|
Subdivider and Engineer Develop Plans
| ||
|
Day
|
0
|
Site plan to Planning Board (4 copies) and to the Board of Health
(Nashoba, 1 copy). Notice to Town Clerk if preliminary plan (SCL § 81S).
|
|
7
|
Conference with Planning Board; Board's and engineer's data
on neighborhood available.
| |
|
20
|
Proposed ways staked sufficient for location; profiles plan
and, if appropriate, revised site plan (4 copies each) available.
Planning Board and other Town officials inspect site.
| |
|
30
|
Conference; Planning Board indicates modifications.
| |
|
< 60
|
If preliminary plan, approval by Planning Board with any modifications;
notice to Town Clerk (SCL § 81S).
| |
|
The Definitive Plan Is Prepared
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|
Day
|
0
|
Definitive plan to the Planning Board (4 copies) and to Board
of Health (Nashoba, 1 copy); fee and notice to Town Clerk (SCL §§ 81O,
81T and 81U).
|
|
7
|
Advertisement for hearing to newspaper.
| |
|
20
|
Hearing notice to abutters (SCL § 81T).
| |
|
30
|
Public hearing.
| |
|
< 45
|
Board of Health report to Planning Board (SCL § 81U).
| |
|
< 60
|
Approval by the Planning Board with any modifications or conditions;
certificate to Town Clerk and notice to subdivider (SCL § 81U).
Security for completion arranged (SCL § 81U). More than
20 days after approval, no-appeal certification by Town Clerk, followed
by Planning Board endorsement (SCL § 81V). A certified copy
of the recorded definitive plot plan, etc., to Board within 60 days
of endorsement.
| |
|
Construction of Improvements; Inspections
| ||
|
Day
|
0
|
Reproducible certified record plan to Planning Board; notice
of completion to Planning Board and to Town Clerk (SCL § 81U).
|
|
< 45
|
Release or other action with notice to subdivider and Town Clerk
(SCL § 81U).
| |
A.
A subdivider may submit formally to the Planning Board, with notice
to the Town Clerk, a preliminary plan (SCL § 81S) corresponding
to the site plan of this chapter. In this chapter, the designation
"preliminary plan" is reserved for such a submission.
B.
Preliminary discussions, whether formal (preliminary plan) or informal, are not a submission of a definitive plan and shall not prejudice the Planning Board's action on the definitive plan. However, a preliminary phase in the pattern of § 130-15 above, with discussions among the subdivider, engineer, Board, and other Town officials, etc., will generally accomplish most revisions before the full expense of a definitive plan is incurred. Such discussions are encouraged and recommended.
(See SCL §§ 81O, 81T, 81U and 81V.)
A.
Number of copies. Four copies (all sheets) shall be furnished to
the Planning Board and one copy to the Board of Health (to its agent,
the Nashoba Associated Boards of Health).
B.
Costs and fees.
(1)
The following costs shall be paid by the applicant:
(a)
The cost of engineering review of the definitive plan by a nongovernmental
independent consultant designated by the Board, if the Board so requires.
(b)
The cost of evaluation of the materials or construction of the
completed improvements by a nongovernmental independent consultant
designated by the Board, if the Board so requires.
(2)
In addition, a fee of $600 plus $3 per foot of center-line length
of the roadway, payable to the Town of Harvard, shall accompany each
definitive plan submitted.
(3)
In order that the total fee paid may correspond to actual costs of
subdivision inspection, the fee may be adjusted up or down as follows:
(a)
The Planning Board may file with the Town Clerk variations from
the per-foot fee scheduled, based on the degree of difficulty of roadway
construction as shown on soils maps of Harvard prepared by the USDA
Soil Conservation Service, provided that the fee for Degree of Difficulty
3, Severe, is not reduced.
(b)
The Planning Board may require the applicant to pay a surcharge
to the published fees, equal to the amount of the published fee times
the fraction by which land and building values in Harvard may have
increased since May 1986, as determined by the Assessors. The surcharge,
if any, shall be determined and paid before approval is endorsed on
a plan and redetermined and paid before any modification of an approved
plan is endorsed.
C.
