An accessory apartment is a dwelling unit constructed within
and/or added onto an existing, one-family dwelling or attached garage.
An accessory apartment contains a full bathroom, kitchen, living room,
and bedroom. An accessory apartment shall not have more than one (1)
bedroom. Only one (1) accessory apartment will be allowed within or
added onto a one-family dwelling or its attached garage. The owner(s)
of the residence in which or for which the accessory apartment is
created shall occupy at least one (1) of the dwelling units on the
premises, except for bona fide, temporary absences. The owner's dwelling
unit shall not be rented during any such temporary absence.
An accessory apartment shall be designed to maintain the appearance
of a single-family residence as to the one-family dwelling of which
it is a part, and shall be clearly subordinate to the one-family dwelling.
Any exterior entrance to the apartment shall be located on the side
or rear of the one-family dwelling, or of its garage, and any additions
containing the apartment, in whole or in part, shall not increase
the square footage of the original structure of the one-family dwelling
by more than one thousand two hundred fifty (1,250) square feet. Accessory
apartments may not be added to or expanded, and must be complete,
separate housekeeping units that can be isolated from the original
unit of the one-family dwelling. No more than two (2) persons may
occupy an accessory apartment. For dwellings to be served by an on-site
septic system, the owner must obtain written approval from the Board
of Health before a building permit can be obtained for construction
of the accessory apartment. This is to ensure that the existing sewage
disposal system and water supply are adequate for the proposed accessory
apartment.
[Amended 5-16-2016 ATM
by Art. 24]
An accessory building is one which is subordinate or incidental
to the main use of a building on a lot. Accessory buildings on lots
eighty thousand (80,000) square feet or larger shall not be limited
in size with the exception of conformance to maximum building coverage
requirements in each zone as required in § 200-3.2-D, Intensity
of Use Schedule. The term "accessory building" when used in connection
with a farm shall include all structures customarily used for farm
purposes and they shall not be limited in size.
[Amended 5-21-2012 ATM by Art. 28; 5-16-2016 ATM by Art. 22]
A land use which is subordinate and incidental to a predominant or main use. See § 200-3.2, Use regulations, Subsection B(8), Accessory uses, for accessory use listing per zoning districts.
[Amended 5-21-2012 ATM by Art. 28]
Shall include farming in all of its branches and the cultivation
and tillage of the soil, dairying, the production, cultivation, growing
and harvesting of any agricultural, aquacultural, floricultural or
horticultural commodities, the growing and harvesting of forest products
upon forest land, the raising of livestock, including horses, the
keeping of horses as a commercial enterprise, the keeping and raising
of poultry, swine, cattle and other domesticated animals used for
food purposes, bees, fur-bearing animals, and any forestry or lumbering
operations, performed by a farmer, who is hereby defined as one engaged
in agriculture or farming as herein defined, or on a farm as an incident
to or in conjunction with such farming operations, including preparations
for market, delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation
to market.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Commercial facilities for keeping animals to be diagnosed
and treated, in treatment or recovering from treatment in accord with
normal veterinary practice as established by the Massachusetts Board
of Registration, Veterinary Medicine, pursuant to MGL c. 112, § 55
and 256 CMR. This definition shall not apply to educational institutions
of veterinary science.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A lot with structures or pens in which five (5) or more dogs,
cats or other household pets are boarded, bred, or sold.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A business offering goods for sale at auction to the public,
excluding the regular sale of automobiles, motorcycles, recreational
vehicles and similar vehicles, boats or light industrial or farm equipment.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A physical machine that is used to perform banking functions,
including but not limited to cash or check deposits, cash withdrawals,
account balance inquiry, account transfer transactions, or customer
service inquiries. This machine acts as an automated version of a
human bank teller.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
In the residential districts or for dwellings in the nonresidential
districts, the renting of rooms and furnishing of meals for not more
than four persons shall be permitted, provided that the building is
owner-occupied.
[1]
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A structure enclosed within exterior walls or firewalls built,
erected and framed of a combination of any materials, whether portable
or fixed, having a roof, to form a structure for the shelter of persons,
animals or property.
