Title
Communication from Malden Planning Board relative to Paper #273/14 (Amending Definitions of "Family" and "Rooming House")
Re: C.C.P. #273/2014 (Definitions, Family and Rooming House)
Amendment of §§800.6.2.31 & 800.6.2.61, Ch.12, R. O. of 1991 as Amended
Dear Councilors:
The Planning Board and City Council Ordinance Committee jointly held a new public hearing on October 8, 2014 regarding the above-referenced proposed amendment. This new public hearing was required, given that the City Council took no action on the petition within the time period prescribed by statute after the first public hearing closed on June 11, 2014.
As a result of yesterday's public hearing, a majority of the Planning Board present, namely, four of those seven members present, voted to recommend to the City Council approval of the amendment of §800.6.2.31 (Definition, Family) as submitted and approval of the amendment of §800.6.2.61 (Definition, Rooming House) revised as follows (revisions emphasized):
"A building owned and/or operated by an individual or entity who retains legal possession, custody and care of the whole building and of every room therein and who may or may not be an occupant, in which five (5) or more individual persons or families not related by blood, marriage or adoption to the owner or operator, and/or with no legal interest in the real estate and/or with no exclusive legal right to occupy and/or use the entirety of the building, are allowed to use and occupy only a specific or designated room or rooms in the building on either a transient or permanent basis, for compensation to the owner and/or operator, for sleeping and/or living and which may provide common facilities for cooking and sanitation. Rooming House includes lodging, boarding and tourists houses, fraternity houses and dormitories of educational institutions, and dormitories of charitable or philanthropic institutions; and excludes convalescent, nursing or rest homes; group residences licensed or regulated by agencies of the commonwealth; hotels, motels and inns."
The minutes of the joint public hearing will be made available at your request. For your reference, attached please find the Planning Report & Recommendation dated October 8, 2014 presented at the hearing.
Finally, please be advised, that, if the City Council fails to act on the amendment within 90 days after yesterday's public hearing closed, a new duly advertised public hearing must be held. Accordingly, the final date for action is January 6, 2014.
I am available to discuss and answer any questions you may have regarding the amendment and the Planning Board's recommendation. Please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Michelle A. Romero, City Planner