For the purposes of these rules and regulations, the following
words or terms used herein are hereby defined or the meaning thereof
explained, extended, or limited as stated in MGL c. 41, § 81L,
as amended. Other terms or words or phrases not defined herein or
in the Subdivision Control Law shall be construed according to the
common and approved usage of the language, but technical words and
phrases and such other terms or phrases as may have acquired a particular
and appropriate meaning in law shall be construed and understood according
to such meaning.
ABUTTER
A.
An owner of land sharing a common property line with the owner
of land referred to in a subdivision application; and
B.
An owner of land which is directly across a way from the frontage
of said subdivision land.
AGENT
One or more persons designated to represent a Town board
or agency.
APPLICANT
The owner of the land referred to in an application filed
with the Planning Board, or the owner's duly authorized representative.
AS-BUILT DRAWINGS
The drawings which show the construction of a particular
structure or work as actually completed.
BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Marion.
BUILDING
A structure, or portion thereof, either temporary or permanent, having a roof or other covering forming a structure for the shelter of persons, animals and property of any kind. No trailer or mobile home shall be used as a building, except as permitted by MGL c. 40A, § 3, and Chapter
230, Zoning, §
230-6.7. The term "building" shall be construed as if followed by the words "or portion thereof."
BUILDING COMMISSIONER
The municipal official specified in the Massachusetts State
Building Code designated as such by the Board of Selectmen.
CERTIFIED BY (OR ENDORSED BY) A PLANNING BOARD
As applied to a plan or other instrument required or authorized
by the Subdivision Control Law to be recorded, shall mean bearing
a certification or endorsement signed by the majority of the members
of the Planning Board, or by its Chairman or Clerk or any other person
authorized by it to certify or endorse its approval or other action
and named in a written statement to the Register of Deeds and Recorder
of the Land Court, signed by a majority of the Board.
COMMON OPEN SPACE
A parcel or parcels of permanently protected land or an area
of water, or a combination of land and water within the site designated
and intended for the use and enjoyment of Town residents and/or residents
of flexible development housing. Common open space may contain such
complementary structures and improvements as are necessary and appropriate
to its use and enjoyment.
DAYS
Refers to consecutive calendar days.
DRAINAGE AND SUBSURFACE
The control of surface water within the tract of land to
be subdivided.
[Amended 10-17-2022]
DRIVEWAY
An improved access (other than a street) connecting between
a street and one or more parking or loading spaces. Nothing in this
definition is meant to preclude that access from being shared with
abutting land by granting of a right-of-way or easement to abutting
land/lot owners. In neither case does it qualify as a way, as defined
in "private way" or "right-of-way," nor does it satisfy the frontage
requirements for buildable lots.
[Amended 10-17-2022]
EASEMENT
A right acquired by a public authority or other person for
use or control of property for utility or other designated public
purpose.
FIRST FLUSH
The volume generated by the first 1.25 inches of stormwater
runoff. This first flush of runoff carries the majority of accumulated
pollutants from impervious surfaces.
FRONTAGE
Shall have the same definition as that used in the Zoning
Bylaw.
LOT
An area of land in one ownership, with definite boundaries
used, or set aside and available for use, as the site of one or more
buildings.
LOT AREA
The horizontal area of the lot, exclusive of any way in a
public or private way open to public usage. For computation of minimum
lot area requirements, see the Marion Zoning Bylaw.
LOT, CORNER
A lot which has legal frontage on both a public way and on
a proposed subdivision way, and which shall be shown on a subdivision
application and shall be considered a part of that plan.
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL LAWS ANNOTATED or MGL
The General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ter.
Ed., with all additions thereto and amendments thereof. In the case
of a rearrangement of the General Laws, any citation of particular
sections herein set forth shall be applicable to the corresponding
sections in the new codification.
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
Sewers, surface water drains, and other private or public
utilities, including water pipes, gas pipes, electric lines, cable
television lines, telephone lines, fire alarm lines, and their respective
appurtenances.
OWNER
As applied to real estate, the person (hereinafter defined)
holding the ultimate fee simple title to a parcel, tract, or lot of
land, as shown by the record in the appropriate Land Registration
Office, Registry of Deeds, or Registry of Probate.
PARK STRIP
The area between the paved road, the property line or sidewalk/bike
path.
PERMANENT BENCHMARK
A permanent reference point with the elevation accurately
established and referenced to the United States Coast and Geodetic
Survey datum.
[Amended 10-17-2022]
PERSON
An individual, partnership, corporation, or two or more individuals
or a group or association of individuals, having common or undivided
interests in a tract of land.
PLAN, DEFINITIVE
The plan of a subdivision as submitted to the Board for approval,
to be recorded in the Registry of Deeds or Land Court when approved
by the Board.
PLAN, PRELIMINARY
A plan of a proposed subdivision or resubdivision of land
of sufficient accuracy to be used for the purpose of discussion and
review and meeting the requirements of the Subdivision Rules and Regulations.
PRIVATE WAY
A road, street, highway, avenue or routed passage which has
not been accepted as a public way by a vote of the Town.
