Not more than one (1) building designed or available for dwelling
purposes shall be erected or placed or converted to use as such on
any lot in a subdivision or elsewhere within the Town without the
consent of the Planning Board. Consent shall be granted only for structures
in compliance with zoning restrictions and only upon the Board's finding
that adequate ways and utilities servicing such site for such building
having been provided in the same manner as otherwise required for
lots within a subdivision.
For matters not covered by these rules and regulations, reference
is made to MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG, inclusive.
The applicant may, upon partial completion and installation
of required improvements in a subdivision, the security for the performance
of which was given by bond, deposit of money, letter of credit or
covenant, make formal application, in writing, to the Planning Board
for partial release of the performance guarantee, in accordance with
the procedures set forth herein:
A. Financial performance guarantee. The amount of such bond, or deposit
of money, or letter of credit or three-party agreement for lender
fund retention held may, from time to time, be reduced by the Planning
Board. To request a reduction fee, the applicant shall present to
the Planning Board the appropriate fee and a list of all construction
items performed and/or completed, said list to be based on the subdivision
approval and the subdivision regulations in their entirety. The amount
to be reduced by the Planning Board, after consultation with its agents
and advisers, shall be based upon state prevailing wage construction
costs at the time the application for reduction is made. The Planning
Board shall withhold adequate funds to complete the project but shall
withhold a minimum of twenty percent (20%) of the original approved
cost estimate or fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), whichever is greater.
At the completion of the project (based on a written acceptance from
the Planning Board that the project has been completed) and after
a one-year warranty period, the amount withheld shall be released.
B. Covenant. The applicant/developer may request a release of conditions
for lots where the required improvements have been completed for that
section of roadway beginning at any intersection with an accepted
road and abutting lots up through the last lot to be released. Lots
may only be released if they abut the completed portion of the road.
No partial release from the covenants will be approved if the total
length of roadway abutting said designated lots, including a temporary
turnaround, exceeds the maximum allowable length for dead-end roads,
unless the Planning Board has already approved within the limits of
the development a dead-end road exceeding said limits.
C. In the absence of financial performance guarantees, adequate covenants
will be held to insure completion of the project, including record
plans, road layout plans, site inspections, and legal work. In addition,
a covenant on two lots which can be built on will be held until all
work in the subdivision, including the signing of all necessary legal
documents, has been completed.
The applicant may, upon the completion and installation of required
improvements in a subdivision, the completion of record plans and
road layout plans as specified in these rules and regulations, and
the completion of a one-year labor and materials warranty period (two
years for trees), make formal application, in writing, to the Planning
Board for full release of any outstanding performance guarantee. Before
the Planning Board releases its full interest in said performance
guarantee, the Planning Board shall:
A. Obtain from the applicant/developer's professional engineer a written
certificate of statement certifying that all work required by these
rules and regulations has been constructed in conformance with the
approved construction plans.
B. Obtain from the applicant/developer letters from the electric, telephone,
gas, cable TV or Internet, and fiber optic/broadband companies, as
applicable, stating that their respective underground systems have
been installed to their satisfaction.
C. Obtain from the applicant/developer a paper and electronic set of
record construction plans and road layout plans. Said plans shall
include, but not be limited to, all the information requested in the
subdivision closeout section of these regulations.
D. Obtain from the applicant/developer, where applicable, a deed or
easement, in a form approved by the Planning Board, transferring to
the municipality or to an approved public utility company, without
cost, valid unencumbered title to any sanitary sewers, water mains,
and appurtenances thereto, and other utilities constructed and installed
in the subdivision or approved portion thereof. Such deed or easement
shall include perpetual rights and easements to construct, inspect,
repair, renew, replace, operate and forever maintain such sanitary
sewers, water mains and other utilities, with any manholes, conduits,
and other appurtenances, and to do all acts incidental thereto, in,
through, and under the whole of all roads in the subdivision or approved
portion thereof. If any such utility has been constructed and installed
in land not within such roads, then the deed or easement shall include
a strip of land extending a minimum of fifteen (15) feet in width
on each side of the center line of all such utilities. The Planning
Board may require greater than fifteen (15) feet in width on each
side of the center line where it deems necessary.
E. If the
Planning Board determines that all improvements as shown on the endorsed
definitive plan and all required plans and legal documents have been
completed satisfactorily, it will release all the interest of the
municipality in such performance guarantee and return the bond to
the person who furnished the same, or release the covenant, by appropriate
instrument, duly acknowledged, which may be recorded.
F. If the
Planning Board determines after inspection that said construction
or installation has not been completed, or that said construction
or installation fails to comply with these rules and regulations,
it will send by registered mail to the applicant/developer and to
the Town Clerk the details wherein said construction or installation
fails to comply with its rules.
G. The applicant/developer
shall have thirty (30) days after receipt of such notice to correct
all problems mentioned above, unless a written extension is requested
and approved by the Planning Board. Failure of the applicant/developer
to finish all the necessary work within said time period shall authorize
the Planning Board to draw upon the performance guarantee.
H. Any such
performance guarantee may be enforced and any such deposit may be
applied by the Planning Board for the benefit of the municipality,
as provided in MGL c. 41, § 81, upon failure of the performance
for which any bond or deposit was given to the extent of the reasonable
cost to the municipality of completing such construction and installation.