For the purposes of this bylaw, certain terms and words are
herein defined as follows. Words used in the present tense include
the future; words in the singular number include the plural and words
in the plural number include the singular; the word "shall" is mandatory
and not directory; the word "lot" includes the words "plot" and "parcel,"
and "land" includes the words "marsh" and "water."
A strip of land, calculated in the frontage available, capable
of being and used for vehicular ingress to or egress from the property,
measured from the right-of-way to the setback line.[1]
Includes the word "structure" unless the context unequivocally
indicates otherwise. "Building" shall also mean a three-dimensional
enclosure built, erected or framed of any combination of building
materials on any space for use or occupancy, temporary or permanent,
and may include foundations in the ground; also all parts of any kind
of a structure above ground except fences and fields or garden walls
or embankment retaining walls.
See definition of "lot" below.[2]
A business which prepares and provides food on site and/or
to be delivered and served at an off-site location.
A tower used for cellular phone communication equipment.
Includes the words "built," "erected," "reconstructed," "altered,"
"moved," or "placed."
A residential development which provides housing in independent
units, skilled medical care and such services as a nursing home, meals
and unit cleaning; which may also provide such amenities as a craft
area, library, store, bank or post office for sale of products or
provision of services to meet daily needs of the residents only, and
transportation for residents to shopping, social and recreational
activities and to off-site medical appointments.
A way for the passage of vehicles from the street used to
qualify for required frontage to a garage or off-street parking and
loading area.
COMMON DRIVEWAYAny drive, right-of-way or private way which provides access to two lots but which does not qualify for determining frontage under Chapters 40A and 41 of the General Laws of Massachusetts.
Any building, or part thereof, used for habitation for one
or more persons, but not including commercial accommodations for transient
occupancy or trailers or mobile homes, however mounted.
DWELLING UNITOne or more rooms with cooking, living, sanitary and sleeping facilities arranged for the use of one or more persons living together as a single housekeeping unit.
The dividing line between a street and a lot and, in the
case of a public way, the street line established by the public authority
laying out the way upon which the lot abuts.
One or more persons living together in one dwelling unit,
but not including sororities, fraternities and other communal arrangements.
A parcel of land of five acres or more used for gain in the
raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry, dairy products,
viticulture, horticulture and floriculture. It includes necessary
farm structures and the storage of equipment used.
The distance measured along the boundary of a lot coinciding
with the street line, being an unbroken distance through which actual
access to the potential building site shall be required, provided
that:
Non-corner lots.
The lot is on a street or way legally accepted by Town Meeting
vote; or
The lot is on a street or way established by a state or federal
authority; or
The lot is shown on a street or way established by a subdivision
plan approved in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law;[3] or
The lot is on a street or way on a list maintained by the Town
Clerk, which is determined to qualify for frontage under the provisions
of this section; and
Corner lots; lots with frontage on culs-de-sac.
For a corner lot, which has a corner with a radius, frontage
shall be measured between the above-described lot line and the midpoint
of the arc made by the common radius; or
For a corner lot, which has no radius, frontage shall be measured
between one side lot line and the intersection with the abutting street
right-of-way line; or
For a lot with frontage on a curved portion of a cul-de-sac,
frontage shall be measured along a straight line running between the
points where the lot's side lines intersect with the street's right-of-way
line.
A building and its grounds used for meetings and events,
to include receptions, dinners, weddings and similar social affairs,
and business and civic meetings.
Covered space for housing of motor vehicles.
GARAGE, PRIVATEA garage which is a part of or separate from a dwelling but which is not used for the rental of more than one stall or for commercial repair or commercial storage.
GARAGE, PUBLICAny garage other than a private garage, available to the public, operated by a public authority or for gain and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles or supplying of gasoline or oil to motor vehicles or fuel to any kind of self-propelled vehicles.[4]
An accessory use on a lot which contains a dwelling. The
guesthouse can be occupied on a temporary basis by nonpaying guests
of the principal dwelling and may contain sleeping and sanitary facilities
but may not contain cooking facilities.
A substance or material, whether in gaseous, liquid or solid
form, or a combination thereof in a quantity or form that poses a
substantial threat to human health or poses an unreasonable risk to
health, safety, property or the environment when improperly managed,
including all materials listed as hazardous by the Environmental Protection
Agency, under the Toxic Substance Control Act, Federal Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act as set forth in 40 CFR 261, or similar authority,
the Department of Energy or by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts pursuant
to applicable General Laws.[5]
An impervious surface shall be considered one with a runoff
coefficient of greater than 90%. All structures, driveways, parking
areas and paved surfaces exceeding a 90% runoff coefficient shall
be considered as impervious surfaces.
An area planned for occupancy for more than one industrial
building with shared common areas and/or parking areas.[6]
An off-street space or berth, on the same lot with a building,
for the temporary parking of vehicles while loading or unloading merchandise
or material and which has access to a street or other appropriate
means of ingress and egress.
A single area of land in one ownership, capable of being built
on and designated by metes and bounds or boundary lines shown in a
recorded deed or a recorded plan or a plan proposed to be recorded.
Lot width is the minimum distance between the side lot lines
of the lot measured on any line parallel to a line joining the intersection
of the side lot lines with the right-of-way at any point between said
intersection and the nearest point of the principal building and the
right-of-way line.
A building lot is that area of land described in a site plan
application for a building permit; or any application to the Board
of Appeals for a special permit or a variance or any application to
the Planning Board for development plan review or for a special permit;
or otherwise described as an area on which a structure is to be constructed
which will be recorded by plan or deed at the Worcester North District
Registry of Deeds.
