A.
General. In the case of a subdivision showing lots
in a residential zone a preliminary plan may be submitted by the subdivider
for discussion and action by the Planning Board. In the case of a
nonresidential subdivision the subdivider is required to file a preliminary
plan. The submission of such a preliminary plan will enable the subdivider,
the Board, other municipal agencies and owners of property abutting
the subdivision to discuss and clarify any problems of such subdivision
before a definitive plan is prepared. Therefore, it is strongly recommended
that a preliminary plan be filed in every case. A properly executed
application Form B (see Forms)[1] shall be filed with the preliminary plan submitted to
the Planning Board. The plan shall be submitted by delivery at a meeting
of the Board or by registered mail to the Board, in care of the Town
Clerk. If so mailed, the date of mailing shall be the date of submission
of the plan. In addition, written notice shall be given by the applicant
to the Town Clerk, by delivery or by registered mail, that he has
submitted such a plan.[2]
B.
Contents. The preliminary plan may be drawn on tracing paper with pencil at a scale of one inch equals 200 feet and two prints shall be filed at the office of the Board. Said preliminary plan shall be identified as a preliminary plan and shall show sufficient information about the subdivision to form a clear basis for discussion of its problems and for the preparation of the definitive plan. Such information will include the material required by § 465-28B(1) to (7), inclusive (contents of definitive plan). During discussion of the preliminary plan the complete information required for the definitive plan (§ 465-28B) will be developed.
A.
General. Any person who submits a definitive plan
of a subdivision to the Planning Board for approval shall file with
the Board the following:
(1)
An original reproducible drawing of the definitive plan (including all plans, maps and cross sections required by Subsection B of this section) and five contract prints thereof, dark line on white background. The original drawing will be returned after approval or disapproval.
(3)
Evidence that the definitive plan conforms to the
approved preliminary plan or that the definitive plan includes the
modifications required by the Board's action on the preliminary plan.
(5)
A location plan of the subdivision at a scale of one
inch equals 800 feet, including its position within the Massachusetts
Coordinate System as specified in Chapter 47 of the Acts of 1941 and
showing the right-of-way lines of all proposed streets in the subdivision
and their location in relation to two or more existing streets, or
portions thereof, shown and readily identifiable as to locus on the
Town Map and to such accuracy that the Town Map may be placed over
the location plan for purposes of actual transfer.
B.
Contents. The definitive plan shall be prepared by an engineer or surveyor and shall be clearly and legibly drawn in black India ink upon tracing cloth or other stable base material such as drafting film. The plan shall be at a scale of one inch equals 40 feet. Sheet sizes shall preferably not exceed 24 inches by 36 inches. If multiple sheets are used, they shall be accompanied by an index sheet showing the entire subdivision. The definitive plan shall contain the following information. Items in Subsection B(13), (14) and (15) may be submitted on the same sheet as the definitive plan or on separate sheets.
(1)
Subdivision name, boundaries, true North point, date,
and scale.
(2)
Names and addresses of record owner and applicant.
(3)
Names of all the abutters as they appear in the most
recent tax list, including owners of land separated from the subdivision
only by a street; and zoning district boundaries, if any.
(4)
Existing and proposed lines of streets, lots, rights-of-way,
easements, and public or common areas within the subdivision. (The
proposed names of proposed streets shall be shown in pencil until
they have been approved by the Board.) Purpose of easements shall
be indicated.
(5)
Location, names and present widths of streets bounding,
approaching, and within reasonable proximity of the subdivision.
(6)
Location of natural waterways and water bodies within
and adjacent to the subdivision.
(7)
Major site features, such as existing stone walls,
fences, buildings, large trees, rock ridges and outcroppings, and
swamps.
(8)
Sufficient data, including length, bearings, radii
and central angle, to determine the exact location, direction and
length of every street and way line, lot line and boundary line, and
to establish these lines on the ground. The location of the subdivision
shall be tied to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Coordinate Mapping
System by locating corners, indicating a base line, or using a grid.
