[Amended 4-25-2022 ATM by Art. 19, AG 11-4-2022, eff. 4-25-2022]
Accessory building or structure: A subordinate
building or structure located on the same lot as the main or principal
building or principal use, the use of which is customarily incidental
to that of the principal building or use of the land.
Accessory use: A use customarily incidental to
that of the main or principal building or use of the land.
Adult day care facility: A social day care or adult
day health facility as those terms are defined by the Commonwealth's
Department of Elder Affairs.
Adult Mobile Home Parks: Premises especially located
and designed for the parking or placing of Mobile Homes under single
or common ownership and including recreation areas and other structures
or facilities which may be provided for the residents of the Park
only and their guests.
Adult Uses: The following constitute Adult Uses
for the purposes of Section 6.7
Adult Book Store: An establishment having thirty percent (30%) or more of its stock
in trade books, magazines, photographs, videos, computer discs, laser
discs and other matter which are distinguished or characterized by
their emphasis depicting, describing or relating to sexual conduct
or sexual excitement as defined in MGL Chapter 272 Section 31.
Adult Motion Picture Theatre: an enclosed building used for creating or presenting materials or
transmission distinguished by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing
or relating to sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in MGL
Chapter 272 Section 31.
Adult Video Store: An establishment having thirty percent (30%) or more of its stock
in trade, videos, movies, computer software, computer discs, laser
discs or other film material which are distinguished or characterized
by their emphasis or characterized by their emphasis depicting, describing
or relating to sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in MGL
Chapter 272 Section 31.
Nude Dancing Establishment: An establishment that features male or female nudity as defined in
MGL Chapter 272 Section 31.
Adult Paraphernalia: Shall mean any devices, objects,
tools, or toys which are distinguished or characterized by their association
with sexual activity, including sexual conduct or sexual excitement
(the condition of human male or female genitals or the breasts of
the female while in a state of sexual stimulation or the sensual experiences
of humans engaging in or witnessing sexual conduct or nudity).
Age Restriction: As applied in an Adult Mobile
Home Park, residency/occupancy in a mobile home shall be restricted
to not more than two (2) persons who are fifty-five (55) years of
age or older. Residency/occupancy in a mobile home may also include
not more than two (2) persons who are less than fifty-five (55) years
of age, provided that such persons are either the spouse of an occupant
of the mobile home who is at least fifty-five (55) years of age, or
a person who is providing medically prescribed nursing care to an
occupant of the mobile home who is at least fifty-five (55) years
of age.
Agricultural Use: Use of land for the primary purpose
of agriculture, horticulture, floriculture or viticulture including
the use, construction, expansion or reconstruction of existing structures
thereon. Horticulture shall include the sale and keeping of nursery
stock, which shall be considered to be produced by the owner or lessee
of the land if it is nourished, maintained and managed while on the
premises.
Alterations: As applied to a building or structure,
a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the exit facilities
or an enlargement whether by extending on a side or by increasing
in height or the moving from one (1) location or position to another.
Animal clinic or veterinary hospital: A place where
animals or pets are given medical or surgical treatment and the boarding
of animals is limited to short term care incidental to the clinic
or hospital use.
Assisted Living Residence: A facility licensed
pursuant to MGL Chapter 19D.
Aviation field: A facility at which common carriers
or private aircraft, including helicopters, may be landed and take
flight, stored or hangared, maintained or repaired and accessory uses
thereto.
Building: 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. For the
purposes of this definition, "roof" shall include an awning or any
similar covering, whether or not permanent in nature.
Building height: As per the State Building Code.
In the GU District and the CD District, this term shall mean the distance
between the average grade of the ground at the front of the building
and the roof of the building; excluding roof structures (such as elevator
shafts, heating, ventilating and air conditioning equipment) normally
located on or built above the roof and not devoted to human occupancy.
Building, principal: A building in which is conducted
the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.
Business or professional office: A building or
part thereof, for the transaction of business or the provision of
services exclusive of the receipt, sale, storage or processing of
merchandise.
Child Care Center: A day care center or school
age child care program, as those terms are defined in MGL Chapter
15D Section 1A.