Building area is the aggregate or the maximum horizontal
cross-section area of the main building on the lot, excluding cornices,
eaves, gutters or chimneys projecting not more than thirty (30) inches.
Also excluded from building area are steps and one-story porches,
decks, balconies and terraces.
The vertical distance from grade, which is the average ground
level, to the top of the highest roof beams of a flat roof, or to
the mean level of the highest gables or slope of a hip, pitch or sloped
roof. When a building faces on more than one (1) street, the height
shall be measured from the average of the grades at the center of
each street front.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any facility operated on a regular basis, whether known as
a "day nursery," "nursery school," "kindergarten," "child play school,"
"progressive school," "child development center," or "preschool,"
or known under any other name, which receives children not of common
parentage for nonresidential custody or care during part or all of
the day separate from their parents, as further defined in the State
Building Code.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any facility operated on a regular basis which receives adults
not of common kindred for nonresidential custody or care during part
or all of the day.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
The use of any area of land, whether inside or outside of
a building, for the storage, keeping or abandonment of junk, scrap
or discarded materials made or used by human beings, or the demolition
or abandonment of automobiles or other vehicles, boats or machinery
or parts thereof.
A building or group of buildings designed or altered for
the purpose of accommodating students or members of religious orders
with sleeping quarters, with or without communal kitchen facilities,
and administered by bona fide educational or religious institutions
as defined by MGL c. 40A, § 3, and the cases thereunder.
Dormitories include fraternity or sorority houses, convents, priories
or monasteries, but do not include clubs and lodges.
[Amended 5-21-2012 ATM by Art. 28]
A retail or consumer service use of land or a building in
which the business transacted is conducted by a customer or client
from within their automobile. Does not include curbside pickup using
standard parking spaces or automobile repair and service stations.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A building or portion thereof designed exclusively for residential
occupancy, including one-family, two-family, and multifamily dwellings,
but not including hotels or boardinghouses.
One (1) or more rooms, whether or not containing an interior
door in common with another dwelling unit, and containing cooking,
sanitary, eating and sleeping facilities arranged for the use of one
(1) or more persons; as distinguished from and not including boardinghouses,
communes, dormitories, hotels, lodging houses and similar transient
living accommodations; or trailer homes, mobile homes or trailer coaches
or recreational vehicles outfitted with living accommodations.
A building designed for and occupied exclusively as a home
or residence and containing three (3) or more dwelling units.
A detached building designed for and occupied exclusively
as a home or residence and containing no more than one (1) dwelling
unit.
A detached building designed for and occupied exclusively
as a home or residence and containing two (2) dwelling units.
The capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later
time. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator
or battery. Energy comes in multiple forms, including radiation, chemical,
gravitational potential, electrical potential, electricity, elevated
temperature, latent heat and kinetic.
[Added 5-20-2019 ATM
by Art. 19]
An exterior wall which faces a yard or courtyard whose minimum
dimension shall be not less than fifty (50) feet.
An individual, two (2) or more persons related by blood or
marriage, or a group of not more than five (5) persons who need not
be so related, living as a single housekeeping unit.
Any private residence which, on a regular basis, receives
for temporary custody and care during part or all of the day, children
under seven (7) years of age or children under sixteen (16) years
of age if such children have special needs; provided, however, in
either case that the total number of children under sixteen (16) in
a family day-care home shall not exceed six (6), including participating
children living in the residence.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A tract of land in separate ownership devoted primarily to
agricultural use, including the raising of livestock.[2]
Manufacture or production of fiber-optic goods or products.
The total area of the several floors of a building measured
from the exterior building faces.
Any fixed or mobile place, structure or vehicle, whether
permanent, transient or temporary, including any restaurant, coffee
shop, cafeteria, luncheonette, short-order cafe, grille, tea room,
sandwich shop, soda fountain, tavern, bar, cocktail lounge, nightclub,
roadside stand, and lunch wagon feeding establishment; private, public
or nonprofit organization or institution routinely serving the public,
catering kitchen, commissary, or any other similar eating and drinking
establishment or place in which food or drink is prepared for sale
or for service on the premises or elsewhere, or where food is served
or provided for the public with or without charge.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A licensed food service establishment in which a substantial
portion of the food is prepared in advance of the designated order,
for consumption on or off the premises, which provides for food pickup
by the public without the need to leave the car.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
The continuous linear extent of a lot measured along the
public street right-of-way from the intersection of one (1) side lot
line to the intersection of the other side lot line of the same lot.