PROBABLE MAXIMUM HIGH GROUNDWATER
The greatest elevation at which groundwater is expected to
occur at any point on the site. This elevation shall be determined
by direct observation of groundwater in specific areas of the site
and by comparison with groundwater monitoring wells in the Town of
Marion. The applicant shall estimate the groundwater elevations utilizing
accepted methods for calculating probable maximum groundwater elevations,
such as the U.S. Geological Survey method for estimating probable
high groundwater levels in Massachusetts.
[Amended 10-17-2022]
PUBLIC WAY
Any road which has been accepted as a public way pursuant
to MGL c. 82, or any way established by court decree to be a public
way by dedication, prescription or otherwise.
REPRESENTATIVE
One or more persons designated to represent the applicant
before the Planning Board.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
A strip of land owned by another but over which persons sharing
the right-of-way have a right to pass and re-pass. Unless the strip
meets the requirements of "private way," frontage on the way does
not satisfy the requirement for buildable lots.
ROADWAY OR STREET
That portion of a way or street layout which has been prepared
and constructed for vehicular traffic.
STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Standard Specifications for Highways and Bridges.
[Added 10-17-2022]
STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AREA
The portion of the property where physical stormwater management
activities are conducted (i.e., treatment, retention/detention, etc.).
The area includes the space for the management activities and access
for maintenance.
STREET
An improved public way laid out by the Town of Marion, the
Plymouth County Commissioners or the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
or a way which the Marion Town Clerk certifies is maintained by public
authority as a public way, or a way in existence having, in the opinion
of the Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate
construction to accommodate the vehicular traffic anticipated by reason
of the proposed use of the land abutting thereon or served thereby
and for the installation of municipal services to serve such land
and buildings erected to be erected thereon. A way shall not be a
"street" with respect to any lot which does not have appurtenant to
it a recorded right of access to and over such way for vehicular traffic.
STREET, DEAD-END
A street, portion of a street or combination of streets in
which accessibility is limited to a single means of ingress and egress.
Any proposed street which intersects solely with a dead-end street
shall be deemed to be an extension of the dead-end street. Dead-end
streets and their extensions, if any, shall be measured between the
sideline intersecting street and the center of the turnaround or the
hammerhead. For the purposes of this regulation, a cul-de-sac or hammerhead
turnaround is a dead-end street.
[Amended 10-17-2022]
STREET, LOCAL
A street that, in the opinion of the Planning Board, primarily
serves abutting residences and is not intended to serve through traffic.
STREET, SECONDARY
A street that, in the opinion of the Planning Board, primarily
serves as a collector street for local streets or as a minor through
traffic way and secondarily as access to abutting residences.
SUBDIVISION
The division of a tract of land into two or more lots and
shall include resubdivision, and, when appropriate to the context,
shall relate to the process of subdivision or the land or territory
subdivided; provided, however, that the division of a tract of land
into two or more lots shall not be deemed to constitute a subdivision
within the meaning of the Subdivision Control Law if, at the time
when it is made, every lot within the tract so divided has frontage
on (a) a public way or a way which the Clerk of the Town certifies
is maintained and used as a public way, or (b) a way shown on a plan
theretofore approved and endorsed in accordance with the Subdivision
Control Law, or (c) a way in existence when the Subdivision Control
Law became effective in the Town in which the land lies, 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 municipal services to serve such
land and the buildings erected or to be erected thereon. Such frontage
shall be of at least such distance as is then required by zoning or
other ordinance or bylaw, if any, of said Town for erection of a building
on such lot, and if no distance is so required, such frontage shall
be at least 20 feet. Conveyances or other instruments adding to, taking
away from, or changing the size and shape of, lots in such a manner
as not to leave any lot so affected without the frontage above set
forth, or the division of a tract of land on which two or more buildings
were standing when the Subdivision Control Law went into effect in
the Town in which the land lies into separate lots on each of which
one of such buildings remains standing, shall not constitute a subdivision.
See MGL c. 41, § 81L.
SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW
MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG, inclusive, and
any amendments thereof, additions thereto or substitutions therefor.
WAY
The full strip of land designated as a way, consisting of
the roadway, and any planting strips or sidewalks. A way so designated
shall be available only for such uses as are customary for ways in
the Town, and shall not be available for any private construction
such as buildings, fuel tanks, septic systems, fences, or walls.
YARD, FRONT
Land extending across the required width of the lot and lying
between the street line of the lot and the nearest line of the building.
The depth of the front yard shall be the minimum distance between
the building and front lot line.
The Board, on its own motion or on the petition of any interested
person, shall have the power to modify, amend, or rescind its approval
of a plan of a subdivision, or to require a change in a plan as a
condition of its retaining the status of an approved plan, after due
notice and opportunity to the owner to be heard in accordance with
MGL c. 41, § 81W, as amended.
Not more than one building designed or available for use for
dwelling purposes shall be erected or placed or converted to use as
such on any lot in a subdivision or elsewhere in the Town. Not more
than one building designed or available for use for dwelling purposes
shall be erected or placed or converted to use as such on any lot
in a subdivision, or elsewhere in the Town, without the consent of
the Planning Board, and such consent may be conditional upon the provision
of adequate ways furnishing access to each site for such a building,
in the same manner as otherwise required for lots within a subdivision.