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Departments: Planning Board

Role of the Planning Board

The establishment of municipal Planning Boards is authorized by Massachusetts General Law, chapter 41, section 81A. Among its many diverse roles, the Planning Board is charged with the following duties, paraphrased here from the Mass. General Law:

• Adopting a master plan and official map of the city or town
• Conducting studies, and, when necessary, preparing plans of the resources, possibilities and needs of the city or town for submittal to the Selectmen for their consideration
• Serving as the local authority for the Subdivision Control Act; adopting Rules and
• Regulations governing the subdivision of land in the Town of Hingham; reviewing all preliminary and definitive plan submittals.
• Drafting and submitting zoning amendments for consideration by the municipality. When a zoning amendment has been put forward, the Planning Board holds the public hearing and may also report its recommendation to the local legislature.
• Serving, in some instances, as the special permit granting authority (i.e. Special Permit A-3, Flexible Residential Development)
• Serving as Site Plan Review Authority for all Special Permits A-2 under consideration by the Zoning Board of Appeals
• Is always the "party of interest" in administrative appeals, special permit applications, and variance petitions within the municipality and in adjacent cities and towns;
• Under Mass. Gen. L. ch. 40, 15C, the Scenic Roads Act, the Planning Board is enabled to recommend roads for municipal consideration, and empowers the planning board to oversee specified activities.

Staff
Katy Lacy, Community Planning Director
Karen Clancy, Administrator

You can reach us at
210 Central Street, Hingham MA 02043
Phone:781-741-1419
E-mail: LacyK@hingham-ma.com

2010 Annual Report

In the months leading up to the 2010 Town Meeting, the Planning Board discussed and held public hearings on twelve proposed amendments to the Zoning By-Law. Several of these were “clean-up” articles, as the Board continued the ongoing process of reviewing the By-Law and bringing it up to date.

Others were more complex, reflecting the importance of zoning as one of the Town’s primary planning and land use management tools.Article 45 resulted in the creation of the Hingham Harbor Overlay District, crafted jointly by the Harbor Task Force and the Hingham Planning Board with the goal of allowing for expanded uses and dimensional relief while protecting the Harbor’s unique character. A petition article to allow for outdoor lighting at the Ward Street Fields (Article 41) requiring a 2/3 town meeting vote was narrowly defeated following a spirited and thoughtful town-wide debate. In response to the continuing economic downturn, the Planning Board worked closely with the Zoning Board of Appeals to review and update the uses permitted in the Town’s industrial and office districts, with the goal of expanding those uses permitted by-right and with a special permit in these districts.

The Planning Board reviewed and endorsed sixteen Form A (approval not required) plans for lot line changes, land swaps between adjacent parcels, and the creation of new lots in all areas of Town. There was one new residential subdivision proposed in 2010. Construction of new homes, roadways and other improvements within already approved subdivisions continues to progress slowly due to the current economic slow-down.

Commercial development continued apace, as new construction and tenant fit-ups continued at the new developments at the Hingham Shipyard and Derby Street Shoppes, and in commercial districts throughout the Town. The Board conducted 17 Site Plan Review hearings, and issued 14 Special Permit A3’s for requests for parking waivers from the Town’s off-street parking regulations. The Board worked closely with the Zoning Board of Appeals on the permitting associated with the construction of a 73,839 square foot, 3-story medical office building to be located at the entrance to the Industrial Park at 2 Pond Park Drive. The building will house all of the bone and muscle-related services for South Shore Hospital, and will include physician’s offices, a diagnostic imaging suite, an outpatient surgical center, and a pain clinic.Another healthcare facility permitted during 2010 was the 64-unit, 51,200 square-foot health care and assisted living facility for individuals with early and mid-stage memory disorders, to be located on the corner of Beal St. and Sgt.William B. Terry. Finally, Fort Hill Housing, Inc. came before the Board with application to demolish the existing 2,412 square foot dwelling at 111 Fort Hill Street and replace it with a 2,800 square foot, 6-bedroom facility for disabled veterans.

Of particular interest to Town officials and the public was the application for a Special Permit A1 and a Special Permit A3-parking permit for the Ward Street Turf Fields Fund.The compromise resolution to what turned out to be a controversial application was arrived at only after multiple hearings with the Conservation Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board, which allowed forthe expansion of the existing fields with the creation of an additional field on adjacent Town-owned land, and significant improvements to on-site parking and circulation.

The Planning Board also conducted Site Plan Review for expansions and modifications to other long-standing Hingham institutions, including the Hingham Institution for Savings and the Old Colony Montessori School, which are proceeding successfully despite the economic slow-down.

Planning Board members continue to play an active role as members of and designees to several Town committees, including the Community Preservation Committee, Harbor Task Force and Traffic Committee. As with recent previous years, 2010 was marked by productive and collaborative relationships between the Planning Board and a variety of other Town boards and committees, including the Board of Selectmen, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Harbor Development Committee, and the Hingham Development and Industrial Committee.

At its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, January 10, 2011, Hingham Planning Board member Susan Murphy announced her resignation after eleven years of service on the board. The Board is immensely grateful for the wealth of legal expertise and tireless efforts provided by Ms. Murphy during her term, which spanned an era marked by rapid growth and change in the Town brought on by outside development pressure. Ms. Murphy also spearheaded a much-needed, multi-year effort to update and clarify the Zoning By-Law.Ms. Murphy served as Planning Board liaison to numerous sub-committees including the Hingham Development and Industrial Committee (HDIC), and the Harbor Task Force, which she chaired during 2009-2010. The Board wishes Ms. Murphy continuing success in her new role as special counsel to the town on its real estate related legal matters.

The Planning Board was fortunate in the interest showed in having a number of well qualified residents serving on an interim basis as a Board member during the months leading up to the Town election in May 2011, at which time they are free to run to serve the remaining four years of Ms. Murphy’s five-year term.At a joint hearing of the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen, following interviews, and by unanimous vote, the Planning Board was pleased to welcome William Ramsey, a lifelong Hingham resident, as its newest member.