[HISTORY: Adopted by the Special Town Meeting
of the Town of Harwich 5-5-2009 by Art. 1. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Visibility at intersections — See
Ch. 95.
Parking — See Ch. 208.
No person shall obstruct or excavate any public
or private way (excepting private driveways) without first obtaining
a license therefor. The Director of Highways and Maintenance or other
official having charge of the streets and highways of the Town may,
upon written application therefor, grant licenses in writing for the
obstruction or excavation of any street or highway or for such excavation
as may be required for the purpose of erecting, repairing, altering
or removing any building or structure, for the laying of drains, gas
pipes, or electric conduits or for any purpose which to him seems
reasonable and proper, and such official in charge of the streets
and highways shall require any person, firm or corporation acting
under such license to make repair of any damage that may be done to
any part of the highway resulting therefrom, and such repair shall
be at the expense of the licensee, except that the Water Department
of the Town of Harwich shall not be required to obtain such license
or make such repair in connection with the installation of water services
from its mains or in connection with emergency repairs. The official
having charge of the streets and highways shall require every licensee
under this section to execute such indemnity bond and with sureties
and in such sum which to him may seem reasonable and proper, and all
such bonds shall be approved as to form by Town Counsel prior to execution.
No road of less than forty-foot width shall
be accepted by the Town as a Town way unless a road of lesser width
is recommended by a majority vote of the Planning Board in writing
to the Board of Selectmen.
No road shall be accepted by the Town as a Town
way until it has been cleared to a width of at least 20 feet, leveled
and hardened with a suitable material to a depth of six inches, all
to the satisfaction of both the Director of Highways and Maintenance
and the Board of Selectmen.
A.
In the event that a group of property owners who own
property on a private road which has been open for public use for
at least five years wish the Town of Harwich to finance the repair
of their private way, they shall engage an engineer experienced in
road construction and repair who shall survey the road in question
to develop a plan for the repair of that private road which shall
take into consideration the need for additional drainage, new berms,
driveway aprons to protect the edges of the repaired road, the filling
of existing cracks and the application of one or more layers of bituminous
concrete. The repair shall be designed to bring the road up to Town
standards or as close as possible within the physical constraints
of the right-of-way.
B.
The plan shall specify the projected useful life of
the repaired private way, and in no event shall the projected useful
life be less than 15 years. All costs of preparing the plan, obtaining
cost estimates and preparing the petition described below shall be
the exclusive responsibility of the petitioners.
C.
The property owners shall prepare a petition to the
Board of Selectmen for the Town of Harwich to finance the work in
an amount certain, including a ten-percent contingency amount. The
petition shall list the parcels by lot number and map number together
with the owners' names of record with a space for each owner to place
his or her signature. The petition must state that each signature
represents an irrevocable agreement by each signatory to repay to
the Town of Harwich, through the mechanism of a betterment added to
each owner's real estate tax bill, his or her pro rata share of the
total amount to be financed plus interest and administrative costs,
which Town administrative costs shall not exceed 10% of the project.
The petition shall not be presented to the Selectmen unless 50% of
all the abutters to the road plus one more abutter shall have agreed
to the project and its financial commitment by having signed it. Once
approved by the Board, all abutters shall be assessed for a pro rata
share of the cost of the betterment.
D.
The petition, accompanied by the engineer's plan,
a map of the private way to be repaired and backup for the cost estimates,
shall be submitted to the Selectmen's office on or before August 31.
The Selectmen shall refer every such petition to the Assessor's office
for verification of signatures and confirmation that more than 50%
of the abutters have signed. The Selectmen shall consider all submitted
petitions that pass the Assessor's examination prior to September
30. If the Selectmen determine that the proposed repairs are in the
public interest and if the Selectmen determine that these repairs
are within the financial capabilities of the Town, the Board of Selectmen
shall refer each petition so determined to the Planning Board which
shall conduct a public hearing on each petition on or before November
15 to evaluate the plan, examine the cost estimates and hear from
both the abutters and the general public. The Planning Board shall
either endorse the plan by a simple majority vote and return it to
the Selectmen, recommend changes in costs or scope of the plan or
disapprove the plan by a simple majority vote.
E.
If the Planning Board approves any such plan, the
Board of Selectmen may place the plan on the warrant for the next
Annual Town Meeting. If the Planning Board suggests modifications
or changes in scope of costs, the Board of Selectmen may, as its option,
send out proxies to the abutters noting scope and cost changes or
it may return the project to the petitioners. If proxies are sent
out, they must be returned by December 31; the Selectmen may place
the project on the Annual Town Meeting warrant, provided that more
than 50% of the abutters approve the revisions.
F.
If the Annual Town Meeting votes to endorse and finance
the project, the engineer who did the original plan shall be named
"Project Manager." He shall prepare a new set of bid specifications
with the bids to be directed to the Town Administrator. The Project
Manager and the Town Administrator shall select the best bid to do
the work. The Project Manager shall advise the Director of the Division
of Highways and Maintenance 48 hours in advance of each phase of the
project and certify, in writing, to the Director of the Division of
Highways and Maintenance that each phase of the project has been completed
to the Project Manager's satisfaction. The Director of the Division
of Highways and Maintenance shall inspect the completed work and certify
to the Town Accountant that the work is completed so that payment
may be made.
G.
For a group of private roads within a subdivision
in which membership in a neighborhood property owners' association
is automatic or mandatory, the same procedure shall be used:
(1)
So long as a majority of the owners of the lots abutting the group of private ways to be repaired signs the petition required by Subsection C above; and
(2)
So long as the group of private ways to be repaired
is owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the neighborhood
association or its members.
H.
The Town of Harwich shall incur no liability for any
damages of any nature whatsoever arising from the project by virtue
of the Town's agreeing to finance any repair of a private subdivision
way. The abutters who accept Town financing shall be deemed to have
indemnified and held the Town harmless against any and all such claims.
I.
Any private way improved under the provisions of this
bylaw need not be brought up to full Town road standards. Any private
way improved under the provisions of this bylaw shall continue to
remain a private way.
