The subdivision in general shall conform to the Master Plan,
if any, adopted in whole or in part by the Planning Board except as
the same purposes may, in the judgment of the Board, be served better
by modifying the Master Plan for the general area of the subdivision.
A. Preservation of existing assets. The subdivider shall make every
reasonable effort to preserve natural and other features, such as
large trees, watercourses, scenic points, historic spots, stone walls
and other aspects of rural, historic, and regional character, and
similar assets. The Planning Board encourages property owners and
subdividers to make use of conservation grants or easements, most
particularly in wet areas, and of common land held by a qualified
homeowners' association.
B. Parks and open space. The subdivision plan shall show a park or parks
of suitable character and location for playground, recreation, or
open space uses (SCL § 81U). Such areas shall be of reasonable
size. Unless otherwise specifically authorized by the Planning Board,
the total area so reserved shall not be less than 10% of the gross
area of the subdivision outside any W District, and each such area
shall have at least the frontage and access of a Type 2 lot. The Board
shall, by appropriate endorsement on the plan, require that no building
may be erected on such lands for a period of three years without its
approval. Such areas shall be available to the Town or may be held
indefinitely as open common land by a qualified homeowners' association
acceptable to the Planning Board and including all property owners
in the subdivision, provided the Town through the Conservation Commission
is granted such rights as are sufficient to assure the permanence
of the open character of the land.
It is the intent to provide fire ponds or cisterns of equivalent capacity that will meet the fifty-year-drought guidelines of organizations which rate local fire protection facilities for static bodies of water for fire protection and, except where more stringent standards or greater capacity is called for by this chapter, the guidelines of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the United States Soil Conservation Service (USSCS), in particular, the following: NFPA Standard 1231 (Suburban and Rural Water Supplies 1975), Chapter
4 and Table 13-5-1 of Appendix B; NFPA Standard 1 (National Fire Prevention Code 1975), Section 3-1.1.10 (Required Access for Fire Apparatus); United States Department of Agriculture Handbook No. 387 (Ponds for Water Supply and Recreation); and USSCS Information Sheets MA16 (October 1976, Ponds for Fire Protection) and RTSC-NE-ENG 606 (Non-Pressure Fire Hydrant). Fire ponds and their access shall conform to the following:
A. Construction and drawdown.
(1) A satisfactory fire pond shall have a normal available drawdown of at least 60,000 gallons over a two-hour period at any time of year (30,000 gallons over a two-hour period during the fifty-year drought). Such a fire pond shall have a storage capacity of at least 60,000 gallons (8,000 cubic feet) between two feet below mean annual low water and 1.5 feet above the pond bottom. The Board may require greater capacity in accordance with NFPA 1231, Chapter
4 (1975 Edition) for major buildings, or for industrial, commercial, institutional or multiple-residence use, or on the basis of the size and type of buildings that it expects to be constructed. The pond shall generally conform to USSCS MA16. It shall be at least eight feet deep and have a flat bottom with an area at least 25% of the nominal surface area and side-slope grades not exceeding 1:3 in soil (except as may be required for direct suction hose access). Side slopes shall be stabilized with riprap if they exhibit weepage or movement during construction. The pond shall be located if possible where it receives maximum recharge and cleaning action from natural flow and be connected with a nearby stream if necessary. Pond depth and recharge shall be such that no less than half the above capacities and drawdown rate will be available throughout the year of the fifty-year drought.
(2) If the fire pond is not located on, or adjacent to, a flowing stream,
the applicant shall furnish, at his expense, proof that the pond or
cistern when built will be able to furnish 30,000 gallons at a drawdown
of 250 gallons per minute by means of the accesses provided on any
day of the year during the fifty-year drought.
(3) If there is no suitable location or recharge for a fire pond, the
applicant shall provide a cistern of equivalent capacity and access
and the means for keeping it full when not in use. Such cisterns shall
not be used for drinking water and shall be equipped with means to
prevent unauthorized emptying.
B. Access.
(1) The fire pond shall have an off-the-roadway access to a dry hydrant
and suction hose insertion where an American Association of State
Highway Officials (AASHO) SU30 single-unit truck may be parked and
turned around without interfering with the flow of traffic. A simple
roadside turnout that can be kept clear by routine snowplowing during
winter is preferred over more complicated arrangements.
(2) The entire length of any driveway between the roadway and the access
to a fire pond shall be constructed for use as a fire lane (NFPA 1,
Section 3-1.1.10) to a width of at least 20 feet and shall have:
(a)
No overhanging branches to a height of 15 feet; and
(b)
All-weather base and all-weather finish to sustain use by 16,000
pounds per axle, with base and subbase meeting subdivision roadway
standards; and
(c)
Drainage of the finished driveway and its base, using culverts
at least 12 inches in diameter ACCM construction; and
(d)
Sustained grades not to exceed 8% (NFPA Standard 1231, Appendix
B).
(3) A fire lane to a fire pond, or a driveway used as such a fire lane, shall be constructed for two-way traffic in accordance with Harvard Protective Bylaw §
125-39B, generally to the full twenty-foot width of the fire lane.
C. Dry hydrant. Access to the pond and its water shall include a dry
hydrant designed and installed with six-inch pipe in accordance with
USSCS MA16 and RTSC-NE-ENG-606, except that the hydrant itself shall
be of the type normally used on street water mains so that it can
be backflushed by the connection of an additional hose. The inlet
shall be at the deepest part of the pond and shall be supported 1 1/2
feet above it and be equipped with a trash screen, approved by the
Board, of at least eight inches in diameter and 18 inches in length.
D. Fence. The fire pond shall be surrounded by a so-called nonclimable
fence that meets the requirements of the Harvard Swimming Pool Bylaw but through which all parts of the pond are visible. It
shall have a gate near the dry hydrant which can be used for suction
hose and maintenance access.
E. Restrictions and easements.
(1) The entire access from the roadway to the fire pond shall be designated
a fire lane for a distance of 10 feet on either side of the center-line
fire lane of any access driveway that may be provided. This fire lane
shall not be used for parking or obstructed in any other way.
(2) If the access to the fire pond lies wholly or partly along a shared
driveway, the provision for driveway maintenance and snow removal
shall include the following:
(a)
Prohibition of parking or obstruction along any parts of the
fire lane or fire pond access; and
(b)
Provision for snow removal and maintenance of the ramp and turnaround
area at the fire pond.
(3) There shall be an easement to the Town of Harvard to make use of
the access and to use and maintain the fire pond and fire lane.
(4) The Planning Board may require as a condition endorsed on the definitive plan (SCL § 81R) that no buildings be erected, and/or as a condition on the covenant for release of lots, that no lots be released until the fire pond(s) is actually built. For other than single- or two-family dwelling uses, the Planning Board may also endorse on the plan limitations on the volume of any building to be erected, on the basis of the actual supply of fire-fighting water and the quantities and pumping rates for a given size and class of building as set forth in NFPA 1231, Chapter
4 (1975 Edition).
F. Approvals. Judgments of adequacy, conformity, or approval referred to in the documents cited in Subsections
A through
E above, or in this chapter, will be by the Planning Board, which will consult appropriate firesafety officials when the Board deems such consultation necessary or desirable.
After completion of all improvements, the subdivider shall be
responsible for maintenance to these standards until the street has
been accepted by the Town or acceptance has been refused on its merits
at an Annual Town Meeting.