The Good Neighbor Agreement (GNA) is a Town Bylaw requiring builders to give detailed notice of their plans to abutters when demolition of a house or the construction of a large addition to an existing house is planned. (A large addition is defined as an addition that is 50% or 750 square feet greater than the existing house.)
Formally, it is the Notice of Demolition, and can be found in Title VI, Article 7 of the Town Bylaw:
The GNA was developed by the Residential Study Group (RSG), itself formed by Town Meeting to address the impacts of new development on established neighborhoods, after much comment from residents about the negative effects of demolitions and new construction. The RSG created a survey about how development affects neighborhoods and sent it to abutters of new construction and large additions completed within the past three years (of 2017). From the responses, the RSG identified the most-often mentioned complaints, one of which was complete lack of notice before a project begins. Too many homeowners were unpleasantly surprised to find major projects going on in their neighborhoods, sometimes right next door, with no warning.
The RSG then drafted a construction agreement, based on those in use in other municipalities and with significant modifications based on group input, to specify what developers had to provide to abutters prior to beginning demolition and/or construction. The resulting GNA was adopted by Town Meeting in 2017. It requires builders to send the following items to all abutters within 200’ of the site, at least seven calendar days before work begins, or within seven days of applying for a Building Permit, whichever date is earlier:
- complete contact information
- site plan for any applicable residential demolition, open foundation excavation, alteration, or construction project
- information detailing the hours of operation for the project
- anticipated completion date
- work schedule
- health, safety, and abutting property protections
- noise abatement measures applied by the developer or contractor of the project
In addition, the developer must provide the Building Inspector with a list of the recipients, a copy of materials sent, and an affidavit stating the date of the mailing. Failure to comply will result in a fine of $200.00 per day, upon notification of the Building Inspector.
Title VI, Articles 12 and 13 go on to provide definitions, detail the requirements for site maintenance during construction, and specify fines for non-compliance. Those site maintenance requirements are:
- All waste shall be managed and secured daily so as not to impact site abutters or the surrounding area; and at a minimum, dumpsters shall be cleaned or removed every thirty (30) calendar days;
- Portable restrooms shall be secured, maintained, free from the public way, and placed at least ten (10) feet from adjacent residential properties unless otherwise permitted by the Town through the Building Inspector or his or her designee;
- Construction equipment and materials shall be stored in safe, secure and non-obstructive locations on the site, or as otherwise permitted by the Town through the Building Inspector or his or her designee;
- Construction equipment and materials no longer to be used on the site shall be removed from the site within 14 calendar days, unless otherwise permitted by the Town through the Building Inspector or his or her designee;
- A drive entrance pad, or its equivalent, shall be placed, utilized, and maintained on site to provide an area where construction vehicles entering and exiting the building site can remove mud and sediment from tires prior to driving on public or private ways, unless determined technically infeasible by the Building Inspector or his or her designee;
- In interests of public safety and protecting abutting property owners, lateral supports shall not be removed from any footing or foundation without first protecting such footings or foundations against settlement or lateral translation.
Fines of $50.00 per category upon first report of violations to the Building Inspector, and $100.00 per category per day thereafter will be imposed.
It was hoped that the GNA would go some way toward making the experience of residential construction more predictable and less stressful for abutters. To gauge its impact, the RSG sent a follow-up survey one year later, to abutters of 24 selected projects completed after the GNA went into effect, a total of 1,280 households. Of those who replied, itself a disappointingly low number, only 48 remembered receiving notice. A public records request showed that only 3 developers had submitted all the required materials. So far there has been no action on the part of Inspectional Services to remedy this situation.
Enforcement is a key issue in many Bylaws, especially those related to zoning, and it often falls upon residents to bring attention about instances of non-compliance to the appropriate official. Without enforcement, the work of the RSG is rendered moot. More importantly, the faith of residents in our Town’s governing and enforcement bodies is undercut.
What does all this mean for your neighborhood?
If there is a project going on in your neighborhood and you live within 200 feet but do not receive a complete packet from the builder, or if the site is not properly maintained, please contact Inspectional Services to let them know. If you don’t feel you get a satisfactory response, contact the Town Manager.
Their contact information:
Inspectional Services
781.316.3390
Adam Chapdelaine, Town Manager
781.316.3010
And while ARFRR does not address individual issues of enforcement, we do keep track of enforcement issues overall. Please let us know about instances of GNA non-compliance, at askarfrr@outlook.com
