4.17 FEES
The following fees pertain to local bylaw review and are in addition to those required under the Wetlands Protection Act.
Requests for Determination. A local filing fee of $25.00 made payable to the Town of Sturbridge as a separate check, shall accompany all Request for Determinations.
Resource Area Delineations. A local filing fee of $0.10 per foot shall accompany all requests for delineation where work occurs within the 100 foot buffer and when said resource area requires a specific delineation line check (for example, BVW, MAHW for riverfront, etc. MAHW mark for Lake front or clearly defined ponds does not require site specific delineation.) If a delineation has not been made and approved by the Commission within the 3 years prior to the submittal of a project application, a delineation will automatically become part of the project application. Delineations are valid for 3 years. The fee submitted must include the delineation which must be performed by the Commission in order to determine the amount of work being conducted in the buffer zone and the extent of the
buffer zone. A local fee of $0.10 per linear foot, made payable to the Town of Sturbridge, as a separate check, shall be paid by the applicant whether the delineation is filed as a Notice of Intent, a Request for Determination, or a Request for Resource Area Delineation.
Notices of Intent. All Notices of Intent filed pursuant to MGL c. 131 § 40, 310 CMR 10.00 shall be accompanied by a filing fee, the amount of which shall be determined by 801 CMR 4.02(310) (Executive Office for Administration and Finance), and a brief statement indicating how the applicant calculated the fee. 50% of any filing fee in excess of $25.00 shall be made payable, by check or money order, to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and shall be sent to the DEP Lock Box accompanied by the Notice of Intent Fee Transmittal Form. The remainder of said fee shall be made payable, by check or money order, to the Town of Sturbridge. Notice of Intent filing fee worksheets are available on line at the DEP website, the SCC website and through the Commission office. (An additional fee of 50% of the
total calculated is required for work proposed within a Riverfront Resource Area).
In addition, a local fee of $50.00, made payable to the Town of Sturbridge, submitted on a separate check from any NoI filing fees shall accompany all NoI filings.
Replication, Mitigation Monitoring. A local fee of $200 to cover the town’s cost for monitoring replication or mitigation areas over the 5 years normally required to monitor these areas, made payable to the Town of Sturbridge, submitted on a separate check, shall accompany all proposals for which replication or mitigation is proposed.
Site Visits, The Commission shall not impose additional fees for site visits unless more than one public hearing related site visit is required due specifically to an applicant’s failure to properly mark the site or prepare the plan in accordance with Section 4.10 of these regulations. In this circumstance, to cover the town’s cost and to account for the inconvenience imposed on the Commission and staff, a fee of $25.00 shall be submitted for each site visit necessary due to an applicant’s negligence in preparing the field adequately. Multiple site visits necessitated by project complexity or the Commission’s discretion to revisit the site, will not be charged an additional site visit fee. Failure to submit the fee will result in denial due incomplete project application.
Waivers, The Conservation Commission may waive the filing fee for an application or request filed by a government agency and may waive the filing fee for a request for determination of applicability filed by a person with no financial connection to the property which is the subject of the request. Said request for waiver shall be made at the time of submittal of the application. In addition, the applicant for all posted NoI and RDA public hearings is responsible for submitting to the Commission clerk on or before the hearing date, a check made payable to “Stonebridge Press” for the cost of the legal advertisement as posted in the local newspaper (The cost of the legal advertisement will be submitted to the applicant in writing).
The applicant is also responsible (if requested in writing) for submitting to the Commission a check in the amount to be determined by the Commission clerk (based on the most current registration fee) made payable to the “Commonwealth of Massachusetts” for the recording of Orders of Conditions by the Commission’s clerk for both Notice of Intent Applications and Resource Area Delineation Applications on or before the start of the public hearing. Recording fees imposed by the Registry of Deeds change occasionally and are available on request from the Commission office.
General Permit applications will not be considered complete unless all local and state fees are paid at the time of application submittal. The Conservation Commission shall notify, in writing, the applicant when the correct filing fee has not been paid to the town and the filing is therefore incomplete. Said notification shall specify the correct fee amount. The fee will be based on the original project design as proposed in the Notice of Intent, the Request for Determination or the Request for Resource Area Delineation and based on any changes or amendments made during the public hearing process which increase the size of the project. Rebates will not be given for projects which decrease in size during the public hearing, due to an applicant’s failure to consider alternatives and reasonable
use prior to the initial filing.
Separate checks must be submitted for Notice of Intent and local wetland bylaw filing fees as monies are deposited in different accounts and tracked separately.
In lieu of paying any disputed amount of the filing fee, the applicant may file a Request for a Determination of Applicability with sufficient information to enable the Conservation Commission to determine the extent of the area, or the type and extent of the activity, subject to protection under M.G.L. c. 131, § 40. When a Request For Determination of Applicability is filed by an Applicant to resolve a dispute over the filing fee, all proceedings under the Permit filed with the SCC shall be stayed until all appeal periods for the Determination have elapsed or, if the Determination is appealed, until all proceedings before the DEP or Superior Court have been completed. A Final Determination of Applicability as to the area, or the type and extent of the activity, subject to protection shall be binding on
all parties and shall be used in calculating the fee.
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