Documents included. The definitive plan shall include:
(1)
Site plan.
(a)
The site plan, including, among other things, all of the following:
[1]
Existing and proposed topography with five-foot contours or
finer where needed for a maximum horizontal distance between contours,
except that contour spacing finer than one foot is not required.
[2]
Significant natural features such as rock outcrop, swamp, streams
and other watercourses, wooded areas, and large trees.
[3]
All existing wells and sewage disposal systems.
[4]
Location and results of any tests of soil, groundwater, and percolation conditions. If any of the proposed lots will be in an area designated as 3, Severe, on the map of Harvard titled "Soil Limitations for Septic Tank Sewage Disposal," developed by the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, January 1969, tests of soil, groundwater levels and percolation must have been made for these lots and the location and results of those tests must be shown on the definitive site plan. This requirement is not waived by the provisions of § 130-32C with respect to simplification of site plans in mini-subdivisions.
[5]
Major features of the storm drainage system, including natural
waterways, proposed disposition of water, and any easements on adjoining
property.
[6]
Outlines of lots, streets, ways, easements, and any public or
common areas, with approximate street grades proposed.
[7]
A suitable legend.
(b)
The site plan shall also include areas to be logged, sites for
borrow and spoil, and any proposed recontouring of the land or other
changes which could modify the water table. Definitive site and profiles
plans shall also include such additional information as may be required
by the Board as necessary to its determination that the plan complies
with the Protective Bylaw and the Master Plan.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Throughout this chapter, references to the
"Comprehensive General Plan," "Comprehensive Plan" and "Town Plan"
were changed to "Master Plan" at the request of the Town.
(2)
The profiles plan, including, among other things, plans and profiles,
with cross sections as needed, defining the streets, utilities, and
other improvements under this chapter; pertinent easements; a suitable
legend, etc. Drainage system analysis shall be included on or accompany
the plan. The scale for the plan view shall be one inch equals 40
feet. The horizontal scale for the profile shall be the same as for
the plan view and the vertical scale shall be 10 times as large. Profiles
shall include existing grades. Gradients shall be indicated. Definitive
site and profiles plans shall include such additional information,
including profiles of the access necks of proposed hammerhead and
backland lots, as may be required by the Board as necessary to its
determination of compliance with the Protective Bylaw and the Master
Plan.
(3)
The plot plan, including, among other things, existing and proposed
streets, ways, easements, and public or common areas within the subdivision
(names of proposed streets shall be in pencil until approved by the
Planning Board); streets or ways bounding or within 100 feet of the
subdivision; pertinent easements over adjacent property; proposed
lots; existing and proposed monuments; subdivision name; a legend
with provision for endorsement of Planning Board approval (five members)
and the date of approval and the date of endorsement; and space on
each sheet for a covenant or conditions. Lots shall be numbered in
succession along the street from its beginning, with odd numbers on
one side of the street and even numbers on the other, unless the Planning
Board directs otherwise.
D.
Submission and recording.
(1)
The submission of the definitive plan to the Planning Board shall
be accompanied by:
(2)
Only the plot plan needs a formal ink and linen tracing. The address
list and the statement may be standard typewritten text without copies.
(3)
The endorsed definitive plot plan and any supplementary covenants
shall be recorded promptly, and one set of certified copies from the
Registry of the recorded material shall be furnished to the Planning
Board within 60 days of endorsement.
E.
Dates inscribed on definitive plan.
(1)
The definitive plan and every document which is part of it or related
to it shall be dated and shall also bear the dates on which it was
subsequently revised, if revisions are made. The definitive plot plan
shall also state the time intervals satisfactory to the Planning Board
within which, following endorsement of final approval, the street
construction must begin and be completed.
(2)
There shall be inscribed on the definitive plot plan, or set forth
in a separate recorded document referred to on the plan, a restriction
running with the land that the approval of the definitive plan with
respect to each lot shown thereon shall lapse when the statutory protection
of the land shown on the plan against zoning changes, set forth in
Section 6 of the Zoning Act (MGL c. 40A), expires, whether or not
such lot has been sold or mortgaged, unless the street serving it
has been completed to the satisfaction of the Planning Board and the
lot has then been released by the Board.
