Application procedures

[Ord. No. 08-31, 10-7-2009]

Application procedures and forms for the filing of appeals, request for variances, special use permits, development review, site plan review and such other applications as may be specified in this appendix, shall be prepared by the Building Official and published made available to all applicants.

• (a) Fees. Reasonable fees may be required, in an amount to be established by the Town Council, to be paid by the appellant or applicant for the adequate review and hearing of applications, issuance of zoning certificates and the recording of the decisions thereon. In addition, the board may require the services of outside professional experts to assist in the review of an application, the cost of which shall be borne by the applicant on an actual fee basis.
• (b) Decisions and records of the Zoning Board of Review. Following a public hearing, the board shall render a decision within a reasonable period of time. The board shall include in its decision all findings of fact and conditions, showing the vote of each member participating thereon, and the absence of a member or his or her failure to vote. Decisions shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Building Official, as well in the land evidence records referencing the property affected by such decision. The board shall keep written minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall keep records of its examinations, findings of fact, and other official actions, all of which shall be recorded and filed in the office of the Building Official in an expeditious manner upon completion of the proceeding. For any proceeding in which the right of appeal lies to the superior or supreme court, the board shall have the minutes taken either by a competent stenographer or recorded by a sound-recording device.

  Any decision by the board, including any special conditions attached thereto, shall be mailed to the applicant, to the Planning Board, and to the associate director of the Division of Planning of the Rhode Island Department of Administration. Any decision evidencing the granting of a variance or special use permit shall also be recorded in the land evidence records of the Town.