Town of Williamstown, MA Article II Districts

§ 70-2.1 Establishment of districts.

A. For the purposes of this chapter, the Town of Williamstown is divided into the following types of basic districts:

(1) Residential districts:

[Amended 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 35]

	Rural Residence District 1 (RR1)
	Rural Residence District 2 (RR2)
	Rural Residence District 3 (RR3)
	General Residence District (GR)

(2) Nonresidential districts:

[Amended 5-18-2010 ATM, Art. 27]

	Limited Business District (LB)
	Limited Industrial District (LI)
	Tourist Business District (TB)
	Village Business District (VB)
	Planned Business District (PB)

(3) Mixed use districts:

[Added 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 33]

Southern Gateway District

B. In addition, there are the following overlay districts which are superimposed over portions of the above districts:

[Amended 5-18-2004 ATM, Art. 28; 5-15-2007 ATM, Art. 32; 5-17-2016 ATM, Art. 35]

	Floodplain District (FP)
	Upland Conservation District (UC)
	Mobile Home Park District (MHP)
	Water Resource District 1 (WRD1)
	Water Resource District 2 (WRD2)
	Confined Aquifer District (CA)
	Wellhead Protection District (WPD)
	Cable Mills Redevelopment District (CMRD)
	Waubeeka Overlay District (WOD)

§ 70-2.2 District purposes.

District purposes are as follows for the basic districts. Purpose or intent for each of the overlay districts is stated in § 70-7.4, Overlay District Requirements.

A. Rural Residence District 1 is intended to provide for residential standards compatible with the rural and upland character of sensitive environmental areas at the higher elevations of the Town.

B. Rural Residence District 2 is intended as a district for typical rural uses with which single-family homes are compatible.

C. Rural Residence District 3 is intended to provide for the protection and preservation of special community service districts from the dangers of development in those districts exceeding the reasonable capacity of the services, thereby rendering their benefits unavailable to the Town and the rest of its inhabitants.

D. General Residence District is intended to provide an area in the Town where people can live who prefer not to live in a rural or semirural atmosphere, or who prefer not to live in a sparsely populated area, and to provide this area in such a manner and location that the character of the Town will not be destroyed, and that the soil conditions can accommodate the permitted density.

[Amended 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 35[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This article also redesignated former Subsections F through J as Subsections E through I, respectively.

E. Limited Business District is intended to provide goods and services at retail, in contradistinction to goods and services for businesses or commercial enterprises.

F. Limited Industrial District is intended for use by research laboratories, office buildings and selected light industries which are compatible with a low-density, rural residential community.

G. Tourist Business District is intended to provide goods and services primarily for transients and tourists.

H. Village Business District is intended to accommodate a broad mixture of uses in a compact pedestrian-oriented environment.

I. Planned Business District is intended to accommodate a broad range of uses in an environment allowing integrated planning of relatively large parcels.[2]

[2] Editor’s Note: Former Subsection K, regarding the Business Campus District, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 5-18-2010 ATM, Art. 27.

J. Southern Gateway District is intended to protect the scenic southern entrance to Williamstown from overdevelopment while also ensuring the viability of existing businesses and residences.

[Added 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 33]

§ 70-2.3 Location of districts.

A. Basic districts. The basic zoning districts are hereby established as shown, located, defined and bounded in the Williamstown Geographic Information System (GIS) on a map entitled "Town of Williamstown – Zoning Districts" and as subsequently amended in accordance with § 70-8.6, which is available for public view on the Town website and a paper copy of which is on file with the Town Clerk. The Zoning Map, together with all explanatory matter thereon, is hereby incorporated in and made a part of this chapter.

[Amended 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 30]

B. Floodplain District.

[Added 5-19-1998 ATM, Art. 26]

(1) The location of the Floodplain District is that area within the one-hundred-year flood level as shown on the maps entitled "Flood Boundary and Floodway Map," including Panels 1 through 3; Town of Williamstown Flood Insurance Rate Maps, including Zones A and A1-30, dated April 3, 1984, as issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on file in the office of the Town Clerk. That study shall be used in interpreting the location of and regulations for the Floodplain District.

[Amended 5-16-2006 ATM, Art. 39]

(2) In Zones A, A1-30 and AE, along watercourses that have not had a regulatory floodway designated, the best available federal, state, local or other floodway data shall be used to prohibit encroachments in floodways which would result in any increase in flood levels within the community during the occurrence of the base flood discharge.

