The court, upon consideration of the parties' Joint Motion to Remand, filed October 23, 2020, hereby orders this case remanded to the City of Worcester Planning Board ("Board") so that the plaintiffs, Premier Property Group, LLC and HP Acquisitions, LLC ("plaintiffs") may submit to the Board a petition, in the form of a revised Special Permit Application, requesting a special permit from the Board to allow the use of the property owned and occupied by plaintiffs at 757 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts (the "Property") as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (the "Remand Petition"). The Board may consider and issue a decision upon such Remand Petition without the necessity of a finding under G.L. c. 40A, § 16, that plaintiffs' revised Special Permit Application is not a repetitive application.
Plaintiffs shall submit a Remand Petition to the Board within 15 days of the issuance of this Order of Remand. The Board shall schedule a public hearing on the Remand Petition as soon as possible and no later than December 31, 2020. Notice of the public hearing shall be provided pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 11, and sent to all parties in interest. Any costs of advertising the public hearing shall be borne by plaintiffs. No new application fee shall be charged to plaintiffs for the Remand Petition.
In considering the Remand Petition, the Board shall reconsider the evidence presented in the proceedings on the original petition that is the subject of this action along with the Remand Petition and any new evidence presented as part of the Remand Petition. At the public hearing, plaintiffs may present evidence and testimony pertaining to the Remand Petition and the zoning relief requested in the Remand Petition. After the close of the public hearing, the Board shall consider all the evidence, including but not limited to the evidence presented as part of the proceedings of the original petition, the Remand Petition, and evidence presented during the public hearing. After consideration of all the evidence, the Board shall issue a written decision on the Remand Petition, with findings supported by the evidence, in accordance with the City of Worcester Zoning Ordinance and G.L. c. 40A, § 9 (the "Remand Decision"). The Board shall issue and file the Remand Decision with the Worcester City Clerk ("City Clerk") as soon as possible and no later than January 15, 2021 ("decision deadline"), provided that all reasonably required information has been submitted. The parties may extend the decision deadline by mutual written agreement filed with the City Clerk. Should the parties extend the decision deadline as provided for in this paragraph, they shall report that extension to the court on or before January 20, 2021.
The court shall retain jurisdiction of this matter for all purposes, including, but not limited to: (1) enforcing the terms and conditions of this Order of Remand, and (2) hearing any subsequent appeals. Plaintiffs shall be entitled to appeal the Remand Decision pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 17. Any such appeal shall comply with the requirements of § 17, shall be filed as a Complaint after Remand, and shall be docketed as part of this action. If aggrieved by the Remand Decision, Plaintiffs may also, within twenty days of the filing of the Remand Decision with the City Clerk, (a) file with this court (and serve on all parties) a motion for leave to amend the pleadings to assert a right to judicial review of the decision, with the form of the proposed amended pleading attached to the motion to amend, and (b) file with the City Clerk, with a copy to counsel of record, written notice of having filed the motion to amend, accompanied by a true copy of the motion to amend.
The parties shall jointly report to the court on the status of the Remand Petition no later than January 25, 2021.
SO ORDERED
PREMIER PROPERTY GROUP, LLC and HP ACQUISITION, LLC, Plaintiffs v. CITY OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS PLANNING BOARD and JOHN VIGLIOTTI, ALBERT LaVALLEY, PAUL DePALO, ELEANOR GILMORE, and EDWARD MOYNIHAN, in their capacity as members of the CITY OF WORCESTER PLANNING BOARD, Defendants