original decision without a new
public notice and hearing is invalid. In Tenneco, the SJC once again reaffirmed the rule that:
. . . <i>when a board wishes to change or amend a previous decision, a zoning board has
"inherent power . . . to correct an inadvertent or clerical error in its decision so that the
record reflects its true intention . . . but may not make a substantive amendment which
changes the result of an original deliberate decision, or which grants relief different
from that originally granted, without compliance with the relevant notice and hearing
requirements.</i></li></ul></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><font color="#000099" size="4" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099" size="4" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000099" size="4" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Bob Mitchell FAICP</font></div><div>Planning Consultant</div><div>Land Use, Planning, Zoning, & Training Programs</div><div>151 Tremont Street Suite 23A</div><div>Boston, MA 02111</div><div>617-512-9751 (c)<span></span><span></span></div><div><a href="mailto:MitchellFAICP@gmail.com" target="_blank">MitchellFAICP@gmail.com</a></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 3:13 PM Star Atkeson via MassPlanners <<a href="mailto:massplanners@masscptc.org">massplanners@masscptc.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div class="msg-3186743234340291668">
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Hello Planners,</div>
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We have a wedding venue in town who wants the Planning Board to amend their special permit to limit the number of events, as a (previously agreed) way to satisfy the Board of Health, that they do not need to be a public water supply. The change would be a sentence
limiting the number of events to 60 per year, they currently only do about 20 anyways. There would be a second minor change to the specific
<i>public water supply</i> condition in the permit.</div>
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Would you consider this a minor change, since nothing would tangibly be changing at the venue except they wouldn't need to use bottled water? Or is it a significant change, since it is stipulated by another board who seems to be looking for a legal document.</div>
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The applicant does not want to do the hearing process. In other recent Planning Board business we have held hearings for similar minor changes on more controversial situations, so on one hand we want to be consistent, on the other, if it is legal to go for
it without the hearing, that is what the applicant would like.</div>
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Thank you for your advice,</div>
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Star</div>
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<p><span style="font-family:Aharoni;font-size:10pt">Star Atkeson</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:Aharoni;font-size:10pt">Secretary to The Boards</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:Aharoni;font-size:10pt">Town of Charlemont</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:Aharoni;font-size:10pt">(413) 339-4335 ex.8</span></p>
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