Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following
definitions shall apply in the interpretation and implementation of
this chapter.
ABUTTER
The owner of any property within 300 feet radially from any
lot line of the subject property, and includes owners of land directly
opposite the subject property on any public or private street or way,
including any such way in another municipality. In the case of property
with frontage on a pond, abutters shall include all those owners of
properties with frontage on the pond. In the case of property within
the Surface Water Supply Protection Zone A (as defined herein), abutters
shall include the owner of the water supply affected by the zone.
ACTIVITY
Any draining, dumping, dredging, damming, discharging, excavating,
filling or grading; any construction, reconstruction or expansion
of any building, structure, road or way; any alteration or changing
of the physical, chemical or biological characteristics of an area
of land or water.
AGRICULTURE
The same as the definition in MGL c. 128, § 1A.
ALTER (and other forms of this word)
Any material change affecting a resource, including but not
limited to:
(1)
Removal, excavation or dredging of soil, sand,
gravel or aggregate materials of any kind.
(2)
Changing of preexisting drainage characteristics,
flushing characteristics, salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns,
flow patterns or flood retention characteristics.
(3)
Drainage and/or other disturbance of water level
or water table.
(4)
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material
which may degrade water quality.
(5)
Placing of fill, or removal of material, which
would alter elevation.
(6)
Driving of piles, erection, expansion or repair
of buildings or structures of any kind.
(7)
Placing of obstructions or objects in water.
(8)
Destruction of plant life, including cutting
or trimming of tress and shrubs.
(9)
Changing temperature, biochemical oxygen demand
or other physical, biological or chemical characteristics of any waters.
(10)
Any activities, changes or work which may cause
or tend to contribute to pollution of any body of water or groundwater.
(11)
Incremental activities which have, or may have,
a cumulative adverse impact on the resource areas protected by this
chapter.
APPLICANT
Any person who files a determination of applicability or
notice of intent or on whose behalf said forms are filed.
APPLICATION
A determination of applicability or notice of intent filed
under this chapter.
BANK
The land area which normally abuts and confines a water body;
the lower boundary being the mean annual low flow level, and the upper
boundary being the first observable break in the slope, or the mean
annual flood level, whichever is higher.
BORDERING LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING
Land within the one-hundred-year floodplain, as mapped by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This area is presumed significant
for flood control and storm damage protection.
BUFFER ZONE
The same as the definition of the word in 310 CMR 10.00, and that area of land extending 100 horizontal linear feet horizontally outward from the boundary of the resource areas listed in §
178-5 of this chapter. The term "buffer zone" is synonymous with the "upland resource area."
CHEMICAL-FREE ZONE
A zone or area in which the manufacture, bulk storage or
distribution of petroleum, chemical or asphalt products or other materials
hazardous to the water supply are either prohibited or regulated so
that the water supply is protected from contamination by the product.
The products include:
(1)
Hazardous materials or oil as defined in MGL
c. 21E, § 2;
(3)
Large commercial quantities of material which
has a very soluble acid or base, or are highly biodegradable, or can
create a severe oxygen demand transported or stored in large commercial
quantities;
(4)
Poisons, or the active ingredients of poisons,
that are or were ever registered in accordance with the provisions
of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended
7 U.S.C. § 135 et seq.; or dangerous to mammalian or aquatic
life.
CUMULATIVE ADVERSE EFFECT
The effect on a wetland or buffer resource area that is significant,
considering the effect of one activity in combination with other activities
that have occurred, are occurring or are reasonably likely to occur
within that resource area, whether such activities have occurred or
are contemplated as a separate phase of the project, or as a result
of unrelated activities on adjacent land.
FORESTRY
The science, the art and the practice of conserving and managing
for human benefit the natural resources, including trees, other plants,
animals, soil and water, that occur on and in association with forest
lands as defined in MGL c. 132, § 47.
HARDSHIP
An unreasonable economic burden on an applicant which, after
an alternatives analysis cannot be alleviated by imposition of reasonable
conditions. In considering whether the burden is unreasonable the
Conservation Commission must consider:
(1)
The degree to which the economic burden on the
applicant is self-imposed by prior actions and decisions of the applicant;
(2)
The impact on resources and whether these impacts
can be mitigated; and
(3)
Whether denial of the applicant's requested
waivers would harm the public interest, as defined herein.
HISTORIC MILL BUILDING(S)
The historic structure or structures within the "historic
mill complex," defined in 310 CMR 10.04, which structures that are/were
used for manufacturing within the historic mill complex at any time
and which were standing in 1996 and at the time when an application
is filed.
INNER RIPARIAN ZONE
The first 100 horizontal linear feet of the riverfront measured
from the mean annual high water mark of the river to a parallel line
100 feet away.
INTERMITTENT STREAM
What it means in 310 CMR 10.00 and includes streams which
meet all criteria specified in the regulations, except:
(1)
The size of the watershed is greater than 0.25
miles and less than one mile square; and
(2)
The stream flows into a resource area.
ISOLATED LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING
A natural area, depression or basin that holds at minimum
1/8 acre-foot of water to an average depth of at least six inches
once a year. This shall not include swimming pools, artificially lined
ponds or pools, or constructed wastewater lagoons.
NO-BUILD ZONE
An area within which no structure, permanent or otherwise,
shall be erected.
NO-DISTURBANCE ZONE
An area that shall be maintained in its naturally vegetated
state, in which activity is prohibited, except for minor activity
as defined by 310 CMR 10.00.
OUTER RIPARIAN ZONE
The outer 100 feet of the riverfront area, measured from
the outer edge of the inner riparian zone to a line 100 horizontal
linear feet away and running parallel to it. The outer edge of the
outer riparian zone is 200 horizontal linear feet from the mean high
water mark of the river.