A detached or attached accessory building for the parking
or storage of vehicles belonging to the occupants of the premises.
A building other than a private garage used for maintenance,
repair or storage of automobiles or other vehicles for compensation.
The range of measures that use plant or soil systems, permeable
surfaces, stormwater harvest and reuse, infiltrate or evapotranspirate
stormwater and reduce flows to sewer systems or to surface waters.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any home licensed, authorized or operated by the commonwealth
for residential care and supervision of persons who are capable of
self-preservation.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any home licensed, authorized or operated by the commonwealth
for residential care and supervision of persons who are not capable
of self-preservation.[3]
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A use engaged in the basic processing and manufacturing of
materials or finished products or parts, storage (warehousing), sales
and distribution of such products or parts. May include screened outdoor
storage of materials and includes uses that do not meet the light
industrial criteria set forth elsewhere in this section. These uses
have the potential to produce noise, vibrations, smoke, dust, and
odor.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
An accessory use which is carried on by the permanent resident
of a dwelling unit, with not more than two (2) nonresident employees,
and only inside the dwelling with only customary home equipment used
therein; further subject to the provisions that all materials and
products of the occupation be stored only within the dwelling and
accessory structures, no external alterations or structural changes
not customary to a residential building are required; the home occupation
is clearly incidental and secondary to the residential use, no products
may be sold that are not incidental to the home occupation, and the
occupation does not result in the production of offensive noise, vibration,
heat, dust or other objectionable conditions such as on-street parking.
A building or group of buildings intended and designed for
transient, overnight or extended occupancy, divided into separate
units and having a common entrance or individual exterior entrances;
and including an inn, motel, and motor inn but not including a boardinghouse,
lodging house or rooming house.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Institutional and philanthropic uses are nonprofit social and
educational activities, facilities and organizations which include
the following:
|
Parish halls and other religious or semi-religious meeting places
| |
|
Museums
| |
|
Agricultural and horticultural societies
| |
|
Historical societies
| |
|
Literary societies, including libraries
| |
|
Scientific societies
| |
|
Fraternal societies
| |
|
Charitable societies
| |
|
Civic societies
|
Institutional and philanthropic uses shall not include:
|
Profit-making businesses and government or nonprofit institutions
engaged in the treatment of physical and mental illnesses, diseases
and disabilities
| |
|
Profit-making business and government or nonprofit institutions
engaged in psychological or social counseling or therapy
| |
|
Residential quarters for groups or individuals in which psychological
or social counseling or therapy is administered[4]
|
A commercial solar facility whose primary purpose is electrical
generation for the wholesale electricity market. It includes service
and access roads, equipment, machinery and structures utilized in
connection with the conversion of solar energy into electrical power
and storage thereof, with a rated nameplate capacity greater than
250kW.
[Added 5-20-2019 ATM
by Art. 23]
Fabrication, assembly, processing, finishing work or packaging
from previously prepared materials, of finished products or parts,
and incidental storage, sales and distribution of such products that
produce no airborne emissions, objectionable noise, glare, odor, vibrations,
smoke or dust associated with the industrial operation. Outdoor storage
of raw materials and products is permitted with proper screening.[5]
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any institution, whether conducted for charity or profit,
which is advertised, announced or maintained for the express or implied
purpose of providing three (3) or more individuals admitted thereto
with long-term resident, nursing, convalescent or rehabilitative care;
supervision and care incident to old age for ambulatory persons; or
retirement home care for elderly persons. Long-term care facility
shall include convalescent or nursing homes, rest homes, infirmaries
maintained in towns and charitable homes for the aged. (Massachusetts
Department of Public Health Regulations 105 CMR 151.000, effective
February 6, 1980)
[Amended 5-21-2012 ATM by Art. 28]
An area of land in one (1) ownership with definite boundaries
ascertainable by recorded deed or plan and used or set aside and available
for use as the site of one (1) or more buildings or for any other
definite purpose.
