The following regulations shall apply in all circumstances governed
by the Subdivision Control Law.
Any person desiring to divide or subdivide land shall, before
proceeding with the improvement or sale of lots in the division or
subdivision, or the construction of ways or the installation of municipal
services therein, submit to the Planning Board a plan of such division
or subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Control Law and the Regulations
and secure approval or endorsement by the Planning Board as hereinafter
provided.
Any application for approval or endorsement, required plan,
required submittal, and required fee shall comply in all respects
with the provisions of the Regulations. No plan shall be approved
or endorsed by the Planning Board until said plan together with all
required applications, forms, fees, lists and other items have been
duly submitted by the applicant and are properly executed and fully
completed in accordance with the Regulations. Where the applicant
fails to comply with the Regulations, the Planning Board may reject
the application after detailing the ways in which said application
and plan do not conform as required under MGL c. 41, §§ 81P
and 81U.
Any proposed division and any proposed subdivision of land shall
comply in all respects with the Regulations, unless the Planning Board
authorizes an express waiver therefrom in specified and authorized
instances in accordance with the requirements set forth under MGL
c. 41, § 81R, and does so in writing.
Strict compliance with the Regulations governing the subdivision
of land may be waived under MGL c. 41, § 81R, provided that
the Planning Board determines that, in its judgment, in the particular
case at issue, waiver of strict compliance would be in the public
interest and not inconsistent with the Subdivision Control Law.
As mandated under MGL c. 41, § 81Y, Paragraph 2, the
Building Inspector/Zoning Enforcement Officer shall not issue any
permit for erection of a building until first satisfied that the lot
on which the building is to be erected is not within a subdivision
that requires approval under the Subdivision Control Law, or that
the way which furnishes the access to the lot within a subdivision
as required by the Subdivision Control Law is shown on a plan recorded
or entitled to be recorded under MGL c. 41, § 81X, and that
any conditions endorsed on a subdivision plan that limit the right
to erect or maintain buildings on such lot have been satisfied, or
waived by the Planning Board, and in the event that the Planning Board
has by rule or regulation required that not more than one building
for dwelling purposes be erected or placed or converted to use as
such on any lot without its consent, until the Building Inspector/Zoning
Enforcement Officer is satisfied that such consent has been obtained.
The Planning Board shall be responsible for the division or
subdivision of land, as set forth in MGL c. 41, § 81N.
A.
Scheduling of meetings. The Planning Board shall schedule and hold
regular meetings at such a place and on such dates and times as may
be designated by notice filed with the Town Clerk at least 48 hours
in advance as required under MGL c. 30A, § 20. Regular meetings
of the Planning Board are open for the public to attend.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Amendment pending.
B.
Appointments. Anyone desiring to initiate an action that is within
the jurisdiction of the Planning Board shall do so by advance appointment
only at a posted meeting, unless otherwise provided for by law. To
secure an appointment, all applicants shall contact the Planning Board's
staff at least four business days prior to a regularly scheduled meeting.
The applicant shall provide the applicant's name, address and a brief
outline of the nature of the business that is to be discussed with
the Planning Board. The only exception to the four-day rule shall
be that the nature of the business is confidential under MGL c. 30A,
§ 18 et seq.[2]
[2]
Editor's Note: Amendment pending.
C.
Public meeting procedures.
(1)
All meetings of the Planning Board shall be public, unless conducted
in executive session, and shall be conducted formally under the direction
of the Chair or the Chair's designee and only when a quorum of the
Board is in attendance, other than to reschedule meetings or to take
action that is required to indicate that a quorum was not present.
(2)
All applicants and all other persons desiring to submit a petition
or to be heard shall address the Planning Board only upon being properly
recognized by the Chair and shall direct all testimony to the Chair.
All spectators at a meeting of the Planning Board shall respect the
desire of the Chair to conduct business in an orderly manner. No person
shall address a public meeting of the Planning Board without permission
of the presiding officer. All persons shall, at the request of the
presiding officer, be silent. If, after warning from the presiding
officer, a person persists in disorderly behavior, the presiding officer
may order that person to withdraw from the meeting and, if the disorderly
person does not withdraw, the presiding officer may order a constable
or any other person to remove the disorderly person and confine said
person in some convenient place until the meeting is adjourned. MGL
c. 30A, § 20.[3]
[3]
Editor's Note: Amendment pending.
