VII. - Applications for Approval:

1.

Application for approval or proposed changes may be obtained from the Office of Planning and Development, 147 Haverhill Street, Lawrence, MA 01840. The owner, trustee, or representative of the property concerned must sign.

2.

Applications must be signed by the owner, trustee, or representative of the property concerned. Applications made out by a lessee will be accepted only when accompanied by a notarized authorization signed by the property owner.

3.

Completed applications received at the Building Commissioner's office by the end of the week prior to the Committee's regular meeting will be scheduled for hearing in the order received.

4.

Application for alterations liable to be of concern to abutters must be filed three weeks prior to the meetings so that notices can be sent to the abutters. Costs of notification shall be charged to the applicant.

5.

If a prospective applicant wishes to discuss proposed alterations with the Committee before making a formal application; a place on the agenda can be reserved by writing or telephoning the Chairman. Any representation made at any such meeting will have no standing and must be formally approved at a later meeting, following the prescribed ordinance.

6.

The agenda for each meeting, and thus the time schedule for each applicant, shall be posted on the bulletin board at the City Clerk's Office at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. Copies of the agenda shall also be delivered to the City Council.

7.

New applications, which do not meet the 3-week criteria established in section VII, para. 4 and requests for preliminary hearings may also be given to the Committee at the start of any regularly scheduled meeting; the Committee may, by 2/3 approval of those present, hear and act upon their cases after all previous business has been taken care of. Otherwise, they shall be heard at the start of the next meeting.

8.

All applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness must include the following:

8.1 The completed application form.

8.2 Photographs of the building or site before the proposed alterations.

8.3 Drawings sufficient to describe in detail the work proposed. All drawings should have a scale to demonstrate size.

8.4 Paint color samples if the work includes repainting or staining. (to be included for advisory discussion if necessary)

8.5 Roofing samples or manufacturer's literature if the work includes re-roofing. (To be included for advisory discussion if necessary)

8.6 Samples, and/or literature on all other appropriate materials or products that will be used and visible in the alteration.

8.7 If the application concerns a sign it shall include:

a)

A photograph of the proposed site of the sign.

b)

A drawing of the proposed support of the sign.

c)

A full-scale outline or reduced-scale drawing the sign. If a reduced-scale drawing is shown, the scale must be shown. For example: 1 inch equals 1 foot.

d)

The words to be painted on the sign.

e)

The style, size, and placement of the lettering, along with the color scheme of the sign.

f)

The name of the sign painter.

8.8 The Committee may request any other pertinent materials.

9.

Although not required, the applicant's presence will usually expedite the review process, and may result in the acceptance of an application that might otherwise be disapproved for lack of complete information.

10.

If an application does not contain enough information for the Committee to determine the appropriateness of the proposed work, it may be:

10.1 discussed with the applicant, if present, in order to obtain the missing information,

10.2 returned to the applicant, if present, for withdrawal and reapplication at a later time,

10.3 or voted on and disapproved as incomplete. In this case, all supporting material shall be returned to the applicant.

11.

The Committee shall keep all approved applications on file at the City of Lawrence Office of Planning and Development. Several examples of complete and successful applications shall be available at the Office of Planning and Development for the benefit of prospective applicants.