§ 45-23-40 - General provisions – Major land development and major subdivision – Master plan.
SECTION 45-23-40
§ 45-23-40 General provisions – Majorland development and major subdivision – Master plan. – (1) The applicant shall first submit to the administrative officer the itemsrequired by the local regulations for master plans.
(2) Requirements for the master plan and supporting materialfor this phase of review include, but are not limited to: information on thenatural and built features of the surrounding neighborhood, existing naturaland man-made conditions of the development site, including topographicfeatures, the freshwater wetland and coastal zone boundaries, the floodplains,as well as the proposed design concept, proposed public improvements anddedications, tentative construction phasing, and potential neighborhood impacts.
(3) Initial comments will be solicited from (i) localagencies including, but not limited to, the planning department, the departmentof public works, fire and police departments, the conservation and recreationcommissions; (ii) adjacent communities; (iii) state agencies, as appropriate,including the departments of environmental management and transportation, andthe coastal resources management council; and (iv) federal agencies, asappropriate. The administrative officer shall coordinate review and comments bylocal officials, adjacent communities, and state and federal agencies.
(b) Certification. The application must be certifiedin writing, complete or incomplete by the administrative officer within sixty(60) days, according to the provisions of § 45-23-36(b). The running ofthe time period set forth herein will be deemed stopped upon the issuance of acertificate of incompleteness of the application by the administrative officerand will recommence upon the resubmission of a corrected application by theapplicant. However, in no event will the administrative officer be required tocertify a corrected submission as complete or incomplete less than fourteen(14) days after its resubmission.
(c) Technical review committee. The technical reviewcommittee, if established, shall review the application and shall comment andmake recommendations to the planning board.
(1) A public informational meeting will be held prior to theplanning board decision on the master plan, unless the master plan andpreliminary plan approvals are being combined, in which case the publicinformational meeting is optional, based upon planning board determination.
(2) Public notice for the informational meeting is requiredand must be given at least seven (7) days prior to the date of the meeting in anewspaper of general circulation within the municipality. Postcard notice mustbe mailed to the applicant and to all property owners within the notice area,as specified by local regulations.
(3) At the public informational meeting the applicant willpresent the proposed development project. The planning board must allow oraland written comments from the general public. All public comments are to bemade part of the public record of the project application.
(e) Decision. The planning board shall, within onehundred and twenty (120) days of certification of completeness, or within afurther amount of time that may be consented to by the applicant, approve ofthe master plan as submitted, approve with changes and/or conditions, or denythe application, according to the requirements of § 45-23-63.
(f) Failure to act. Failure of the planning board toact within the prescribed period constitutes approval of the master plan, and acertificate of the administrative officer as to the failure of the planningboard to act within the required time and the resulting approval will be issuedon request of the applicant.
(1) The approved master plan is vested for a period of two(2) years, with the right to extend for two (2) one year extensions uponwritten request by the applicant, who must appear before the planning board forthe annual review. Thereafter, vesting may be extended for a longer period, forgood cause shown, if requested by the applicant, in writing, and approved bythe planning board. Master plan vesting includes the zoning requirements,conceptual layout and all conditions shown on the approved master plan drawingsand supporting materials.
(2) The initial four (4) year vesting for the approved masterplan constitutes the vested rights for the development as required in §45-24-44.