(9)
Location of all the permanent monuments and bench
marks, and each proposed lot marker, properly identified as to whether
existing or proposed.
(10)
Boundary lines, areas in square feet, and dimensions
of all proposed lots, with all lots designated numerically and in
sequence, and with all lots located according to the Massachusetts
Coordinate Mapping System.
(11)
Name of the engineer or surveyor who prepared
the plan and certificates and seals of the engineer or surveyor that
actually prepared the plan, and an additional certificate by the surveyor
that all surveying conforms to the Technical Standards for Property
Surveys of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.
(12)
Suitable space to record the action of the Board
and the signatures of the members of the Board on each sheet of the
definitive plan. Where the applicant elects to secure completion of
required improvements by covenant (rather than bonds or surety), there
shall be a notation above such space as follows: "Approved ___________________,
subject to covenant conditions set forth in a covenant executed by__________
___________ dated ____________, and to be (recorded) (registered)
herewith."
(13)
Existing and proposed topography, with two-foot
contour intervals, unless the Board agrees that the natural surface
of the ground may be adequately represented by contours with larger
intervals or by figures of elevation.
(14)
Profiles on the right-of-way lines or proposed
streets at a horizontal scale of one inch equals 40 feet and a vertical
scale of one inch equals eight feet, or such other scale acceptable
by the Board. All elevations shall refer to Town datum. Profiles shall
also indicate the location of any intersecting public or private ways
and the location of existing and proposed storm drains, water mains,
sewers and their appurtenances, and any other underground utilities
to be placed in the right-of-way.
(15)
On the same sheet, there shall be drawn cross
sections of the proposed streets, properly located and identified
by station number, at such intervals along the streets as will adequately
indicate any variations in its section, supplemented, where necessary,
by lines on the layout plan showing the width and location of proposed
roadways, planting strip, gutters, sidewalks, and similar physical
features.
C.
Review by Board of Health as to suitability of the
land. At the time of filing of the definitive plan, the subdivider
shall also file with the Board of Health two contact prints of the
definitive plan, dark line on white background. The Board of Health
shall, within 45 days after filing of the plan, report to the Planning
Board in writing its approval or disapproval of said plan. If the
Board of Health disapproves said plan, it shall make specific findings
as to which, if any, of the lots shown on such plan cannot be used
for building sites without injury to public health, and include such
specific findings and the reasons therefor in such report, and, where
possible, shall make recommendations for the adjustment thereof. Any
approval of the plan by the Planning Board shall then only be given
on condition that the lots or land about which such doubt exists shall
not be built upon or served with any utilities (including cesspools,
septic tanks, and drainage) without prior consent of the Board of
Health. The Planning Board shall endorse on the plan such condition,
specifying the lots or land to which such condition applies.
D.
Prior approval under MGL c. 131, § 40, Wetlands
Protection Act. Any person submitting a subdivision for approval by
the Board, said subdivision to be built on any bank, flat, marsh,
meadow, or swamp bordering on any inland or coastal waterways, shall
show evidence of approval to perform such activity under the Wetlands
Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40.[4]
[4]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 490 for wetlands
regulations promulgated by the Conservation Commission.
E.
Public hearing. Before approval, modification and
approval, or disapproval of the definitive plan is given, a public
hearing shall be held by the Board, notice of the time and place of
which and of the subject matter, sufficient for identification, shall
be given by the Board at the expense of the applicant by advertisement
in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Salisbury once
in each of two successive weeks, the first publication being not less
than 14 days before the day of such hearing, and by mailing a copy
of such advertisement to the applicant and to all owners of land abutting
upon the land included in such plan or separated from such land only
by a street as appearing on the most recent tax list.
F.
Performance guarantee. Before endorsement of the Board's approval of a definitive plan of a subdivision, the applicant shall agree to complete the required improvements specified in Article IX for all lots in the subdivision, such construction and installation to be secured by one, or in part by one and in part by another, of the following methods which may from time to time be varied by the applicant.
