A. 
Strict compliance with the requirements of these rules and regulations may be waived when, in the judgment of the Board, such action is in the public interest and consistent with the intent of the Subdivision Control Law. In making this determination, the Board shall consider whether:
(1) 
The public health, safety, and the environment will be protected;
(2) 
Strict application of the requirement to be waived would undermine the public interest;
(3) 
Specific substitute requirements can be adopted that will result in the substantial protection of the Subdivision Control process established in MGL c. 41 § 81R, and the rights of persons affected by the waiver; and
(4) 
The action made possible by the waiver will not violate the provisions of any state of federal law or local bylaw.
B. 
The Board is not authorized to waive the requirements of the Easton Zoning By Law.
C. 
For each section of these where a waiver is sought, a separate request for a waiver shall be submitted, which shall indicate specifically which section of these Regulations is requested to be waived. Waivers may granted by the Board in whole or in part. Waiver requests shall be submitted to the Department of Planning & Community Development at least 14 business days prior to the hearing date. All requests for waivers shall cite specific reasons why a waiver is necessary and appropriate, and shall include documentation to support such claims. Waivers will not generally be issued for procedural requirements.
D. 
Applicants are encouraged to meet with appropriate Town staff to discuss proposed waivers prior to formal submittal.
E. 
When a waiver request is approved, the Planning & Zoning Board shall clearly state in writing the reasons for granting the waiver. The approval document shall be included in the conditions of the project approval and in the project file.
F. 
If the waiver request is denied, the Planning & Zoning Board shall clearly state in writing the reasons for denying the waiver. The denial document shall be included in the conditions of the project decision and in the project file. The Planning & Zoning Board may approve the project application if it can be approved without a waiver.
A. 
Before approval, modification and approval, or disapproval of a Definitive Plan is given, a public hearing shall be held by the Board. Notice of the time and place of the hearing, and of the subject matter, sufficient for identification, shall be given by the Board at the expense of the applicant by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Easton once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication being not less than 14 days before the day of such hearing. A copy of said notice shall be posted in the Town Hall, mailed to the applicant and to all owners of land abutting upon the subdivision or separated from such land only by a street as appearing in the most recent tax list.
B. 
Approval, Modification and Approval, or Disapproval.
(1) 
After the required hearing, but within the period specified in the Subdivision Control Law of submission of the Definitive Plan, the Board shall take action thereon. It may approve, modify and approve, or disapprove said plan, as provided by statute.
(2) 
The action of the Board in respect to such plan shall be certified and filed with the Town Clerk and sent by registered or certified mail to the applicant. Favorable action shall require a majority vote of the Board members. If the Board modifies or disapproves such plan, it shall state with its vote the reasons for its action. Final approval, if granted, shall be endorsed on the reproducible drawings of the Definitive Plan by the signatures of the majority of the Board (or by the signature of the person officially authorized by the Board) but not until the statutory twenty-day appeal period has elapsed following the filing of the certificate of the action of the Board with the Town Clerk and said Clerk has notified the Board that no appeal has been filed, or if appeal has been taken, not until the entry of a final decree of the court sustaining the approval of such plan. After the Definitive Plan has been approved and endorsed, the applicant shall furnish the Board with four prints thereof and two sets of sepias on stable base material. Final approval of the Definitive Plan does not constitute the laying out or acceptance by the Town of streets within a subdivision.
C. 
Standard Conditions of Subdivision Approval.
(1) 
All approved subdivisions shall be subject to the following conditions, unless such conditions are specifically waived in the decision:
(a) 
The construction of all ways and installation of all of municipal services shall be completed in accordance with all applicable rules and regulations of the Board, unless explicitly waived in the decision, within a period of three years from the date of endorsement of the plan. Failure to do so may cause the plan to be subject to rescission.
(b) 
One or more extensions of this deadline of up to three additional years may be granted by the Board, provided that adequate surety is provided to reflect any increases in the cost of construction.
(c) 
The fee in ways approved as public ways shall be conveyed to the Town upon acceptance of the way by Town Meeting action.
(d) 
Final drafts of any approved plans should be submitted for signature on mylar, or other stable base material approved by the Board.
(e) 
The applicant shall submit an annual report to the Board for review no later than January 31 of each year. This report shall correlate to the approved Operations and Maintenance plan and shall include information outlined in Article VIII of the Easton Subdivision Rules and Regulations.
(f) 
Except where explicitly waived, all the requirements of the Easton Subdivision Rules and Regulations shall apply to this subdivision, even if not shown on the plan.