Club or lodge, private: Buildings, structures and
premises used by a nonprofit social or civic organization or by an
organization catering exclusively to members and their guests for
social, civic, recreational or athletic purposes which are not conducted
primarily for gain and provided there are no vending stands, merchandising
or commercial activities except as may be required generally for the
membership and purposes of such organization.
Commercial recreation, outdoor: Drive-in theatre,
golf course/driving range, sports club, practice field, boathouse,
game preserve, marina, camping, bathing beach or other commercial
recreation activity carried on in whole or in part outdoors for a
fee, except those activities more specifically designated in this
Bylaw.
Commercial recreation, indoor: A structure for
recreational, social or amusement purposes carried out for a fee,
which may include as an accessory use the consumption of food and
drink, including all connected rooms or space with a common means
of egress and entrance and shall include enclosed sports facilities,
concert halls, dance halls, skating rinks, bowling alleys, archery
range, dance studios or other commercial recreational centers.
Contractor's yard: Premises used by a building
contractor or subcontractor for storage of equipment and supplies,
fabrication of subassemblies or parking of tracked or wheeled equipment.
Dwelling: A building designed and occupied as the
living quarters of one (1) or more families.
Dwelling, multifamily: A multifamily dwelling shall
be one designed for and occupied by two (2) or more families.
Dwelling, single family: Single family dwellings
shall be designed for and occupied by not more than one (1) family.
Dwelling unit: Habitable room or group of habitable
rooms, containing cooking facilities, sanitary facilities, providing
facilities for living, sleeping and eating for one family.
Earth: All forms of soil including, but not limited
to, loam, sand, gravel, clay, peat, hardpan and rock.
Earth removal: Carrying earth away from a lot.
Earth removal on premises owned by the Town: Earth
removal on premises owned by this municipality, provided that the
earth removal is in conjunction with preparation or development of
the premises for a municipal end use, including, without limitation,
recreational or athletic fields or school buildings and facilities.
Educational use, nonexempt: Educational facilities
not exempted from regulation by MGL Chapter 40A Section 3.
Erect: To build, construct, reconstruct, move upon,
or conduct any physical development of the premises required for a
building; to excavate, fill, drain and the like preparation for building
shall also be considered to erect.
Essential services: Services provided by a public
service corporation or by governmental agencies through erection,
construction, alteration or maintenance of gas, electrical, steam
or water transmission or distribution systems and collection, communication,
supply or disposal systems whether underground or overhead, but not
including wireless communications facilities. Facilities necessary
for the provision of essential services include poles, wires, drains,
sewers, pipes, conduits, cables, fire alarm boxes, police call boxes,
traffic signals, hydrants and other similar equipment in connection
therewith.
Family: One or more persons related by blood, marriage
or adoption and sharing cooking, storage, bathroom, living and sleeping
facilities in a dwelling as a single housekeeping unit. In addition,
a family may include any of the following:
a. Domestic partners.
b. Foster children.
c. Domestic employees.
d. Not more than two boarders.
e. Not more than four additional persons
not related to the others by blood, marriage or adoption.
Family accessory apartment: A dwelling unit which
is included within a single family dwelling structure, including a
single family dwelling with attached garage; but said apartment is
separate from and not located within the principal dwelling unit contained
within the single family dwelling.
Family day care home, small: Any private residence
operating a facility as defined in MGL Chapter 15D Section 1A which
services ten (10) or fewer children.
Family day care home, large: Any private residence
operating a facility as defined in MGL Chapter 15D Section 1A which
services more than ten (10) children.
Flea market, indoor: A building in which stalls
or sales areas are set aside and rented or otherwise provided and
which are intended for use by various unrelated individuals to sell
articles that are either homemade, homegrown, handcrafted, old, obsolete
or antique and may include selling goods at retail by businesses or
individuals who are generally engaged in retail trade. Flea markets
are conventional, permanent profit seeking businesses that require
all local permits and licenses.
Floor area (gross): The sum of the areas of the
several floors of a building, measured from the exterior faces of
the outside walls. It does not include cellars, unenclosed porches
or attics not used for human occupancy or any floor space in accessory
buildings or in the main building intended and designed for the parking
of motor vehicles in order to meet the parking requirements of Section
5.3 or any such floor space intended and designed for accessory heating
and ventilating equipment.
