For the purposes of these rules, the following words and terms used herein are hereby defined or the meaning thereof explained, extended, or limited as stated in MGL c. 41, 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.
APPLICANT
The owner of the land referred to in an application filed with the Planning Board, or the owner's duly authorized representative or the applicant's assigns.
[Amended 11-20-2001]
EASEMENT
A right acquired by a public authority or other person for use or control of property for utility or other designated public purpose.
FRONTAGE
Shall have the same definition as that used in the Zoning Bylaw.[1]
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, 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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS FOR HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES AND WATERWAYS
Shall refer to the latest edition with amendments.
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. Twenty days prior to any and all transfer of ownership, the owner shall supply the Planning Board with the name of the new owner and proof of transfer of deed.
[Amended 11-20-2001]
PERMANENT BENCHMARK
A permanent reference point with the elevation accurately established by stone bounds and referenced to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey datum.
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.
ROADWAY OR STREET
That portion of the way, right-of-way, or street layout which has been prepared and constructed for vehicular traffic.
RULES
These Subdivision Rules and Regulations of the Planning Board.
STREET CATEGORIES
A. 
COLLECTORA street with anticipated traffic equivalent to that generated by 50 homes or more, or which serves abutting land zoned for business or industry.
B. 
DEAD-ENDA street or a combination of streets which has only one means of ingress from or egress to a collector or minor street. Only lanes shall be dead-end streets.
C. 
LANEA street which cannot serve as access to more than 10 dwelling units.
D. 
MINORA street which cannot qualify as a lane but which can be expected to handle less traffic than a collector street and which serves no abutting land zoned for business or industry.
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 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 city or 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 city or 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 city or 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 city or 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.
TOWN
The Town of Templeton.
WAY or RIGHT-OF-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 the front lot line.
ZONING BYLAW
The Zoning Bylaw of the Town.[2]
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 300, Zoning, § 300-7.
[2]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 300, Zoning.
A. 
General.
(1) 
All plans, and all procedures relating thereto, shall comply in all respects with the provisions of these rules, unless the Planning Board authorizes a variation thereof in specified instances.
(2) 
Any person desiring to make a subdivision within the meaning of the Subdivision Control Law of any land within the Town shall, before proceeding with the improvement or sale of lots in the subdivision, or the construction of ways, or the installation of municipal services therein, submit to the Planning Board a plan of such subdivision and secure approval by the Planning Board of a definitive plan as hereinafter provided.
(3) 
The Planning Board shall not approve or modify and approve any plan of a subdivision of land, unless all lots and other aspects of such plan conform with the Zoning Bylaw of the Town or a variance from the terms thereof has been granted by the Board of Appeals.
B. 
Issuance of building permits. The official in the Town authorized to issue building permits shall not issue any permit for erection of a building until first satisfied:
(1) 
That the lot on which the building is to be erected is not within a subdivision;
(2) 
That a way furnishing the access to the lot within a subdivision as required by the Subdivision Control Law is shown on a recorded plan and that any conditions endorsed thereon limiting the right to erect or maintain buildings on such lot have been satisfied; and
(3) 
That all other applicable requirements have been met.
C. 
Professional and technical assistance. The Planning Board may assign as its agents appropriate Town officials, and may hire professionals to assist in the review of plans and the inspection of improvements, at the cost of the applicant.
D. 
Modification, amendment, or rescission. 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.
E. 
Submission of plans. Plans shall not be considered "submitted" until all required documentation has been received by the Planning Board, including fees.
F. 
Fees. The fees indicated in Appendix A, Planning Board Fee Schedule, shall accompany the submittal of application materials of the various plans specified in the rules, to cover costs of processing, technical review, and inspection.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is available in the Town offices or on the Town website.
(ANR approval does not constitute compliance with zoning requirements for building purposes.)
A. 
Submission. Any person who wishes to cause to be recorded in the Registry of Deeds or to be filed with the Land Court a plan of land, and who believes that said plan does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, may submit to the Planning Board said plan, five prints thereof, and four copies of a properly executed Form A, Application for Endorsement of a Plan Believed Not to Require Approval,[1] accompanied by the necessary evidence to show that the plan does not require approval. The applicant shall also submit the fee as set forth in Appendix A, Planning Board Fee Schedule, with the application form. Said person shall file, by delivery or registered mail, a notice with the Town Clerk stating the date of submission for such determination. The Planning Board will review the plan to determine whether it is a subdivision and whether it conforms to the standards for endorsement.
[1]
Editor's Note: Form A is available in the Town offices or on the Town website.
B. 
Required information. Said plan shall be of a minimum dimension of 9 1/2 inches by 14 inches but not to exceed a dimension of 24 inches by 36 inches, drawn at a scale of one inch equals 40 feet, and shall contain the following information:
(1) 
Identification of the plan by the name of the owner of record and the location of the land in question;
(2) 
The statement "Approval Under the Subdivision Control Law Not Required," and sufficient space for the date, and all signatures of the members of the Planning Board;
(3) 
Zoning classification and location of any zoning district boundaries that may lie within the locus of the plan;
(4) 
In the case of creation of a new lot, the remaining land area and frontage of the land in the ownership of the applicant, if any;
(5) 
Notice of any decisions by the Zoning Board of Appeals, including but not limited to variances and special permits regarding the land or any buildings thereon;
(6) 
Names of abutters from the latest available Assessor's records unless the applicant has knowledge of any changes subsequent to the latest available records;
(7) 
Distance to the nearest permanent monument; contours at the scale of available topographical maps or, where applicable, contours at a scale sufficient to demonstrate that each lot has present vehicular access from the way serving the site;
(8) 
Location of all existing buildings, including setback and side and rear yard designations and any existing structures on any remaining adjoining land owned by the applicant and dimensions of yards relating to such structures;
(9) 
Location of any easement or way, public or private, across the land, with a designation as to the use of the same.
C. 
Denial of endorsement. If the Planning Board determines that the plan does require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, or does not conform to the standards for endorsement hereunder, it shall, within 21 days of submission of said plan, so inform the applicant and return the plan. The Planning Board shall also notify the Town Clerk of its determination.
A. 
General. 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 through § 81GG.
B. 
Standards of adequacy. Streets within a subdivision shall be considered to provide adequate access if, and only if, complying with the standards established in these rules. Ways providing access to streets within a subdivision shall be considered to provide adequate access where, prior to construction on any lots, the applicant ensures that such access will be in compliance with the Subdivision Regulations for right-of-way width, pavement width, maximum grade, and sight distance requirements applicable to ways within a subdivision.
C. 
Obligations. The Planning Board may require, as a condition of its approval of a subdivision plan, that the developer construct accessways to a width as required in these regulations, and that applicant make physical improvements within such way or compensate the Town for the cost of such improvements in order to meet the standards specified above.
D. 
Waivers. The Planning Board may waive strict compliance with these access regulations only upon its determination, following consultation with the Select Board (Board), Highway Superintendent, Police Chief, and Fire Chief, that the way in fact will be otherwise sufficient to serve the needs for access to serve potential uses of land abutting on or served by the way in question.
[Amended 6-17-2020 ATM by Art. 9]
Strict compliance with these rules may be waived when, in the judgment of the Planning Board, such action is in the public interest, not inconsistent with the Subdivision Control Law, and promotes public health and safety.