For the purpose of the rules and regulations, the following words and terms used herein are defined or the meaning is explained or limited as follows:
APPLICANT
The person who applies for the approval of a plan of a subdivision or his administrators, executors, heirs, devisees, successors and assigns. The applicant shall certify that he is the owner of all the land included in the proposed subdivision.
BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Wakefield.
FINAL APPROVAL
Approval by the Board of a definitive plan of a subdivision.
LOT
An area of land in one ownership, with definitive boundaries, used or available for use as the site of one or more buildings, even if the area of land shows on the Assessor's maps or other documents as being composed as several lots. A "lot within a subdivision" shall mean any area of land with boundaries recorded or to be recorded without any interior division.
MINOR STREET
A street not classified as a principal street by the Board.
OWNER
The owner of record as shown by the record in the Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds or Middlesex South Land Registry District.
PERSON
An individual, two or more individuals, a partnership, association or corporation.
PRINCIPAL STREET
A street which in the opinion of the Board is being used or will be used as a thoroughfare between different municipalities or will carry a heavy volume of traffic.
PUBLIC WORKS
The Department of Public Works (DPW) of the Town of Wakefield.
ROADWAY OR TRAVELED WAY
The portion of a street intended for vehicular use.
SUBDIVIDER
The person undertaking the subdivision of land.
SUBDIVISION
As defined in MGL c. 41, § 81L, or any amendment thereof, addition thereto or substitution therefor.
SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW
Sections 81K to 81GG, inclusive, of MGL c. 41, and any acts in amendment thereof, in addition thereto or in substitution therefor.
UTILITIES
Private or municipal services to be furnished within the subdivision, including telephone, cable television, electric light and power, gas lines, fire alarms, sanitary sewers, storm drains, water pipes and appurtenances.
Except as otherwise required in these rules and regulations, seven copies of all reports, drawings, and any other documentation prepared or presented on behalf of the applicant must be received by the Planning Board at least four business days in advance of the first Planning Board meeting at which the documentation will be discussed. Documents received less than four business days in advance of a meeting will not be considered at the meeting except as the Planning Board may vote to waive this requirement for specific documentation.
A. 
Submission of plan.
(1) 
Any person who wishes to cause to be recorded in the Registry of Deeds or to be filed with the Land Court a plan of land and who believes that his plan does not require approval under Subdivision Control Law, may submit his approval not required (ANR) plan, and 10 prints thereof, 10 copies of the application on Form A[1] (see Section VI), and a .pdf format electronic file of the plan and application to the Planning Board, accompanied by the necessary evidence to show that the plan does not require approval. The application shall also be accompanied by a fee as outlined in § 320-8, Fee Schedule.
[Amended 9-11-2007]
(2) 
Any ANR plan submitted for endorsement shall be drawn to comply with the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds plan recording requirements and shall contain the following in information:
[Amended 12-11-2018]
(a) 
The plan shall have a title that includes the applicant's name, name of the street where the frontage is claimed, scale, date, surveyor's full name, name and business address of the survey company, the date of the work product, and, when appropriate, a revision date.
(b) 
The professional surveyor's seal and signature.
(c) 
The plan shall provide sufficient dimensions to the nearest intersecting street to properly show the subject parcel's location. If needed, the plan shall include a locus plan indicating the location of the property in relationship to surrounding streets.
(d) 
A signature block for the Planning Board members to endorse the plan and write in the date of endorsement shall be provided. Said signature block shall consist of six lines; the bottom line shall be reserved for the Planning Board to write in the date of endorsement. Above the top line, the following words will appear in bold type: "Town of Wakefield Planning Board,"; next line, "Approval under Subdivision Control Law Not Required."; and immediately below these lines, "No determination as to compliance with zoning ordinance requirements has been made nor can be construed as intended by this endorsement."
(e) 
Information as to suitability of proper access to the subject parcel shall be depicted on the plan to support the applicant's submission. If necessary to prove access the limits of and width of the paved improvements within the right-of-way shall be drawn with dimensions. The surveyor shall determine and label the plan as to whether the way is public or private and to whether the street has been accepted by the Town of Wakefield. The surveyor shall label the right-of-way with the street name as it is spelled and titled in Wakefield's official street listing index; if additional local as-known-as names are known, they shall be listed as well.
(f) 
The surveyor shall depict all found monuments used to determine street right-of-way lines and parcel lot lines.