(g) 
The DPCD must be notified at least 48 hours in advance of any construction activities requiring inspection, as outlined in the Easton Subdivision Rules and Regulations.
(h) 
If the project will entail the clearing of more than one acre of land, the Applicant shall provide evidence of having received a NPDES permit.
(2) 
Where any portion of the stormwater maintenance system is proposed to be constructed outside of the roadway layout, the following conditions shall additionally apply:
(a) 
A copy of this decision and the plan, including the plan depicting the location of all utilities owned by the Homeowners' Association, shall be furnished to the new homeowner(s) upon transfer of any deeds.
A. 
The Definitive Plan must be recorded within six months of approval; any sheet showing the division of lots, containing notes of conditions of approval, or referenced in any condition of approval, must be recorded.
B. 
Within 10 days after the Definitive Plan, as approved and endorsed, has been recorded by the subdivider at the Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds and, in the case of registered land with the recorder of the Land Court, the applicant shall immediately thereafter notify the Board in writing of such recording. Acknowledgment of said filing is a prerequisite to lot releases.
C. 
Upon receipt of notification of recording, the Board shall file one print of the Definitive Plan with the Building Inspector. Unless the Building Inspector has received such print, he shall issue no permit for a building on any lot within the subdivision. Further, in accordance with the statute, where approval with covenant is noted thereon, he shall issue no permit for the construction of a building on any lot within the subdivision except upon receipt from the Board of a copy of the Certificate of Performance, Form F (see Forms), releasing the lot in question.
A. 
General.
(1) 
All work performed as pursuant to these Rules and Regulations shall be subject to review of the Board, which shall approve and accept, or disapprove and reject, each phase or portion of such work. The Board may employ a registered professional engineer or other qualified agent to act to inspect the work to ensure that it is performed in accordance with good engineering practice and with all applicable specifications, to ensure compliance with these Rules and Regulations, and to report to the Board any recommendations as to approval or disapproval of the work. Such agent will make certain inspections as prescribed in this subsection in order to check the adequacy of the work at various stages prior to such work being covered by subsequent work. However, the Board, its Agent or Consultant Engineer shall also have the right to inspect work at any time.
(2) 
Unless otherwise notified, the Board's Agent will be the Land Use Agent. If a Consultant Engineer is required, after approval of the Definitive Plan, the Board will notify the Applicant of the name and address the Consultant Engineer designated as its representative to perform inspections, as required herein and otherwise, as the Board's agent to ensure compliance with these Rules and Regulations.
(3) 
The Applicant shall provide safe and convenient access to all parts of the subdivision for the purposes of inspection to representatives of the Board or other Town agencies or Boards or the Board Agent or Consultant Engineer. No work will be accepted that has been covered before such inspection.
B. 
Required Progress Reports. The Applicant shall keep the Board and its Agent or Consultant Engineer fully informed as to the status and progress of the work, and provide, at a minimum, quarterly progress reports.
C. 
Required Inspections.
(1) 
It will be the Applicant's responsibility to request an inspection with at least 48 hours notice (not including holidays or weekends) at the following progress steps:
(a) 
After the installation of underground utilities and services but before the backfilling of trenches or other covering of structure.
(b) 
After the drainage system (pipe, manholes, catch basins and other drainage structures) is installed, but before it is covered. The inspector shall enter each catch basin to sight drainage pipe runs to adjacent basins. Any defective runs shall be corrected before approval is given. The purpose of this inspection is to ensure that the lines have been installed correctly.
(c) 
During completion of the subgrade, sub-base, base course, binder, and surface course of the roadway, as approved, prior to each construction step. Failure to request on-site inspection of any phase will result in a requirement to test sample cores of the roadway. During completion of the subgrade, base course, finish surface, and loam strip of the sidewalk, as approved, prior to each required construction step.
(d) 
Following the completion of all the improvements required by Article VII of these Rules and Regulations and after cleaning up. Failure to request on-site inspection of any phase will result in a requirement to test sample cores of the sidewalk.
(e) 
Prior to any request for a partial release of surety.
(2) 
If the applicant does not advise the Board of the construction sequencing and proper inspection is not completed, additional testing and inspection will be required to prove compliance.
(3) 
Note: Prior to requesting an inspection of required monuments, monuments must be blazed with brightly colored paint.
D. 
Modification, Amendment or Revision of Definitive Plan Approval. 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 Definitive 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 Applicant to be heard in accordance with MGL c. 41, § 81W.
E. 
Acceptance of Roads.