PERSON
Any individual, group of individuals, associations, partnerships,
corporations, business organizations, trust, estate, the Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, to the extent that the application of this chapter
is not in conflict with state law, any public or quasi-public corporation
or body, to the extent that application of this chapter is not in
conflict with state law, and any other entity, including the City
of Fitchburg.
POND
Has the same meaning as it does in 310 CMR 10.04, except
that the size threshold of 10,000 square feet shall not apply.
PRACTICE OF FORESTRY OR FORESTRY USE
Any professional services requiring the application of forestry
principles and techniques. Such services shall include, but not be
limited to, forest inventory, forest management planning, timber appraisal,
the responsibility for the direction and supervision of silvicultural
activities, use and protection of forested areas, and the evaluation
of the economic and biological consequences of forest management activities
as defined in MGL c. 132, § 47.
PRIORITY DEVELOPMENT SITE
A privately or publicly owned property that is:
(1)
Commercially or industrially zoned;
(2)
Eligible under applicable zoning provisions,
including special permits or other discretionary permits, for the
development or redevelopment of a building at least 50,000 square
feet of gross floor area in new or existing buildings or structures;
and
(3)
Designated as a priority development site by
the City of Fitchburg. Several parcels or projects may be included
within a single priority development site.
PUBLIC INTEREST
(1)
The common well-being or general welfare of
the residents of the City of Fitchburg or the general public, measured
by increased public access for recreational, educational and cultural
activities or increased protection of public health and safety;
(2)
The economic well-being of the City of Fitchburg.
RARE SPECIES
All the vertebrate and invertebrate animals and all plan
species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern by
the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, regardless whether
the site in which they occur has been previously identified by the
Division.
RIVERFRONT AREA
What it means in MGL c. 131, § 40, and in the DEP
regulations at 310 CMR 10.04 and 10.58, but the riverfront area also
includes the following:
(1)
Lakes and ponds through which a river flows,
regardless of their riverine characteristics, where such lake or pond
is less than 10 acres in its natural state, as calculated based on
the surface area of lands lying below the natural high water mark.
(2)
Certain intermittent streams as defined in this
chapter.
SEPTIC COMPONENTS ZONE
An area in which the placement of any tank, piping, leaching
field or other component of an underground sanitary sewage treatment
system is prohibited.
SURFACE WATER SUPPLY PROTECTION ZONE A
(1)
A four-hundred-foot-wide buffer strip along
the edge of a public water supply reservoir. The required setback
distance shall be measured from the mean high water line of the reservoir.
(2)
A two-hundred-foot buffer strip along the edge
of any tributary stream which discharges into a water supply reservoir.
The required setback distance shall be measured in the same way as
the riverfront area, pursuant to 310 CMR 10.00.
TRIBUTARY STREAM
Any perennial or intermittent stream, including any lake,
pond, wetland or other body of water formed therefrom, flowing either
directly or indirectly into any water supply reservoir and body of
running, or intermittently running, water which moves in a definite
channel, naturally or artificially created, in the ground due to a
hydraulic gradient, and which ultimately discharges to a Class A water
body as Class A water is defined in 314 CMR 4.05(3).
UNDERGROUND FUELS AND HAZMAT ZONE
A zone or area in which the manufacture, bulk storage or
distribution of petroleum, chemical or asphalt products or any substance
or mixture having physical, chemical or infectious characteristics
which pose a significant, actual or potential hazard to water supplies
or other hazards to human health, if such substance or mixture was
discharged to land or water in the vicinity and in which these substances
are either prohibited or regulated so that the water supply is protected
from contamination by the substances. These substances include toxic
or hazardous materials, synthetic organic chemicals, petroleum products,
heavy metals, radioactive or infectious wastes, acids and alkalis,
and all substances defined as toxic or hazardous under MGL c. 21C
and c. 21E and 310 CMR 30.00. This includes solvents and thinners
in quantities greater than normal household use.
UPLAND RESOURCE AREA
The "buffer zone," as defined herein. The upland resource
area has no buffer zone.
VERNAL POOL
In addition to scientific definitions found in the regulations
under the Wetlands Protection Act, any confined basin or depression not occurring in existing
lawns, gardens, landscaped areas or driveways which, at least in most
years, holds water for a minimum of two continuous months during the
spring and/or summer, contains at least 200 cubic feet of water at
some time during most years, is free of adult predatory fish populations,
and provides essential breeding and rearing habitat functions for
amphibian, reptile or other vernal pool community species, regardless
of whether the site has been certified by the Massachusetts Division
of Fisheries and Wildlife. The boundary of the resource area for vernal
pools shall be the mean annual high water line defining the depression.
Except as otherwise provided in this chapter or in associated regulations
of the Conservation Commission, the definitions of terms and the procedures
of this chapter shall be as set forth in the Wetlands Protection Act
(MGL c. 131, § 40) and regulations (310 CMR 10.00).
WETLAND-DEPENDENT STRUCTURES
Any trail, dam, boat or canoe launch area, or any other structure
or area associated with the customary enjoyment or use of any pond,
lake, river or other waterway. It shall also include equipment associated
with the generation of hydropower.
WILDLIFE
All mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrate
animal species, including, but not limited to, any state- or federally
listed endangered or threatened species, or species of special concern.
WILDLIFE HABITAT
Areas having plant community composition and structure, hydrologic
regime or other characteristics which are sufficient to provide shelter,
nutrient sourcing, growing conditions, nesting or breeding sites conducive
to the propagation and preservation of wildlife.