(1)
Approval with bonds or surety. The applicant shall either file a surety company performance bond or a deposit of money or negotiable securities in an amount determined by the Board to be sufficient to cover the cost of all or any part of the improvements specified in Article IX not covered by a covenant under Subsection F(2) below. Such bond or security, if filed or deposited, shall be approved as to form and manner of execution by the Town Counsel and as to sureties by the Town Treasurer and shall be contingent on the completion of such improvements within two years of the date of the bond or surety. At the discretion of the Board, a time extension may be granted.
(2)
Approval with covenant. The applicant shall file a
covenant Form E (see Forms),[5] executed and duly recorded by the owner of record, running with the land, whereby such ways and services as specified in Article IX, not covered by bond or deposit under Subsection F(1) above, shall be provided to serve any lot before such lot may be built upon or conveyed, other than by mortgage deed.
[5]
Editor's Note: Forms are available at the
office of the Planning Board.
G.
Reduction of bond or surety. The penal sum of any such bond, or the amount of any deposit held under Subsection F(1) above, may, from time to time, be reduced by the Board and the obligations of the parties thereto released by said Board in whole or part. If release is by reason of covenant, a new plan of the portion to be subject to the covenant may be required.
H.
Later alternate method of guaranteeing performance.
After sufficient improvements have been made by the subdivider to
give the Board reason to release one or more lots from a performance
guarantee and following the recording of a mortgage or mortgages on
a lot or lots in the subdivision given as security for advances to
the subdivider by a lender, the Board may, at its option, release
lots from the operation of a performance guarantee without receipt
of a bond or deposit of money upon delivery to the Board of an agreement
with the Board, which agreement shall be executed by the subdivider
and the leader and shall provide for the retention by the lender of
sufficient funds otherwise due the subdivider to secure the construction
of ways and the installation of utilities. Said agreement shall provide
for a schedule of disbursements which may be made to the subdivider
upon completion of various stages of the work and shall further provide
that in the event the work is not completed within the time set forth
by the subdivider, any funds remaining undisbursed shall be available
for completion.
I.
Release of performance guarantee. Upon the completion of improvements required under Article IX, security for the performance of which was given by bond, deposit or covenant, or upon the performance of any covenant with respect to any lot, the applicant shall send by registered mail to the Town Clerk and to the Board a written statement in duplicate that said construction or installation in connection with which such bond, deposit or covenant has been given has been completed in accordance with the requirements contained under Article IX, such statement to contain the address of the applicant. If the Board determines that said construction or installation has not been completed, it shall specify to the applicant in writing the details wherein said construction and installation fail to comply with the requirements contained under Article IX. Upon failure of the Board to act on such application within 45 days after the receipt of the application by the Town Clerk, all obligations under the bond shall cease and terminate by operation of law, and any deposit shall be returned and any such covenant shall become void. In the event that said forty-five-day period expires without such specification, or without the release and return of the bond or return of the deposit or release of the covenant as aforesaid, the Town Clerk shall issue a certificate to such effect, duly acknowledged, which may be recorded.
J.
Approval, modification or disapproval. After the required
hearing, but within the period specified in the Subdivision Control
Law of submission of the definitive plan, the Board shall take final
action thereon. It may approve or disapprove said plan, as provided
by statute.
K.
Certificate of approval. The action of the Board in
respect to such plan shall be by vote, copies of which shall be certified
and filed with the Town Clerk and sent by delivery or by registered
mail to the applicant. If the Board modifies or disapproves such plan,
it shall state in its vote the reasons for its action. Final approval,
if granted, shall be endorsed on the original drawing of the definitive
plan by the signatures of a majority of the Board but not until the
statutory twenty-day appeal period has elapsed following the filing
of the certificate of the action of the Board with the Town Clerk
and said Clerk has notified the Board that no appeal has been filed,
or if appeal has been taken, not until the entry of a final decree
of the court sustaining the approval of such plan. After the definitive
plan has been approved and endorsed, the applicant shall furnish the
Board with three prints. Final approval of the definitive plan does
not constitute the laying out or acceptance by the Town of streets
within a subdivision.
