Section 5 Priority development permits; review and final decision - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 5. (a) Priority development permit reviews and final decisions shall be completed within 180 days subject to the extension herein. The time period shall begin the day after the issuance of the notice that the application materials are complete pursuant to clause (e) of section 4. The governing body shall notify the applicant in writing within 20 business days from receipt of the completed form of additional information needed or requirements that it may have. The governing body may provide for pre-application conferences to facilitate this process.

(b) The resubmission of the application or the submission of such additional information required by the governing body shall commence a new 30-day period for review of the additional information.

(c) If, at any time, an issuing authority determines that a permit or other predevelopment review is required which it did not previously identify, it shall immediately notify the applicant by certified mail and shall where public notice and comment or hearings are not required complete action on the application filed for the previously unidentified permit within 30 days of receipt of the completed application or not later than the latest required decision date for a pending permit, whichever is later. Where public notice and comment or hearing are required for the previously unidentified permit, the required action date shall be not later than 30 days from the later of the close of the hearing or comment period, which shall be scheduled to commence as quickly as publication allows. The failure of the governing body to notify an applicant of the requirement of a public hearing or comment period shall not constitute a waiver of the requirement.