[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Franklin 7-8-1998
by Bylaw Amendment 98-367; amended in its entirety 8-13-2003
by Bylaw Amendment 03-523. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter provides for the review of public way access permit applications
to protect the public safety and the Town of Franklin infrastructure. These
regulations apply to public way access permit applications for:
A.
Any new access to a Town of Franklin public way.
B.
Any physical modification to an existing access to a
public way if it alters the physical or traffic operational features of the
access; or
C.
The use of a new or existing access to serve the building
or expansion of a facility that generates a substantial increase in or impact
on traffic from properties that abut the public way, where such traffic increase
or impact is presumed whenever the following use thresholds are met or exceeded:
(1)
Residential, including hotels, motels, lodging houses
and dormitories with an increased occupancy of more than 25 persons.
(2)
Nonresidential: 250 trips per day as defined in the ITE
Trip Generation Manual, latest edition.
(3)
Nonresidential: 25 new parking spaces.
(4)
Nonresidential: 5,000 new square feet.
The Town Administrator or his designee shall be responsible for the
issuance and/or denial of public way access permits. A permit applicant shall
request issuance of a permit on a standard form, supplied by the Department
of Public Works. A permit application shall be deemed complete only after
the following items have been submitted:
A.
Standard application form.
B.
Evidence of compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental
Policy Act (MEPA) by the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs of the
Commonwealth, if necessary.
C.
Engineering plans showing the proposed work, including
the limits of disturbance within the right-of-way.
The Town Council, by regulation, may adopt a schedule of reasonable
fees to accompany said application.
A.
Where an application is deemed complete, the Town Administrator
or his designee shall render a decision within the following timetable, by
filing same with the Town Clerk:
B.
The Town may retain a qualified technical expert to assist
in its assessment of the traffic impacts of the proposal. The fee for such
expert shall be paid by the applicant prior to the issuance, if any, of the
public way access permit.
C.
Where work requiring a public way access permit is subject to site plan review by the Planning Board pursuant to § 185-31 of the Zoning Bylaw, the Town Administrator or his designee shall coordinate its review hereunder with the Planning Board, to the extent feasible.
D.
Where the Town Administrator or his designee denies or
imposes conditions upon the issuance of a permit, the applicant may request
before the Town Council, a public hearing, in accordance with the procedures
set forth in MGL c. 40A, § 11.
The Town Administrator or his designee may deny the issuance of a public
way access permit due to the failure of the applicant to provide sufficient
improvements to facilitate safe and efficient highway operations, or when
the construction and use of the access applied for would create a condition
that is unsafe or endangers the public safety and welfare. Where the Town
Administrator or his designee denies said application, specific findings for
the denial shall be included in the written decision.
The Town Administrator or his designee may, in the alternative, condition
an access permit to facilitate safe and efficient traffic operations, to mitigate
traffic impacts and to avoid or minimize environmental damage during the construction
period and throughout the term of the permit. Such conditions may include,
but not be limited to:
A.
Necessary limitations on turning movements;
B.
Restrictions on the number of access points to serve
the parcel;
C.
Vehicle trip reduction techniques;
D.
Necessary and reasonable efforts to maintain existing
levels of service;
E.
Design and construction of necessary public way improvements
by the permittee; and
F.
Reimbursement by the permittee of costs of Town inspection
of public way improvement work.
Where site of access standards do not allow the proposed access to meet
these standards, the Town Administrator or his designee may vary application
of the design standards on a case-by-case basis, upon the finding that:
A.
For either a private applicant or a governmental entity,
where there are no reasonable available alternatives which would allow access
in compliance with these standards. In this case, the applicant must commit
to provide measures to mitigate impacts to traffic and operational safety,
which the Town Administrator or his designee determines are necessary; or
B.
As an alternative procedure for a governmental entity
only, the variance is necessary to accommodate an overriding municipal, regional
or state public interest, including the avoidance or minimization of environmental
impacts.
Construction under the terms of a public way access permit shall be
completed within one year of the date of issue, unless otherwise stated in
the permit. The Town Administrator or his designee may extend the permit for
an additional year, or for a longer term, at the written request of the permittee,
filed prior to the expiration of the original construction period.
The Town Administrator or his designee may suspend or revoke a public
way access permit if the applicant has not complied with the terms and conditions
of the permit.
The Town Administrator or his designee may issue written orders to enforce
the provisions of this chapter.