(3)
No construction of a street may begin beyond the time limits set
forth above or be recommenced after having been abandoned or neglected
for more than three years, except in accordance with a new definitive
plan or a revision of a previous plan which conforms in all respects
[except width and location as may be protected by law (see SCL § 81O)]
to this chapter current at the time of the submission of the new plan
or the revision of the previous plan.
A.
In order that all boards which may be concerned with the environmental
aspects of the subdivision may consider a consistent and objective
set of environmental data, the definitive plan shall include on a
separate sheet, at a scale of 40 or 100 feet to the inch, an environmental
overlay to the site plan, which shall show:
(1)
Aquifers and recharge areas as shown on the Major Aquifers Map of
the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, June 1976, or equivalent.
(2)
Wetland boundaries as shown on the Massachusetts Wetlands Base Maps
and/or the National Wetland Inventory Maps (1983) of the USDI Fish
and Wildlife Service, including streams, together with such further
wetland determination that has been made on site.
(3)
Specific soil types as shown on the 1969 Detailed Soils Map of Harvard
prepared by the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department
of Agriculture.
B.
Coded designations on the original maps shall be translated, and
a complete description of each type of aquifer, recharge area, wetland,
or soil shown shall be included, as each is described by the respective
issuing agency.
C.
This overlay plan shall also be furnished to the Board of Health,
to the Conservation Commission, and to any other special permit granting
authority prior to any deliberation which involves the subdivision.
Although the Planning Board requires and holds performance assurance
as required by law, the Board does not warrant that roads shown on
an approved plan will actually be constructed or that any of the lots
shown will be usable as building lots. However, if the Town decides
to exercise completion security, its costs may be substantially higher
than those of a private developer, both in direct cost (including
bidding and so-called prevailing wage) and in overhead. In order that
the Planning Board can properly judge the cost to the Town of completing
the amenities of the subdivision, the subdivider shall provide at
his own expense a professional estimate of such cost, based on the
current edition of a regularly updated professional estimators' guide,
using the costs for publicly bid contracts in greater Boston. If the
Board so directs, the subdivider shall obtain estimates from more
than one source, including a source designated by the Planning Board.
Such a cost estimate shall be prepared each time the amount or type
of completion security is established or revised.
A.
Security.
(1)
Before endorsement of its approval of a definitive plan, the Planning
Board will require security (SCL § 81U) for the completion
of the required improvements. For security, the subdivider may post
bond or deposit in an amount determined by the Planning Board to cover:
(2)
Such bond or deposit shall be approved for sureties by the Board
of Selectmen and for form and execution by Town Counsel. Release shall
be conditioned upon completion of improvements within two years of
posting of bond or deposit.
(3)
As alternative security, a covenant, suitable in the opinion of the
Planning Board, executed by the owner of record, running with the
land, incorporating conditions specified in the certificate of approval
and restricting the building on or conveyance of lots subject to the
rights and limitations specified in SCL § 81U, may be inscribed
on each sheet of the definitive plot plan.
B.
Inspection milestones. (See also Subsection D, Inspections.)
(1)
For the benefit of developers and their financial backers, who may
wish to coordinate construction payments with normal inspections by
the Planning Board, the following construction milestones are suggested:
(a)
Completion of excavation before backfill.
(b)
Partial completion of subgrade before installation of drainage
and utilities.
(c)
Satisfactory installation of drainage and other utilities before
covering.
(d)
Satisfactory installation of roadway and shoulder subgrades
before installation of roadway base.
(e)
Satisfactory installation of roadway base, grading of shoulders,
and installation of footpaths and guardrails before surfacing roadway.
(f)
Satisfactory installation of roadway surface and seeding of
shoulders.
(g)
Installation of posts, signs and bounds and transmittal of as-built
plan to Planning Board.
(2)
These milestones may vary with specific circumstances.
C.
Release of security.
(1)
Full release. The Planning Board will release the security upon completion
of the required improvements to its satisfaction.
(2)
Partial release.