C. Water Resource and Confined Aquifer Districts. Water Resource Districts 1 and 2 and the Confined Aquifer District are established as shown in the Williamstown Geographic Information System (GIS) on a map entitled "Town of Williamstown – Water Resources – Zoning Overlay Districts," a paper copy of which is available for public view on the Town website and within the office of the Town Clerk.

[Amended 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 30]

D. Wellhead Protection District. The Wellhead Protection District is established as shown in the Williamstown Geographic Information System (GIS) on a map entitled "Town of Williamstown – Wellhead Protection District," apaper copy of which is available for public view on the Town website and within the office of the Town Clerk. Said map is hereby incorporated into this chapter.

[Amended 5-21-2013 ATM, Art. 30]

E. [1]The Cable Mills Redevelopment District is composed of land shown on Lot 91, Map 121, Williamstown Assessors Atlas, as updated to 2007, and to include Assessor's Parcels 131 - 901 through 906 in the Cable Mills Redevelopment District, and on file in the office of the Town Clerk.

[Added 5-15-2007 ATM, Art. 32; amended 11-14-2017 STM, Art. 7]

[1] Editor's Note: Former Subsection E, regarding boundaries of the Station Mill Redevelopment District, added 5-18-2004 ATM, Art. 28, was repealed 5-15-2007 ATM, Art. 29.

F. Waubeeka Overlay District is composed of land shown on the Williamstown Assessor's Maps, as of the date of the passage of this chapter, Map 303, Lot 51 and 17, and Map 304, Lot 30.

[Added 5-17-2016 ATM, Art. 35]

§ 70-2.4 District boundaries.

A. Layout center lines. Where the boundary lines are shown upon said map within the street lines of public and private ways, or utility transmission lines, the center lines of such ways or lines shall be the boundary lines, unless otherwise indicated.

B. Offset boundary lines. Boundary lines located outside such street lines or transmission lines, and shown approximately parallel thereto, shall be regarded as parallel to such lines, and dimensions shown in figures placed upon said map between such boundary lines and such transmission lines are the distance in feet of such boundary lines from the center line of such streets, private ways or transmission lines, such distances being measured at right angles to such lines unless otherwise indicated.

C. Property lines. Where the boundary lines are shown approximately on the location of property or lot lines, and the exact location of property, lot or boundary lines is not indicated by means of dimensions shown in figures, then the property or lot lines shall be the boundary lines.

D. Contour lines. Contour lines used as boundary lines are the elevation above the datum sea level as indicated by the United States Geological Survey map of the Williamstown Quadrant, dated 1960, on file in the office of the Planning Board.

E. Soil association lines. Soil association lines used as boundary lines are the soil association boundary lines shown on the Soil Conservation Service Map, dated August 1962, which is an overlay on the United States Geological Survey map of the Williamstown Quadrant, dated 1960, on file in the office of the Planning Board.

F. Other boundary lines. In all cases which are not covered by other provisions in this section, the location of boundary lines shall be determined by the distance in feet, if given, from other lines upon said map, by the use of identification as shown on the map or by the scale of said map.

G. Wellhead Protection District boundary disputes.

(1) If the location of the Wellhead Protection District boundary in relation to a particular parcel is in doubt, resolution of boundary disputes shall be through a special permit application to the Zoning Board of Appeals. Any such application for a special permit shall be accompanied by adequate documentation.

(2) The burden of proof shall be carried by the owner(s) of the parcel in question to demonstrate where the Wellhead Protection District boundary should be properly located.

(3) The Zoning Board of Appeals shall retain qualified experts at the reasonable expense of the owner(s) to evaluate the application and submittals, except in those cases where such assistance is determined by the Zoning Board of Appeals to be unnecessary due to the simplicity of the case.

§ 70-2.5 Divided lots.

A. District boundary lines. Where a district boundary line divides any lot of record existing at the time such boundary line is adopted, any building or use permitted in either district shall be permitted for said lot within a distance not exceeding 30 feet beyond the district boundary line. All requirements of the district in which the use is located (including lot area, frontage and yards) must be met without making use of land beyond that thirty-foot distance. However, the lot shall be considered as a whole in the case of a use allowed in both districts, in which event the dimensional regulations of the district in which the majority of the lot frontage lies shall apply to the entire lot.

B. Town boundary line. When a lot is situated in part in the Town of Williamstown and in part in an adjacent municipality or state, the provisions of this chapter shall be applied to that portion of the lot lying in the Town of Williamstown in the same manner as if the entire lot were situated therein.