Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The second paragraph of section 2 of chapter 831 of the acts of 1977 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "county", in line 10, the second time it appears, the words:- , or a designee.

SECTION 2. Section 4 of said chapter 831 is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

The commission may upon majority vote of its members accept gifts of land, buildings, interests in land, or any funds or monies from any source including grants, bequests, gifts, or contributions made by any individual, association, or corporation or by any municipal, county, state, or federal government. Monies so received shall be disbursed by the clerk-treasurer of the commission and the charge upon all towns may be reduced correspondingly upon a majority vote of all members if such monies were not included in the calculations of the towns net share of expenses for the fiscal year.

SECTION 3. The first paragraph of section 14 of said chapter 831 is hereby amended by striking out clauses (c) and (d) and inserting in place thereof the following three clauses:-

(c) the proposed development is consistent with municipal development ordinances and by-laws, or, if it is inconsistent, the inconsistency is necessary to enable a substantial segment of the population of a larger community of which the municipality is a part to secure adequate opportunities for housing, education or recreation;

(d) if the proposed development is located in whole or in part within a designated district of critical planning concern, it is consistent with the regulations approved or adopted by the commission pursuant to section ten; and

(e) a proposed development which does not qualify as a development of regional impact under the standards and criteria approved pursuant to section seven may nevertheless be referred to the commission as a development of regional impact by a municipal agency in the town where the development is located, by the board of selectmen in any other municipality in the county of Dukes County or by the county commissioners. Within thirty days of the receipt of such a referral, the commission shall publish notice of a public hearing in a newspaper of general circulation on Martha's Vineyard to consider accepting a referral under this clause. The commission shall cause such notice to be published not less than seven days prior to the date of hearing in a newspaper of general circulation on Martha's Vineyard, and shall mail written notice of said hearing to the owner of the premises, as appearing on the records of the assessors of the town in which the proposed development of regional impact is located and to the board of selectmen of said town, no less than seven days prior to the public hearing. Public hearings under this clause shall be held and concluded within forty days of receipt of a referral unless the proponent of the proposed development of regional impact agrees in writing to extend such period. Unless the commission votes to accept a referral under this clause as a development of regional impact within fifty days after receipt of a referral, or in case of an extension of the public hearing period, within ten days after the end of the extended period, the referral shall be deemed denied. At the public hearing the commission shall receive evidence as to whether the proposed development will have impacts within other municipalities on the values protected under section one or the interests referred to in clauses (a) to (h), inclusive, of section fifteen. If the commission votes to accept a referral of a development as a development of regional impact under this clause, the commission shall forthwith notify the town clerk, the board of selectmen and the municipal agencies of the municipality which are considering development permits for the proposed development which has been accepted as a development of regional impact by mailing to them a copy of the commission's vote. The commission shall also mail a copy of said vote forthwith to the applicant for any municipal development permits for the development of regional impact. Thereafter, the municipal land regulatory agencies and the commission shall treat the commission's vote as a referral pursuant to section thirteen and the commission shall review all applications for the development in accordance with this section and sections fifteen and sixteen.