Town of Brookfield
Zoning audit
6 things worth a decision in
the Zoning Bylaw: places where it does not agree with something else in it, with
the contents, with the zoning map or with the Town's own record of what it has amended, and places where it would be easier to administer written another
way. Each names the evidence, and says whose decision it is.
None of them are corrected in the published text. The
bylaw on this site reads exactly as Brookfield prints it, and
changing any of this is an amendment rather than a correction.
Against the text current through June 1, 2023
Needs a drafting decision 1
The bylaw contradicts itself or is incomplete here. Only Brookfield can settle these, and only by amendment — correcting them here would state as law something Brookfield has never adopted.
1 cited section number(s) do not exist in the text (1 citations)
[Automated statute and consistency scan, medium confidence.] The bylaw cites sections by number that the converted text does not contain. Some are references to other bylaws or to a superseded numbering; some will be sections the PDF reader failed to recognise. Either way a reader who follows the citation finds nothing.
- § 12.00 cited 1 time(s); e.g. § 12.D 9.: “…erconnection methods, with all Massachusetts Electrical Code (527 CMR § 12.00) compliant disconnects and overcurrent devices. Off-grid solar energy…”
For each number, decide whether it is a stale citation to amend or a section the conversion missed to re-read.
read from the Town's materials
Between the bylaw and the map 1
The bylaw and the zoning map are one instrument, and these are the places where they do not agree.
2 district code(s) the text establishes are not on the map layer
[Automated statute and consistency scan, low confidence.] The bylaw names these districts with a code in parentheses and the map layer we hold has no polygon carrying that code. Overlay districts commonly sit on a separate layer; a base district missing from the map is a gap.
- Text names (MOD); map has no MOD
- Text names (WP); map has no WP
Check whether each is an overlay on another layer or a base district the map should carry.
read from the Town's materials
Against the enabling statute 3
Where the ordinance appears to require, permit or prohibit something the state act it is adopted under does not allow it to. These are readings of two published texts side by side, not legal advice, and each names the provision on both sides so counsel can check it rather than take our word.
§ 12.E 6An agricultural use appears restricted without the § 3 acreage exemption stated
[Automated statute and consistency scan, low confidence.] MGL c. 40A, § 3 provides that no bylaw shall prohibit, unreasonably regulate or require a special permit for agriculture, aquaculture, silviculture, horticulture, floriculture or viticulture on parcels of more than five acres (two acres where the use generates the stated sales).
- § 12.E 6.: “…e most recent copy of the “Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List” maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources is prohibited.”
Confirm the bylaw states the exemption somewhere; if not, the row is enforceable only below the acreage threshold.
read from the Town's materials
§ 3 bAn agricultural use appears restricted without the § 3 acreage exemption stated
[Automated statute and consistency scan, low confidence.] MGL c. 40A, § 3 provides that no bylaw shall prohibit, unreasonably regulate or require a special permit for agriculture, aquaculture, silviculture, horticulture, floriculture or viticulture on parcels of more than five acres (two acres where the use generates the stated sales).
- § 3 b.: “Intent: It is the intent of this zoning bylaw that residential and agricultural uses shall by permitted in the Rural-Residential District, and that certain other uses may be allowed by Special Permit granted by the Planning Board.”
Confirm the bylaw states the exemption somewhere; if not, the row is enforceable only below the acreage threshold.
read from the Town's materials
§ 8.G hA special permit lapse period of five years is longer than the statute allows
[Automated statute and consistency scan, high confidence.] MGL c. 40A, § 9, as amended by St. 2021, c. 24, provides that a special permit lapses "within a specified period of time, not more than 3 years" from the grant, not counting the time an appeal takes; a bylaw may set a shorter period but not a longer one.
- § 8.G h.: “The Special Permit shall lapse within five years of its issuance. If the permit holder wishes to renew the Special Permit, an application to renew the Special…”
- MGL c. 40A, § 9: "not more than 3 years"
Shorten the lapse period to three years or less. A provision about a permit lapsing after a period of non-use (abandonment) is a different rule and may be what this is.
read from the Town's materials
Not published here yet 1
Ours, not Brookfield's: things this site does not carry yet.
The zoning map is not published here yet
The district pages read from the code alone. Until the layers are built, a reader cannot go from a place to the rules that govern it, which is half of what this site is for.
Ours.
found by comparison