D.
Public hearing procedures. All comments or information, documents,
plans and letters received during a public hearing shall be taken
into consideration by the Planning Board in making a decision on a
pending matter.
[Amended 5-8-2021 ATM by Art. 11]
Pursuant to MGL c. 41, § 81Q, and MGL c. 44, § 53G,
the Planning Board may assign as its agents appropriate Town officials
and/or may hire professional technical consultants for the purpose
of reviewing plans and inspecting improvements at the cost of the
applicant. The selection of an outside consultant shall be subject
to an administrative appeal to the Select Board, but 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
as set forth under MGL c. 44, § 53G.
The fees appended hereto as Appendix V, Schedule of Fees, are
hereby adopted under MGL c. 41 and MGL c. 44, § 53G, and
shall apply to the submittal of application materials of the various
plans specified in the Regulations, to cover the Planning Board's
costs of processing applications, obtaining technical review, and
inspecting work.
A.
The Planning 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.
B.
No modification, amendment or rescission of the approval of a plan
of a subdivision or changes in such plan shall affect the lots in
such subdivision which have been sold or mortgaged in good faith and
for a valuable consideration subsequent to the approval of the plan,
or any rights appurtenant thereto, without the consent of the owner
of such lots, and of the holder of the mortgage or mortgages, if any,
thereon; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to
prohibit such modification, amendment or rescission when there has
been a sale to a single grantee of either the entire parcel of land
shown on the subdivision plan or of all the lots not previously released
by the Planning Board.
A.
Not more than one dwelling shall be erected, or placed, or converted
to use as a dwelling on any lot in a subdivision or elsewhere in the
Town without the consent of the Planning Board, and such consent shall
be conditioned upon provision of adequate ways furnishing access to
each site for such building in the same manner as otherwise required
for lots within a subdivision. MGL c. 41, § 81Q, Paragraph
1, and § 81Y, Paragraph 2. This regulation applies to all
land in the Town, even if it is not being subdivided.
B.
Lot limitation. No lot may be added to an approved subdivision without
obtaining further subdivision approval under MGL c. 41, § 81W.
Plans shall be endorsed as not requiring approval under the
Subdivision Control Law and subdivision plans shall be approved only
if each building lot to be created by such plan has adequate access
as intended under the Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41, §§ 81K
to 81GG.
A.
Standards of adequacy of access. The following standards of adequacy
of access shall be followed:
(1)
Approval not required (ANR) site. A way providing access to
lots proposed on a plan submitted under or pursuant to MGL c. 41,
§ 81P, shall be considered adequate access only if said
way meets the requirements of MGL c. 41, § 81L.
(2)
Within a subdivision. A street depicted on a proposed subdivision
plan shall be considered adequate access only if it complies with
the standards established in the Regulations or has received proper
waivers therefrom.
(3)
To a subdivision. Adjacent, existing ways that would provide
access to streets within a proposed subdivision shall be considered
to provide adequate access to the proposed subdivision only if such
adjacent, existing ways meet the standards set forth herein for width
of right-of-way, construction, drainage, pavement width, sight distance,
and maximum grade.
B.
Obligations of applicant to make improvements. The Planning Board
may require appropriate and reasonable improvements in adjacent streets
and ways to minimize congestion, to ensure safe and adequate access
to the proposed subdivision and to ensure safe and adequate vehicular
and pedestrian travel in a coordinated system of streets and ways
in Norwell and connecting to adjacent municipalities. The Planning
Board may require, as a condition of its approval of a definitive
subdivision plan, that the applicant shall dedicate or acquire and
then dedicate a strip of land for the purpose of widening existing
ways to a width as required in the Regulations and that the applicant
shall make physical improvements within such way or compensate the
Town for the cost of such improvements in order to meet the standards
specified above.