A building lot shall not include any part of the street.
A corner lot shall be any lot abutting on two or more streets
that are intersecting.
A planned residential area lot is defined as the land within
the perimeter boundaries of the unified plan.
A nonconforming building is a building lawfully existing at
the time of adoption of this bylaw, or any amendment thereto, which
does not conform to one or more of the applicable dimensional and
density regulations for the district in which the building is located.
A nonconforming lot is a lot lawfully existing at the time of
the adoption of this bylaw, or any amendment thereto, which does not
conform to one or more of the applicable dimensional and density regulations
for the district in which the lot is located.
A nonconforming use is a use of a building or lot lawfully existing
at the time of the adoption of this bylaw, or any amendment thereto,
which use is not allowed by the bylaw in the district in which it
is located.[7]
A unified one-lot development, including one or more residential
building types, undertaken in accordance with an overall plan, incorporating
a consistent architectural concept and incorporating the preservation
of natural areas within the development.
Any way that is not a "public way" as defined by this bylaw.[8]
A way over which the public is entitled to pass, and which
has been either:
A section shielded from view from adjacent areas by fencing,
hedges or trees.[10]
Any words, lettering, parts of letters, figures, numerals,
phrases, sentences, emblems, devices, designs, trade names, or trademarks,
whether stationary or portable, by which anything is made known, such
as are used to designate or locate an individual, a firm, an association,
a corporation, a profession, a business, or a commodity or product,
which are visible from a public or private street or right-of-way
and used to attract attention.
A public way or private way either shown on a plan approved
in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law or otherwise qualifying
a lot for frontage under the Subdivision Control Law or in existence
when the provisions of the Subdivision Control Law became effective
in the Town of Lunenburg having, in the opinion of the Planning Board,
suitable grade, adequate construction to provide for the needs of
vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed use of land abutting
thereon or served thereby or for the installation of municipal services
to serve the plan and/or to be erected thereon.
STREET LINESee "exterior line" above.
Any construction, erection, assemblage or other combination
of materials upon the land, necessitating pilings, footings or a foundation
for attachment to the land, excluding fences, but including all indoor
or outdoor swimming pools whether or not so attached and equipment
and appurtenances thereto when the pool is used for landscaping, swimming
or bathing and has 24 or more inches of depth and has a surface of
75 or more square feet and all other structures of over 120 square
feet.
A tower used for telecommunication equipment and transmitting.[11]
A substance or material, whether in gaseous, liquid or solid
form or a combination thereof, in quantity or form that significantly
contributes to serious illness or death or that poses a substantial
threat to human health or poses an unreasonable risk to health when
improperly managed, including all materials listed as toxic by the
Environmental Protection Agency, under the Toxic Substance Control
Act, Federal Resource Conservation Recovery Act as set forth in 40
CFR 261 or similar authority or by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
pursuant to applicable General Laws.
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
designed and constructed as a dwelling unit which permits its transportation
and relocation as a complete unit on its own wheels. It shall contain
complete electrical, plumbing and sanitary facilities and may be installed
on a temporary or permanent foundation for permanent living quarters.
This shall not include the type of vehicle known as a recreational
camping-type vehicle, motorized travel vehicle, boat trailer, horse
trailer or similar trailer vehicles nor shall it include any other
prefabricated dwelling unit which contains detachable parts equal
to or greater than 50% of the floor area of the total dwelling unit.
All equipment, machinery and structures for wind energy systems
utilized in connection with the conversion of wind to electricity.
SMALL WIND ENERGY SYSTEM (SWES)A WES with a rated nameplate capacity of 60 kW or less.
COMMERCIAL WIND ENERGY SYSTEM (CWES)A WES with a rated nameplate capacity of more than 60 kW of which more than 50% of the output is intended for use off site.
KILOWATT (kW)One thousand watts.
An open space, other than an enclosed court, on the same
lot with a building or group of buildings, which open space lies between
the building or group of buildings and a lot line and is not occupied
or obstructed from the ground upward by a building or a structure.
YARD, FRONTA yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the street line of the lot and the nearest line of the building. The depth of a front yard shall be the minimum distance between the building and the front lot line.
YARD, REARA yard extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the rear lot line of the lot and the nearest line of the building. The depth of the rear yard shall be the minimum distance between the building and the rear lot line.
YARD, SIDEA yard between the side lot line of the lot and the nearest line of the building and extending from the front yard to the rear yard or, in the absence of either of such yards, to the front or rear lot lines, as may be. The width of a side yard shall be the minimum distance between the building and the side lot line.
[1]
Editor’s Note: The former definitions of “assisted-living
residence” and “bed-and-breakfast or bed-and-breakfast
establishment,” which immediately followed, were repealed 11-13-2018
STM by Art. 14.
[2]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “car wash,”
which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
[4]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “gasoline
station/service station or filling station,” which immediately
followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
[5]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “hotel,
inn, motel, tourist home or lodging house,” which immediately
followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
[6]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “kennel,”
which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
[7]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “office
park,” which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM
by Art. 14.
[8]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “professional
building,” which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018
STM by Art. 14.
[9]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “rooming
house or boardinghouse,” which immediately followed, was repealed
11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
[10]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “shopping
center,” which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018
STM by Art. 14.
[11]
Editor’s Note: The former definition of “townhouse,”
which immediately followed, was repealed 11-13-2018 STM by Art. 14.