The property line bounding the lot.
The linear distance from side lot line to side lot line measured
along the front yard setback line. At no point, between the front
lot line and the rear of the principal structure located on the lot,
shall the lot have a width less than two-thirds (2/3) of the minimum
lot frontage required.
An approach to environmentally friendly land use development.
It includes landscaping and design techniques that attempt to maintain
the natural, predeveloped ability of a site to manage rainfall. LID
techniques capture water on-site, filter it through vegetation, and
let it soak into the ground.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Five (5) or more dwelling units developed on a lot in single
ownership, or on lots that were in single ownership in a five-year
period prior to filing of an application for a building permit for
any of the dwelling units.
A dwelling fabricated in an off-site manufacturing facility
for installation or assembly at the building site, bearing a label
certifying that it is built in compliance with the Federal Manufactured
Housing Construction and Safety Standards.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A use engaged in the basic processing and manufacturing of
materials, or the manufacture from previously prepared materials,
of finished products or parts, including processing, fabrication,
assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, sales and distribution
of such products.
For all marijuana and cannabis definitions, please refer
to Code of Massachusetts Regulations Title 935 500.00: Adult use of
marijuana, and Code of Massachusetts Regulations Title 935 501.00:
Medical use of marijuana, for the most up-to-date definitions.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any vehicle or object whether resting on wheels, jacks or
other foundation and having no motive power of its own, but which
is drawn by, or used in connection with a motor vehicle, and which
is so designed and constructed as a dwelling unit which permits its
transportation and relocation as a complete unit on its own wheels;
and containing complete electrical, plumbing and sanitary facilities;
and designed to be installed on a temporary or permanent foundation
for permanent living quarters. This shall not include the type of
vehicle known as a "travel trailer" or "travel coach."
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
Any lot upon which two (2) or more mobile homes occupied
for dwelling purposes are located.
All vehicles or parts thereof, constructed and designed for
propulsion by power other than muscular power, including such vehicles
when pulled or towed by another motor vehicle, including watercraft,
construction equipment, and tractors.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A lawfully existing use of structure which conformed to the
provisions of the zoning bylaw, if any, at the time it was established
or constructed, but does not conform to the presently applicable requirements
for the district in which it is located.
Any institution, however named, whether conducted for charity
or profit, which is advertised, announced or maintained for the express
or implied purpose of caring for three (3) or more persons admitted
thereto for the purpose of nursing or convalescent care.
An area other than a street used for temporary parking of
more than four (4) automobiles or other types of vehicles.
A space designed to be occupied by, and adequate to park
a motor vehicle plus access thereto. Within a parking area, each parking
space shall not be less than eight and one-half (8 1/2) by eighteen
(18) feet in width and length.
An office of recognized professions such as doctors, dentists,
lawyers, engineers, artists, musicians, architects, designers, and
others, who through training are qualified to perform services of
a professional nature.
Any tract of land which is used for the purpose of any motorized
vehicle racing, horse racing or dog racing, taking place outdoors.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A portable vehicular structure designed for travel, recreational
camping or vacation purposes, either having its own motor power or
mounted onto or drawn by another vehicle, including but not limited
to travel and camping trailer, truck campers and motor homes.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A licensed food service establishment in which food and beverages
are served by a restaurant employee to the consumer at a table or
counter and said food and beverage are consumed within the restaurant
building.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
A riding stable, also sometimes called boarding stables,
riding trails and riding academies, is a facility for the boarding
and/or riding of horses and ponies. [See Use Regulation Schedule,
§ 200-3.2B(4), Recreational Use No. 7.]
An individual person, two (2) or more individuals, a group
or association of individuals or a partnership or corporation, including
an organization of unit owners under MGL c. 183A, having common individual
interests in a tract of land and improvements thereon.
