Bill > H1836

This bill allows municipalities where the Board of Selectmen or City Council acts as the Special Permit Granting Authority (the body that can grant special permission for certain land uses) and another agency or administrator is the Permit Granting Authority (the body that typically approves permits) to elect, through a local ordinance, to let a project requiring zoning relief from both authorities be handled by a single authority. Specifically, if a project needs zoning relief, such as a variance (an exception to zoning rules) or a special permit, from both the Permit Granting Authority and the Special Permit Granting Authority, the applicant can choose to apply for all necessary relief to the Special Permit Granting Authority. This chosen authority would then have the power to grant all the required relief, even if it would normally be reserved for the Permit Granting Authority. However, the Special Permit Granting Authority can choose not to accept such a consolidated petition and instead require the applicant to first seek relief from the Permit Granting Authority if it believes that authority's experience or expertise is necessary for a specific part of the request or the project itself, and this decision must be communicated in writing. This provision does not apply if a "use variance," which is an exception to allow a use not permitted in a zoning district, is needed for the project.