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Planning board presses enforcement questions after developers depart from approved plans
Summary
Members raised multiple compliance concerns — vents on the back building at Babcock Place, car-wash landscaping not installed and other items — and were told enforcement rests with the building department and the municipal engineer, with legal remedies for noncompliance available but costly.
Several Planning Board members told their Dec. 17 meeting that conditions the board imposed on past approvals appear not to have been followed and pressed for clarity about who enforces those conditions.
A board member said the rear building of a recent project has dryer and range-hood vents facing Babcock Place despite a condition that vents not face that street. The board member said he brought the issue "to Sal," the building inspector, and was told the structure "was built according to the plan." That exchange prompted a broader discussion about map discrepancies and whether Babcock Place extends through an adjacent parking lot.
Board members repeatedly emphasized they do not have enforcement authority. "It is the building department's call on this," one member said. The municipal engineer signs off on plans and the building official is responsible for enforcing what is on the approved plans and on the board's resolution. If a citizen believes a resolution is not being complied with, meeting discussion noted, an individual can pursue legal action under municipal land-use remedies — an option described as expensive and time-consuming.
Members also raised a previously approved car-wash condition that required three-foot-tall trees but said the installed landscaping did not meet the written specification. The board agreed it could request the building official to review compliance; it cannot unilaterally force changes on built projects unless there is a legal enforcement action or an engineer/building-official sign-off triggers remedial steps.
The board asked staff to add clearer notations in future resolutions and minutes when applicants submit amended plans or when engineer/chair signoffs are given, to improve traceability between approvals and later inspection/enforcement.