Floor area ratio (FAR): A mathematical expression
determined by dividing total floor area of a building by the area
of the lot on which it is located. For example, a one (1) acre lot
with an FAR of 0.75 could contain thirty two thousand six hundred
seventy (32,670) square feet of gross floor area (43,560 X 0.75 =
32,670).
Footprint: The entire area of ground covered by
and in contact with a building or structure, exclusive of pavement,
eaves and overhangs; the perimeter of the structure in contact with
the ground. Attached porches are included within the footprint.
Front building wall: The wall containing the primary
entrance to the building. For buildings with multiple storefronts
or business spaces equipped with separate individual entrances, the
primary front of each store shall be considered the front building
wall.
Funeral home: Facility for the conducting of funerals
and related activities such as embalming.
General Service establishment: An establishment
providing services such as small motor or appliance repair, upholstery,
furniture repair and the like.
Health Club: A facility at which patrons may use
exercise equipment and engage in various activities, including tennis,
swimming and other sports, with all accessory components.
Impervious area: Land covered by buildings, roads,
driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, loading areas, service yards
or other improvements which do not allow precipitation or surface
water to penetrate directly into the soil.
Junk: Any article or material or collection thereof
which is worn out, cast off or discarded and which is ready for destruction
or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion. Any article
or material which, unaltered or unchanged and without further reconditioning,
cannot be used for its original purpose as readily as when new shall
be considered junk.
Junkyard or automobile graveyard: The use of any
area or any lot, whether inside or outside of a building, for the
storage, keeping, or abandonment of junk, scrap or discarded materials
or the dismantling, demolition or abandonment of automobiles, other
vehicles, machinery or parts thereof.
Kennel, commercial: A commercial establishment
in which a pack or collection of more than ten (10) dogs, three (3)
months old or older, are housed, groomed, bred, boarded, trained or
sold.
Kennel, hobby - An establishment in which a pack
or collection of six (6) to ten (10) dogs, three (3) months old or
older, are housed, groomed, bred, boarded, trained or sold.
Kennel, household - A pack or collection of four
(4) to five (5) dogs, three (3) months old or older, maintained as
household pets on a lot, not maintained for breeding purposes.
Kennel, private - A pack or collection of four
(4) to five (5) dogs, three (3) months old or older, maintained as
household pets on a lot, maintained for breeding purposes.
Light manufacturing: Fabrication, assembly, processing,
finishing work or packaging.
Lot: An area of land held in one ownership, with
definite boundaries, used or available for use, as the site of one
or more buildings under this Zoning Bylaw.
Lot area: The horizontal area of the lot exclusive
of any area in a street or recorded way open to public use.
Lot, corner: A lot with two (2) adjacent sides
abutting upon streets or other public spaces.
Lot, depth of: The mean distance from the street
line of the lot to its opposite rear line measured in the general
direction of the side lines of the lot.
Lot frontage: The frontage of a lot on a public
or private street.
Lot line: A line dividing one lot from another
or from a street or any public place.
Lot width: The minimum width of a lot at any point
between the street line and the required minimum street setback line
for erection of a dwelling, building or structure on the lot.
Manufacturing: 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, but excluding the following: acid
manufacture; cement, bituminous concrete or asphalt manufacture; lime,
gypsum or plaster of paris manufacture; production of chlorine or
similar noxious gases; distillation of bones; drop-forge industries
manufacturing forging with power hammers; manufacture or storage of
explosives in bulk quantities; fertilizer manufacture; garbage, offal,
or dead animal reduction or dumping; glue manufacture; hair manufacture;
petroleum refining; processing of sauerkraut, vinegar or yeast; rendering
or refining of fats or oils; smelting of tin, copper, zinc or iron
ore, including blast furnace or blooming mill; stockyard or feeding
pen; slaughter of animals, not including the killing of fowl.
Marijuana Establishment: A marijuana cultivator,
independent testing laboratory, marijuana product manufacturer, marijuana
retailer or any other type of licensed marijuana-related business,
all as defined in G.L. c. 94G, § 2 and 935 CMR 500.002.
Said Marijuana Establishments shall be deemed independent of any other
definition in this by-law and not a subset or subcategory of any other
category. [Added 10-1-2018 STM by Art. 24, AG 2-22-2019, eff.
10-1-2018]
MGL: Massachusetts General Laws.
