Since I am undertaking a review of this proposal, I felt out of fairness, I should provide the full text of the proposal for your consumption. I have not found this version of the proposal posted anywhere on the internet.
I A Sections 7 - 9
7) Site plan review
The following new Section 7A is inserted into chapter 40A:
40A:7A. Site Plan Review
(a) As used in this section, "site plan review" shall mean review and approval under a municipality’s zoning ordinance or by-law, by an authority other than the zoning administrator, of a proposed use of land or structures that does not require a special permit or a variance, whether to determine whether a proposed use of land or structures is in compliance with the ordinance or by-law, to evaluate the proposed use of land or structures, to consider site design alternatives or otherwise.
(b) In addition to the home rule authority of cities and towns to require site plan review, a municipality may adopt a local ordinance or by-law under this section requiring site plan review and approval by a designated authority before authorization is granted for the use of land or structures governed by a zoning ordinance or by-law. The approving authority may adopt, and from time to time amend, rules and regulations to implement the local site plan review ordinance or by-law, including provisions for the imposition of reasonable fees for the employment of outside consultants in the same manner as set forth in section 53G of chapter 44.
(c) An ordinance or by-law requiring site plan review, whether adopted under this section or under the municipality’s home rule authority, shall comply with the provisions of this and all following subsections of Section 7A. The ordinance or by-law shall establish the submission, review, and approval process for applications, which may include the requirement of a public hearing held pursuant to the provisions in section eleven of this chapter. Approval of a site plan shall require a simple majority vote of the designated authority and shall be made within the time limits prescribed by ordinance or by-law, not to exceed 90 days from the date of filing of the application. If no decision is issued within the time limit prescribed, the site plan shall be deemed constructively approved as provided in section 9, paragraph 11 of this chapter. The submission and review process for a site plan submitted in connection with an application for a special permit or variance shall be conducted with the review of such application in a coordinated process.
(d) Site plan review may include only those conditions that are necessary: (i) to ensure substantial compliance of the proposed use of land or structures with the requirements of the zoning ordinance or by-law; or (ii) to mitigate any extraordinary adverse impacts of the project on adjacent properties or public infrastructure. Site plan approval may not require the payment or performance of any off-site mitigation, except that site plan approval may be subject to development impact fees imposed in accordance with the provisions of Section 9D of this chapter. A site plan application may be denied only on the grounds that: (i) the proposed use of land or structures project does not meet the conditions and requirements set forth in the zoning ordinance or by-law; (ii) the applicant failed to submit information and fees required by the zoning ordinance or by-law and necessary for an adequate and timely review of the design of the proposed land or structures; or (iii) it is not possible to adequately mitigate extraordinary adverse project impacts on adjacent properties or public infrastructure by means of suitable site design conditions.
(e) Zoning ordinances or by-laws shall provide that a site plan approval granted under this section shall lapse within a specified period of time, not less than two years from the date of the filing of such approval with the city or town clerk, if substantial use or construction has not yet begun, except as extended for good cause by the approving authority. Such extension shall not include time required to pursue or await the determination of an appeal under subsection (f) or Section 17. The aforesaid minimum period of two years may, by ordinance or by-law, be increased to a longer period.
(f) Except where site plan review is required in connection with the issuance of a special permit or variance, decisions made under site plan review, whether made pursuant to statutory or home rule authority, may be appealed by a civil action in the nature of certiorari pursuant to Chapter 249, Section 4 of the General Laws, and not otherwise. Such civil action may be brought in the superior court or in the land court and shall be commenced within twenty days after the filing of decision of the site plan review approving authority with the city or town clerk. All issues in any proceeding under this section shall have precedence over all other civil actions and proceedings. A complaint by a plaintiff challenging a site plan approval under this section shall allege the specific reasons why the project fails to satisfy the requirements of this section or the zoning ordinance or by-law or other applicable law and allege specific facts establishing how the plaintiff is aggrieved by such decision. The approving authority’s decision in such a case shall be affirmed unless the court concludes the approving authority abused its discretion under subsection (d) in approving the project.
(g) In municipalities that adopted a zoning ordinance or by-law requiring some form of site plan review prior to the effective date of this act, the provisions of this Section 7A shall not be effective with respect to such zoning ordinance or by-law until the date one year after the effective date of this act.
8) Transfer of development rights
The fourth paragraph of Section 9 of Chapter 40A is modified as follows:
Zoning ordinances or by-laws may provide for special permits authorizing authorize the transfer of development rights of land within or between districts a city or town, or within two or more cities and towns that have adopted complementary ordinances or by-laws. Such authorization may be by special permit or by other methods, including, but not limited to, the applicable provisions of sections 81K to 81GG, inclusive, of chapter 41, and in accordance with a planning board’s rules and regulations governing subdivision control. Such Zoning ordinances or by-laws may shall include incentives such as increases in density of population, intensity of use, amount of floor space or percentage of lot coverage, that encourage the transfer of development rights in a manner that protect open space, preserve farmland, promote housing for persons of low and moderate income or further other community interests.
9) Cluster development
The seventh paragraph of Section 9 of Chapter 40A is modified as follows:
“Cluster development” means a residential development in which reduced dimensional requirements allow the developed areas to be concentrated in order to preserve open land elsewhere on the plot. the buildings and accessory uses are clustered together into one or more groups separated from adjacent property and other groups within the development by intervening open land. A cluster development shall be permitted only on a plot of land of such minimum size as a zoning ordinance or by-law may specify which is divided into building lots with dimensional control, density and use restrictions of such building lots varying from those otherwise permitted by the ordinance or by-law and open land. Such open land when added to the building lots shall be at least equal in area to the land area required by the ordinance or by-law for the total number of units or buildings contemplated in the development. Such open land may be situated to promote and protect maximum solar access within the development. Zoning ordinances or by-laws may authorize cluster development for development proceeding as-of-right or otherwise. Unless such open land is subject to a conservation restriction or agricultural preservation restriction, such open land shall be required to either be conveyed to the city or town and accepted by it for park or open space use, or be conveyed to a non-profit organization the principal purpose of which is the conservation of open space, agricultural land, historic resources, or watersheds, or to be conveyed to a corporation or trust owned or to be owned by the owners of lots or residential units within the plot. If such a corporation or trust is utilized, ownership thereof shall pass with conveyances of the lots or residential units. In any case where such land is not conveyed to the city or town or a non-profit organization as described above, a restriction shall be recorded providing that such land shall be preserved accordingly and not be built for residential use or developed for accessory uses such as parking or roadway.
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