Any public way laid out for vehicular traffic or used as
a public way for such traffic.
Any combination of materials assembled at a fixed location
and requiring attachment to the land through pilings, footings, foundations
and the like, to give support or shelter and/or provide for human
habitation or use, such as a building, bridge, trestle, tower, framework,
tank, tunnel, tent, stadium, reviewing stand, platform, bin, fence,
sign, flagpole, swimming pool, or the like.
Any change in, or additions to, the structural or supporting
members of a building or other structure as bearing walls, columns,
beams or girders.
Any repair, reconstruction, or improvement of a structure, the
cost of which equals or exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the market
value of the structure either:
The term does not include any project for improvement of a structure
to comply with existing state or local health, sanitary, or safety
code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living
conditions.
A structure, building or trailer built on, or towed to, a
site for the purpose of providing an on-site office in which to manage
the construction of one (1) or more permanent structures or buildings.
A wheeled, roofed vehicle, without motor power, designed
to be drawn by a motor vehicle and to be used for habitation, business
or recreational use.
A grant of relief by the Zoning Board of Appeals from the
requirements of this bylaw which use and construction in a manner
that would otherwise be prohibited by the bylaw.
[Amended 5-16-2022 ATM by Art. 16]
A building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials
or for distribution, but not for sale on the premises.
Any device, such as a wind charger, windmill or wind turbine,
which converts wind energy to a form of usable energy.
An open, unoccupied space extending across the full width
of the lot between the front most main building and the front lot
line. The depth of the required front yard shall be measured perpendicular
from the nearest point of the front lot line to the required front
building set back line. (See diagram.)
Free of any building, structure, canopy, or permanently mounted
equipment or dispensing devices.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
An open unoccupied space extending across the full width
of the lot between the most rear main building and the rear lot line.
The depth of the required rear yard shall be measured perpendicularly
from the nearest point of the rear lot line to the required rear building
setback line. (See diagram.)
An open, unoccupied space between the main building and side
lot line, extending from the front yard to the rear yard. The width
of the required side yard shall be measured perpendicularly from the
nearest point of the side lot line to the required side building setback
line. (See diagram.)
 |
The sale or offering for sale to the general public of over
five (5) items of personal property on any portion of a lot in a residential
district, whether within or outside any building. Yard sales may be
conducted on the premises of the owner or tenant, provided said sale
lasts no longer than three (3) consecutive days in a six-month period
and all sale goods shall be limited to personal property used previously
by the occupant.
[Added 5-16-2022 ATM
by Art. 16]
[1]
Editor’s Note: The definition of “boardinghouse,”
which immediately followed, was repealed 5-16-2022 ATM by Art. 16.
[2]
Editor's Note: The definition of "fast-food restaurant," added
5-12-2012 ATM by Art. 28, which immediately followed was repealed
5-16-2022 ATM by Art. 16.
[3]
Editor's Note: The definition of "heavy industrial uses,"
which immediately followed, was repealed 5-16-2022 ATM by Art. 16.
[4]
Editor’s Note: The definition of “large-scale
ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installation," which immediately
followed, was repealed 5-20-2019 ATM by Art. 19.
[5]
Editor's Note: The definitions of "light manufacturing"
and "lodging house," which immediately followed, were repealed 5-16-2022
ATM by Art. 16.
The land in the floodplain subject to a one-percent or greater
chance of flooding in any given year.
The flood having a one-percent chance of being equaled or
exceeded in any given year.
Any human-made or -caused change to improved or unimproved
real estate, including but not limited to buildings or other structures,
mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving excavation or drilling
operations located within the special flood hazard.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land area from:
The official map on which the Federal Insurance Administration
has delineated both the areas of special flood hazards and the risk
premium zones applicable to the Town of Charlton.
The official report provided in which the Federal Insurance
Administration has provided flood profiles, as well as the Flood Boundary-Floodway
Map and the water surface elevation of the base flood.
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood
without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than
one (1) foot.
Structures for which the start of construction commenced
on or after the effective date of the establishment of the Floodplain
District provisions contained in Section 6 of this bylaw.
