Massachusetts § 81AA - Board of appeals; rules; meetings; powers and duties; hearings

§ 81AA. Board of appeals; rules; meetings; powers and duties; hearings

Section 81AA. The board of appeals appointed under section eighty-one Z shall adopt rules not inconsistent with this section and sections eighty-one Y and eighty-one Z, for conducting its business and otherwise carrying out the purposes of said sections. Meetings of the board shall be held at the call of the chairman and also when called in such other manner as it shall determine in its rules. Such chairman, or, in his absence, the acting chairman, may administer oaths, summon witnesses and call for the production of papers. All hearings of the board shall be open to the public. The board shall cause to be made a detailed record of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon each question, or, if any member is absent or fails to vote, indicating such fact, and setting forth clearly the reason or reasons for its decisions, and of its other official acts, copies of all of which shall be immediately filed in the office of the city or town clerk and shall be public records.

Before taking any action under section eighty-one Y, the board of appeals shall hold a hearing at which parties in interest shall have an opportunity to be heard, in person or by agent or attorney. Notice of the time and place of such hearing and of the subject matter, sufficient for identification, shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication to be not less than fourteen days before the day of the hearing or if there is no such newspaper in such city or town then by posting such notice in a conspicuous place in the city or town hall for a period of not less than fourteen days before the day of such hearing. The board may require the appellant to pay the expense of giving such notice. The board may, as a condition of granting a permit under section eighty-one Y, impose reasonable requirements designed to promote the health, convenience, safety and general welfare of the community and to benefit the city or town.