Who Is Notified About the Public Hearings?

Each applicant must obtain a Certified Abutters List from the Assessor’s Office.  Town regulations require that public hearing notices be mailed by the applicant via certified mail to all abutters as provided on the list.  An abutter, or “parties in interest” is defined under Section 11 of the Zoning Act as “the petitioner, abutters, owners of land directly opposite on any public or private street or way, and abutters to the abutters within three hundred feet of the property line of the petitioner as they appear on the most recent applicable tax list, notwithstanding that the land of any such owner is located in another city or town, the Planning Board of the city or town and the Planning Board of every abutting town.”  In addition, the Town of Sturbridge Subdivision Regulations require that notice be sent to all owners within three hundred (300) feet of the subdivision as appears on the most recent tax list.