Medical office, center or clinic: A building designed
and used for the diagnosis and treatment of human patients that does
not include overnight care facilities.
Mobile camping unit: Any vehicle or object on wheels
which is so designed and constructed or reconstructed or added to
by means of accessories as to permit the vehicle to travel over the
highways and as to permit the use thereof for camping purposes. The
words mobile camping unit shall include travel trailers, self powered
camping units, expandable camping units and similar camping devices.
Mobile home (manufactured housing): A dwelling
unit built on a chassis and containing complete electrical, plumbing
and sanitary facilities and designed to be installed on a temporary
or permanent foundation for permanent living quarters.
Motel or hotel: A building or buildings intended
and designed for transient, overnight or extended occupancy, divided
into separate units within the same building with or without a public
dining facility. If such hotel or motel has independent cooking facilities,
such unit shall not be occupied by any guest for more than four (4)
continuous months, nor may the guest reoccupy any unit within thirty
(30) days of a continuous four (4) month stay, nor may the guest stay
more than six (6) months in any calendar year. No occupant of such
hotel or motel may claim residency at such location.
Motor vehicle body repair: An establishment, garage
or work area enclosed within a building where repairs are made or
caused to be made to motor vehicle bodies, including fenders, bumpers
and similar components of motor vehicle bodies, but does not include
the storage of vehicles for the cannibalization of parts.
Motor vehicle general repairs: Premises for the
servicing and repair of autos, but not to include fuel sales.
Motor vehicle light service: Premises for the supplying
of fuel, oil, lubrication, washing, or minor repair services, but
not to include body work, painting or major repairs. Said premises
may include retail or fast food sales.
Municipal facilities: Facilities owned or operated
by the Town.
Nursing or convalescent home: Any building with
sleeping rooms where persons are housed or lodged and furnished with
meals and nursing care for hire.
Open space: Land not covered by buildings, roads,
driveways, sidewalks, parking areas, loading areas, service yards
or other improvements. Open space shall include, without limitation,
(a) the buffer zones provided herein, (b) any wetlands, marshes, meadows,
swamps, creeks, streams and ponds as defined in Mass. General Laws,
Chapter 131, Section 40 (provided that the applicant is not hereby
prevented from doing any work in such areas as is permitted by the
Middleborough Conservation Commission pursuant to said act) and (c)
any other protected natural areas.
Operations involving radioactive materials: The
collection, treatment, storage, burial, refining, processing, incineration,
reclamation, stabilization, decomposition or disposal of nuclear or
radioactive waste of any kind or description including without limitation
waste classified as low-level radio-active waste. The use prohibition
set forth in the Table of Uses shall not apply to Middleborough hospitals,
dispensaries, clinics, offices of physicians and dentists or other
Middleborough facilities where nuclear or radioactive waste is generated
or produced as a result of medical or dental treatment.
Parcel: A tract of land that is not a buildable
lot.
Parking aisle: The corridor located within a parking
area by which vehicles enter and leave parking stalls. Dimensional
requirements are set forth in Section 5.3.
Parking area: An area for the parking of vehicles
open to the public, with or without a fee.
Parking bay: The parking rows located on each side
of the parking aisle. Dimensional requirements are set forth in Section
5.3.
Parking garage: A structure which is accessory
to a commercial or industrial establishment and is primarily for the
parking and storage of vehicles operated by the customers, visitors
and employees of such an establishment.
Parking row: Any row of parking stalls within a
parking area.
Parking stall or space: An area dedicated to the
parking of a single vehicle within a parking area. Dimensional requirements
are set forth in Section 5.3.
Personal service establishment: A facility providing
personal services such as hair salon, barber shop, tanning beds, dry
cleaning, print shop, photography studio and the like.
Restaurant: A building or portion thereof, containing
tables and/or booths for at least two-thirds (2/3) of its legal capacity,
which is designed, intended and used for the indoor sales and consumption
of food prepared on the premises, except that food may be consumed
outdoors in landscaped terraces, designed for dining purposes, which
are adjuncts to the main indoor restaurant facility. The term "restaurant"
shall not include "fast food restaurant."
