NAHANT — The Nahant Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to amend the Flood Plain District Zoning bylaw so it complies with the 2020 Model By-law updates from the Federal Emergency Management Agency at an emergency meeting Monday night.
The reason the meeting was labeled as an “emergency” was due to the fact that it was scheduled without giving a 48-hour notice.
“Whenever you have a zoning article that is going to be presented at Town Meeting, the Planning Board, by statute, has to have a public hearing within 65 days of receiving the article from in this case the Board of Selectmen, and they have 21 days after their hearing to issue a report and recommendation prior to Town Meeting,” Town Administrator Tony Barletta said.
Barletta added that the Planning Board’s first notice on the article was slated to be released today, which is why it was important that the Board of Selectmen resolve the situation as soon as possible.
“That’s why we posted this emergency meeting,” Barletta said. “So we could get this done today, and send it over to the Planning Board tonight.”
FEMA’s 2020 Model By-law is required in local by-laws for municipalities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Barletta assured that most of the amended bylaw does not change Nahant’s flood mapping or change what can and cannot be done in a flood plain.
One change the update brings is an official designation of a Floodplain Administrator. Barletta suggested that the town Building Inspector was the most sensible choice for the role, however Selectman Josh Antrim expressed that the Conservation Commission Enforcement Agent would be the more appropriate choice. Barletta responded that the Building Inspector could delegate business to the Conservation Commission Enforcement Agent if and when they saw fit.
Another addition of the 2020 Bylaw model was a section titled “Variances.”
“A variance from these flood plain bylaws must meet the requirements set out by State Law and may only be granted if: Good and sufficient cause and exceptional non-fictional hardship exist, the variance will not result in additional threats to public safety, extraordinary public expense of fraud or victimization of the public; and the variance is the minimum action necessary to afford relief,” the bylaw read.
Board Chairman Mark Cullinan had Barletta confirm that the town is making this amendment at the behest of the state.
“These changes are being proposed by the state and they include new language by both the state and the federal government,” Cullinan said. “This is not a change that’s being initiated by the town at all.”
