§459b–4 Zoning regulations

Summary

The Secretary must write rules, starting as soon after August 7, 1961 as practical, that say what a town’s zoning bylaw must include for the seashore area. Before any rule or change becomes final, the Secretary must send it to Congress and the towns at least ninety calendar days ahead (not counting days when either the House or Senate is out because of an adjournment of more than three calendar days to a day certain). Proposed and final rules must be published in the Federal Register. The Secretary must consider suggestions received during the ninety-day period. He must approve any town zoning bylaw or change that follows the rules in effect when the town adopted it, unless he had already proposed new rules that would make the bylaw nonconforming; in that case he may wait and only approve if the bylaw meets the final new rules. Once approved, that approval can’t be taken away by later rule changes so long as the bylaw stays in effect as approved. The rules must do two main things: help stop commercial or industrial uses in the seashore towns except those the Secretary allows, and help preserve and manage the seashore by using things like acreage, frontage, setback, and other requirements that fit Massachusetts law and the purposes of sections 459b to 459b–8. The Secretary will not approve any bylaw that he thinks would hurt those purposes or that fails to require notice to him when a variance or exception is granted. The law also covers cases where property whose condemnation was paused by an approved bylaw later gets a variance or a new use that does not follow the standards in the Secretary’s rules.