(1) 
When a road or way in a subdivision has been completed in a manner fulfilling the requirements of the Board, the Applicant may request, in writing, the Board to inspect the road or way in order to give a recommendation to Town Meeting, on whether the road or way should be accepted.
(2) 
The Board shall require the following information before making a recommendation to the Town Meeting:
(a) 
Two copies of a plan of the road or way "as built," at a scale of 40 feet (or other appropriate scale) to the inch at size 24" x 36". Said plan to show a center line profile (four feet per inch on the vertical scale and 40 feet per inch on a horizontal scale) taken at fifty-foot intervals along the road or way as it has been completed. All utilities, public and private, above and below grade shall be shown on the plan as they exist. Said As-Built Plans shall also be submitted digitally in AutoCAD©, Adobe Portable Document Format© or other such format acceptable to the Board.
(b) 
One digital copy and two typewritten copies of the proposed article for the Town Meeting generally describing the locations and length of the road or way to be considered for acceptance by the Town.
(c) 
One digital copy and two typewritten copies of the description by metes and bounds of each road and easement considered for acceptance by the Town. After acceptance by the Town Meeting of a road or way in an approved subdivision, the "as built" plan referred to above, the vote of the Town Meeting, and a deed setting forth a description of the road or way to be conveyed shall be recorded with the Northern Bristol County Registry of Deeds and the Town Clerk. All costs associated with the conveyance of the fee including the preparation and recording of all plans, easements and deeds shall be borne by the Applicant.
(d) 
A release of liens under oath from all contractors and subcontractors approved for work on the road or way, attesting to the fact that all payments due them for labor and materials have been received, and that payment for all materials have been rendered.
(e) 
A typed plan for maintenance of the subdivision drainage system, right-of-ways, easements and roads for a twenty-year period. The maintenance plan should include responsible parties and specific provisions for the maintenance of road pavement, soil settling problems, street sweeping, snowplowing, maintaining vegetative stabilization of all rights-of-way and easements, erosion controls, fall leaf cleanup, catch basins, detention basins, and drainage system cleaning and maintenance, and other provisions as determined to be necessary by the Board. If the street is accepted by the Town, the town will not accept ownership of, or be responsible for maintenance of, any drainage beyond the road right of way, which shall be and remain in perpetuity the responsibility of the Homeowners Association and/or the lot owners.
(f) 
Draft Easement Deed(s) conveying to the Town a public way easement in the road and all associated drainage and other easements, generally in the form attached hereto as Section XIV. The grantor(s) must own the fee in the roadway and ensure such ownership by including language in each deed of conveyance to a lot in the subdivision specifically reserving the fee in roadway. In addition, the grantor(s) must own the fee to or have easement rights reserved in the areas to be subject to drainage and other easements which fee or easement rights must also be specifically reserved by the grantor in all instruments of conveyance.
(g) 
A draft title certification, prepared by an attorney licensed in Massachusetts, certifying that the grantors named in the Easement Deed are the holders of the fee to the roadway and have the fee to or easement rights in the property subject to the drainage and other easements, if any, that the easements conveyed to the Town are free of mortgages and liens and other encumbrances that would interfere with the exercise of the easements to be granted to the Town, and that the grantors have the right to grant the easements to the Town. A final title certification must certify the foregoing as of the date the easements are granted to the Town.
F. 
Road Cost Estimates. A Road Cost Estimate will be prepared by the Department at the time of Subdivision Approval to provide a basis for all future Road Cost Estimates. The Road Cost Estimate will be calculated to reflect the improvements required approved.
G. 
Field and Construction Changes. All field and construction changes shall require written approval of the Board, shall be filed in such form and detail as specified by the Board, and incorporated into the as-built plan as applicable, and shall be maintained on file in the Board's office.
These Rules and Regulations may be amended from time to time in accordance with Section 81-Q of the Subdivision Control law.
A. 
The failure of the applicant to begin work in a subdivision or a portion thereof within eight years of the approval of the Definitive Plan shall constitute a reason for the rescission of such approval.
B. 
The failure of the development to complete work in a subdivision or a portion thereof within
Upon the adoption of these Rules and Regulations, any previous Rules & Regulations Governing the Subdivision of Land in the Town of Easton as adopted by the Easton Planning & Zoning Board, including those adopted on March 8, 2010, and all amendments and revisions thereto, will be repealed in whole.
If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, or provision of this Chapter shall be adjudged not valid, the adjudication shall apply only to the material so adjudged and the remainder of these Regulations shall be deeded valid and effective.