John Dalton v. Webster, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20180177)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records February 22,20 18 SPRl81177 Ted Tetrault Building Commissionerl ADA Coordinator Town of Webster 350 Main Street Webster, MA 01 570 Dear Ms. Tetrault: I have received the petition of John Dalton appealing the response of the Town of Webster (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 5 IOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Dalton requested: "(l)[b]uilding codes for property line set-backs for residential areas/Loveland Road-Webster MA ," "(2) [clopy of building permit for 39 Loveland Road- [concrete slab] and [electricity]," "(3) [tax map] and GIs Map for 39 Loveland Road," and "(4) [dleed for 39 Loveland Road." The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all governmental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, 5 10A(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, 5 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 41 9 Mass. 507, 5 11 (1 995) (custodian has the .burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted portion of the responsive record. Determination In the Town's December 21,2017 supplemental response to Mr. Dalton, it reaffirms their August 3ot" response that "permits shall not be required for a one story detached accessory One Ashburton Place, Room 1719 , Boston, Massachusetts 02 108 (6 17) 727-2832- Fax: (61 7) 727-59 14 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us

Ted Tetrault Page 2 February 22,20 18 structure.. .provided the floor area does not exceed 200 square feet." A member of the Public Records Division staff contacted the Town and they confirmed the records Mr. Dalton requested do not exist for this property. Under the Public Records Law, the District is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 6A(d). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(a)(ii). Given that the Town does not possess any additional records, accordingly, I will consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, V Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: John Dalton