Catherine Benjamin v. Charlton, Town of - Planning Board (SPR 20191211)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords July 1,2019 SPR19/1211 Patricia Rydlak Charlton Planning Board 37 Main St #12 Charlton, MA O1 507 Dear Patricia Rydlak: I have received the petition of Catherine Benjamin appealing the response of the Charlton Planning Board (Board) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § I OA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Benjamin requested various categories of records concerning the "VGG Cultivation Site Plan." C111'1'e11t Appeal In a letter to this office dated June 16, 2019, Ms. Benjamin states, "I am appealing the records provided to me by the Charlton Planning Board because I believe there are additional records to be provided." Ms. Benjamin notes, "Planning Board meetings held in July strongly support additional emails and telephonic notes exist while the Planning Board Chair was researching Cannabis grow operations in CO and other vendors associated with Cannabis grow equipment and structures. In addition these meetings indicated the Planning Board Chair communicated with communities in our state about Marijuana zoning and state interpretations of the law. NONE of these early communications were provided." Please be advised, 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, § lO(a)(ii). Although the Board provided Ms. Benjamin records responsive to her request, it is unclear if the Board possesses any other responsive records. Co11cf 11sio11 Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide a supplemental response to the request, provided in a mam1er consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations One Ashbmton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Patricia Rydlack SPRI9/1211 Page2 July 1, 2019 without delay. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma. us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Catherine Benjamin Randy Benson