(a)
General. Even though the improvements for the entire subdivision
have not been completed, the Planning Board may release fewer than
all the lots from the security, but only as provided herein. In judging
completion of the way serving a lot, the Board shall consider the
adequacy of the traffic circulation provisions at the moment, as well
as all other factors relevant to completion.
(b)
Completion of street. Traffic circulation is not considered
adequate for a particular lot until the street serving the lot is
completely constructed in accordance with this chapter and the plan
and has been connected at each of its ends to a public way (or to
a completed subdivision way so connected) or is so connected at its
beginning and has been provided with a completed permanent turnaround
(if the street is shown on the plan as a dead-end street). A lot shall
not be released from the security until the street serving it has
been thus completed and connected.
(c)
Manner and conditions of partial release. Any partial release
shall be in a form approved by Town Counsel and shall be for consecutive
building lots, including both sides of the street from the beginning
of the new way. No lot shall be released unless:
D.
Inspections. (See also Subsection B, Inspection milestones.) Inspection shall be made of each step of construction. Inspections shall be arranged with the Planning Board's designated inspector. No drain, catch basin, road subgrade or foundation or other item of work to be inspected shall be backfilled, paved over, or otherwise covered over until inspected and approved.
E.
Completion.
(1)
The required improvements will not be considered complete until:
(a)
The subdivider has filed with the Planning Board a record plan
consisting of:
[1]
A reproducible, erasable, and durable profiles plan, such as
a Mylar or Cronar photo-positive, showing the improvements as built,
and certified by a registered land surveyor and a registered professional
engineer that the improvements are accurately located as shown and
that the improvements have been constructed in accordance with the
plan and this chapter.
[2]
A copy of a plan showing lots at the time and similarly certified
by a registered land surveyor with respect to the lot boundary monuments
required in this chapter.
(b)
The subdivider has recorded at the Registry of Deeds a plan
showing the location of all drains and subdrains, including those
that have been installed for the diversion of seepage and springs
encountered during construction, or for diverting natural flow or
stagnant water, or for controlling water table, together with the
points at which the effluents of such drains enter natural streams
or wetlands, along with whatever (modified) orders of conditions may
be imposed under the Wetlands Protection Act[1] as a result of the installation of such drainage and subdrainage.
[1]
Editor's Note: See MGL c. 131, § 40.
(c)
After a winter and succeeding spring, the Planning Board is
satisfied as to the permanence of the plantings and the integrity
of the paving, drainage system, shoulders and banks, and other improvements.
(2)
The Planning Board may require the subdivider to obtain, at his expense,
from a source competent and impartial in the judgment of the Board,
additional professional engineering advice as to the satisfactory
completion of the above required improvements.
A.
The provisions of this section are intended to provide procedures
for closing out subdivisions which have become wholly or partly moribund
on account of extended inactivity, or expiration of statutory protection,
or later development that effectively precludes construction of streets
according to the plan approved. The provisions of this section are
not intended to preclude earlier exercise of completion security or
earlier exercise of the provisions of § 81W of the SCL.
B.
If 10 years have elapsed since the last endorsement of approval on
the plan for a subdivision or its modification and the Town Treasurer
or other person holding a security deposit notifies the Planning Board
that there is an outstanding security deposit or bond for the completion
of a subdivision, or on its own initiative, the Planning Board shall
hold a public hearing in accordance with § 81W of the SCL
and shall take one or several of the following actions:
(1)
Rescind approval of a subdivision which the Board finds was not actually
begun and pursued to the point at which the work could be inspected.
(2)
Rescind approval of that part of a subdivision which has been effectively
abandoned.
(3)
Modify that part of a subdivision which was not completed so as to
include only that part for which roadways were provided.
(4)
Rescind approval of any part of a subdivision for which roads were
not constructed and for which the lots shown no longer conform to
zoning or public health requirements.
(5)
Authorize the use of any remaining security deposit to pay for any
amenities which the Town has provided in the modified subdivision,
at cost plus interest, where such amenities were required by this
chapter at the times of installation.
(6)
Authorize the use of any remaining security deposit to complete one
or more amenities of the subdivision in accordance with this chapter.
(7)
Return all or part of a deposit to the original subdivider or his
holders in due course, if still in existence, or otherwise dispose
of the remainder in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth.