Restaurant, Fast Food: An establishment whose primary
business is the sale of food for consumption on or off the premises
which is: primarily intended for immediate consumption rather than
for use as an ingredient or component of meals; available upon a short
waiting time; and packaged or presented in such manner that it can
be readily eaten outside the premises where it is sold. Drive-in Food
Service Establishment is a fast food restaurant which provides convenient
vehicular access and may provide service to customers while in their
vehicles.
Retail: A facility selling goods to the public
in an enclosed building but not specifically listed in the Table of
Use Regulations.
Roadside stand: A building or structure used only
for the display and sale of farm products raised on the land of the
owner or lessee; however, the majority of products for sale, based
on gross sales dollars or volume shall have been produced by the owner
or lessee of the land on which the building or structure is located.
Land divided by a public or private way or watercourse shall be considered
one parcel.
Roof Sign: A sign erected upon or above a roof
or parapet of a building.
Shape factor: Required lot shape as defined in
Sections 4.2.3 and 4.6.3.
Sign: Any device designed to inform or attract
the attention of persons not on the premises on which the device is
located. Any building surfaces other than windows which are internally
illuminated or decorated with gaseous tube or other lights are considered
"signs."
Sign area: The area of the smallest horizontally
or vertically oriented rectangle which could enclose all the display
area of the sign, together with any backing different in color or
material from the finish material of the building face, without deduction
for open space or other irregularities. Structural members not bearing
advertising matters shall not be included unless internally or decoratively
lighted. Only one side of flat, back-to-back signs need be included
in calculating sign area.
Solid waste disposal facility: Refuse transfer
station, composting plant, solid waste recycling operation and any
other works or use approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health and the Board of Health of the Town for processing, handling,
treating, and disposing of solid or liquid waste materials, including
garbage, rubbish, junk, discarded bulk items and sludge but not raw
sewage and similar waste items.
Street: (1) A public way (other than a non access
highway) or a way which the Town Clerk certifies is maintained and
used as a public way; or, (2) A way shown on a plan approved and endorsed
in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law (MGL Chapter 41 Section
81K et seq); or, (3) A way in existence when the Subdivision Control
Law became effective in Middleborough, having, in the opinion of the
Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate construction
to provide for the needs of vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed
use of the land abutting thereon or served thereby and for the installation
of the municipal services to serve such land and the buildings erected
or to be erected thereon.
Street line: The dividing line between a street
and a lot.
Street Side Wall: The side of a building which
faces a second street upon which the lot also has frontage.
Structure: A combination of materials assembled
at a fixed location to give support or shelter, including but not
limited to a building, framework, retaining wall, tent, reviewing
stand, platform, bin, fence, sign, flagpole, recreational tramway,
mast for radio antenna or the like. Fences, signs and flagpoles shall
be exempt from setback requirements for structures, but subject to
other requirements set forth herein.
Temporary structure: A structure without any foundation
or footings to be removed within a twelve-month time period. Said
structure shall conform to the requirements of the Table of Dimensional
Requirements and shall receive a permit from the Building Inspector.
Trade shop: Use of premises or dwelling, building
or structure thereon in connection with his trade by one resident
carpenter, electrician, painter, plumber or other artisan, provided
that no manufacturing or business requiring substantially continuous
employment be carried on; provided such use is not noxious or offensive
by reason of noise, color, odor, smoke or static and does not create
a public hazard and provided further that no merchandise or materials
worked upon, required for use or made for sale, are visible to the
passing public.
Transport terminal: Terminal facilities for handling
freight with or without maintenance facilities.
Vehicle: Automobile, trailer, truck, boat or other
motorized means of transportation.
Warehouse: A building used primarily for the storage
of goods and materials, for distribution, but not for sale on the
premises.
Yard: A space open to the sky, located between
a building or structure and a lot line, unoccupied except by fences,
walls, poles, paving and other customary yard accessories.
Yard, Front: The area of a lot lying between the
right of way sideline of a public or private road on which the lot
has frontage and the nearest building on the lot. In the case of corner
lots or lots otherwise having frontage on more than one road, all
fronting yards shall be considered front yards.
Yard, Rear: The area of a lot between the rear
most building on the lot and the rear lot line. The rear yard shall
extend across the full width of the lot.
Yard, Side: The area on a lot between the side
lot line and the building or buildings on the lot, extending between
the front yard and rear yard.