(g) 
The plan shall contain a note explaining the purpose of the plan, i.e., division of lot "1" to create lots "1A" and "1B," or combining lot "A" and lot "B" to create one buildable lot, or making an existing nonconforming lot conforming, etc. The surveyor should avoid the duplication of lot designations of prior surrounding plans.
(h) 
The plan shall show the lot or lots to be divided and properly identify all land owned by the applicant that is adjacent to the subject parcel(s). All abutting lots that are not the subject of the plan shall be labeled with the current Assessor's Parcel identification number and current ownership information as recorded at the registry of deeds.
(i) 
Where a new lot lines are created, all residual lot lines must be shown as well. All lot lines used for the division of ownership (boundary line) shall be drawing with a bold line and clearly labeled a new lot line with bearings and distances. The areas of both the new and residual lot must be shown. Lot numbers shall be numerical and assigned in sequence.
(j) 
The footprints of all existing buildings within the subject parcel being divided and location of all buildings on the subject parcels that are to be combined shall be accurately located on the plan. The setbacks from existing and proposed boundary lines are to be shown with dimension lines; the distances shall be measured perpendicular to principle building to the closest front, rear and side boundary line; dimension labels are to be to the nearest 1/10 foot.
(k) 
Dimensioning of lines for the division ownership (boundary lines) shall show the length of each line segment to the nearest 1/100 foot and the bearing thereof to the nearest one second. For curved lines, the radius and arc length of each segment to the nearest 1/100 foot is required. For nontangent curves, the chord length and bearing shall be provided. All nontangent curves shall be labeled "nontangent" on the plan.
(l) 
All plans presented for endorsement by the Planning Board shall also comply with Commonwealth of Massachusetts Regulations 250 CMR 5.00; 250 CMR 6.00.
(3) 
The plan, prints and application shall not be deemed to have been submitted to the Board until it has been delivered to the Board at a regular or special meeting thereof and accepted in writing by the Board as complying with the requirements of these rules and regulations. Thereafter, the person submitting the plan and application shall file, by delivery or registered mail, a notice with the Town Clerk stating the day of submission for such determination and accompanied by a copy of said application.
B. 
Endorsement of plan not requiring approval. If the Planning Board determines that the plan does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, it shall, without a public hearing and within twenty-one days of submission, endorse the plan accordingly. The plan shall be returned to the applicant and the Board shall notify the Town Clerk, in writing, of its action. Where the determination of the Board that a plan does not require approval is based on qualifying conditions, such as that certain parcels are not to be used as separate building lots, or that the determination is made with respect to some, but not all lots shown, the Board may include an explanatory or qualifying statement of its reasons as part of its endorsement.
C. 
Determination that the plan requires approval. If the Planning Board determines that the plan does require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, it shall, within 21 days of submission of said plan, inform the applicant in writing and return the plan. The Board shall also notify the Town Clerk, in writing, of its action.
No person shall make a subdivision within the meaning of the Subdivision Control Law of any land within the Town, or proceed with the improvement or sale of lots in a subdivision, or the construction of ways, or the installation of municipal services and public utilities therein, unless and until a definitive plan of such subdivision has been submitted to and approved by the Board as hereinafter provided.
A. 
Improvements to way of access. Where the street system within a subdivision does not connect with or have, in the opinion of the Planning Board, adequate access from a town, county or state (public) way, the Planning Board may require, as a condition of approval of a plan, that such adequate access be provided by the developer, and/or that the developer make physical improvements to and within such a way of access, in accordance with the provisions of Article IV of these regulations, from the boundary of a town, county or state way.
B. 
Dedication of land for purpose of improving access. Where the physical condition or width of a public way from which a subdivision has its access is considered by the Planning Board to be inadequate to carry the traffic expected to be generated by such subdivision, the Planning Board may require the developer to dedicate a strip of land under the developer's ownership, for the purpose of widening the abutting public way to a width at least commensurate with that required within the subdivision. Any such dedication of land for the purpose of a way and any such work performed within such public way shall be made only with permission of the governmental agency having jurisdiction over such way, and all costs of any such widening or construction shall be borne by the developer.
A. 
To defray partially the costs to the Town in conjunction with subdivision processing, review, and inspection, the applicant shall deposit with the Planning Board fees as outlined in § 320-8, Fee Schedule, the referenced sections of this document, and below.
