SENATE DOCKET, NO. 411 FILED ON: 1/13/2009
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 105
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act relative to protection of parkways and boulevards..
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. Chapter 92 of the General Laws, as amended by chapter 26 of the Acts of 2003, is hereby amended by inserting after section 37 the following section: -
Section 37A. When used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meaning:
“Commercial purpose,” property used or held for use for business purposes including but not limited to any commercial, business, retail, trade, service recreational, agricultural, artistic, sporting, fraternal, governmental, educational, medical or religious enterprise, for non-profit purposes.
“Industrial purpose,” property used or held for use for manufacturing, milling, converting, producing, processing or fabricating materials; the extraction or processing of materials unserviceable in their natural state to create commercial products or materials; the mechanical, chemical or electronic transformation of property into new products and any use that is incidental to or an integral part of such use, whether for profit or non-profit purposes; and property used or held for uses for the storage, transmitting and generating of utilities regulated by the department of telecommunications and energy.
“Sign,” any structure, device, light, letter, word, model, banner, pennant, insignia, trade flag, or representation which is designed to be seen from outside a building and which advertises or announces a use conducted or goods, products, services or facilities available, but excluding electric signs in windows or doors, window displays of merchandise and signs incidental to the display of merchandise.
No land abutting a boulevard or parkway under the division’s care and control shall be used for a commercial or industrial purpose unless the commissioner, in consultation with the director, and after public notice and hearing, has granted the applicant for such use a special permit. The commissioner shall grant such special permit only if he finds that all of the following conditions are met: (a) there will be no significant adverse effect on traffic and parking on such boulevards or parkways and adjacent streets; (b) landscaping treatment will be provided that ensures that the natural and aesthetic quality of the boulevard or parkway and the surrounding neighborhood will be maintained; and (c) the applicant will provide that the design of all structures is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The commissioner may grant the permit subject to such reasonable terms and conditions that are related to traffic and parking, landscaping, and design as provided above.
No sign shall be displayed or erected on land abutting a boulevard or parkway under the division’s care and control unless the commissioner, in consultation with the director, and after public notice and hearing, has granted the applicant for such use a special permit. The commissioner shall grant such special permit only if he finds that the following conditions are met: (a) landscaping treatment will be provided that ensures that the natural and aesthetic quality of the boulevard or parkway and the surrounding neighborhood will be maintained; and (b) the applicant will provide that the design of all structures is compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The commissioner may grant the permit subject to such reasonable terms and conditions that are related to landscaping and design as provided above.”