B. 
The Planning Board may engage, at the applicant's expense, engineers, planners, lawyers, urban designers, or other appropriate professionals who can assist the Board in analyzing a project to ensure compliance with all state laws and Town regulations. If the Planning Board elects to engage a consultant to assist plan reviews, the Board shall notify the applicant, within 30 days of the filing of the application, of its designation of an outside consultant.
C. 
The fee for construction inspection shall be calculated as the product of the hours spent performing construction inspections and related reporting, multiplied by the current hourly contract price for construction inspectors. The current hourly contract price, which is negotiated between the Town and its Construction Inspection Consultant, is available for inspection in the office of the Town Engineer and the Town Planner.
D. 
The applicant is required to deposit an initial amount for the inspection fee prior to the endorsement of the plan. The initial amount is calculated for a small subdivision (not more than 300 feet of roadway) based on the estimate of 550 hours of inspection services. The breakdown of this estimate of hours for inspection services is in the following table:
Time Frame
(months)
Tasks
Inspection Frequency
(days/week)
Hours
0 to 2
Site preparation and utility installation
3
200
2 to 12
Paving, curbing, sidewalk
1
350
E. 
For subdivisions with roadway exceeding 300 feet in length, the initial amount of the fee for inspection services will be increased by the fee for 50 hours of inspection services per 100 feet of roadway in excess of 300 feet.
F. 
Planning Board's Construction Inspection Consultant shall have discretion to increase or decrease inspection frequency, if the Consultant determines that an increased or reduced level of inspection is required.
G. 
If, during the course of construction, the Planning Board determines that the initial amount of the fee is insufficient to complete inspections of the construction, the applicant shall, within 14 days of written notification by the Planning Board, deposit additional funds as deemed necessary by the Planning Board, or face denial or rescission of approval of the subdivision. If the special account (as described below) is depleted, no construction may be performed until the special account is replenished to the satisfaction of the Planning Board.
H. 
Funds received by the Planning Board for consultant services or construction inspection pursuant to this section shall be deposited with the Wakefield Treasurer, who shall establish a special account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special account may be made at the direction of the Planning Board without further appropriation. Expenditures from this special account shall be made only in connection with the review and inspection of the subdivision for which the fee has been collected. Accrued interest may also be spent for this purpose. Upon completion of the subdivision, any excess amount in the special account, including interest, shall be repaid to the applicant.
I. 
Failure of the applicant to pay the required fees shall be grounds for denial of the subdivision application or rescission of the approved plan.
J. 
The applicant may appeal from the selection of the outside consultant or construction inspector to the Town Council within 14 days of notification of consultant designation from the Planning Board. The grounds for such an appeal shall be limited to claims that the consultant selected has a conflict of interest or does not possess the minimum required qualifications. The required time limits for action upon the definitive or preliminary plan application shall be extended for the duration of the appeal.
[Amended 11-5-2018 RTM by Art. 17]
[Amended 3-9-2004]
Type of Application/Service
Reference
Amount
Due
Approval not required (ANR)
§ 320-4
$250 per plan plus
$100 per new buildable lot
With application
Preliminary plan residential Filing fee Review fee
§ 320-9
$1,000 + 100/lot $1,000 + 100/lot
With application
Definitive plan Filing fee Review fee
§ 320-10
$2,000 + 350/lot $2,000 + 350/lot
With application
Definitive plan (no preliminary plan) Filing fee Review fee
§ 320-10
$3,000 + 500/lot $3,000 + 500/lot
With Application
Recording Subdivision plan, decision covenant Each additional easement, deed or special condition to be recorded
$250 $50/document
Prior to enforcement of plan
Sewer inflow and infiltration (I/I) removal
§ 320-19A(5)(h)
Equivalent removal of I/I at a 2:1 ratio or I/I removal fee established by DPW
Prior to endorsement of plan
Subdivision construction inspection (*This fee will be calculated by multiplying the current hourly contract price for the construction inspector by hours required.
§ 320-7
§ 320-7
Prior to endorsement of plan
Amendment or modification to an approved definitive plan
Same as definitive plan; review fee only
With amendment
NOTES: 1. The above inspection fee does not include inspection fees for water and sewer service inspections provided by the Department of Public Works.
2. All expenses for advertising and mailing shall be borne by the applicant as indicated in § 320-10A(5).