These regulations shall officially be known, cited, and referred to as the "Subdivision Regulations of the Town of Groveland."
A. 
It is declared to be the policy of the Town of Groveland to consider the subdivision of land and the subsequent development of the subdivided parcel as subject to the control of the Town of Groveland pursuant to the Official Master Plan of the Town of Groveland for the orderly, planned, efficient, and economical development of the Town of Groveland.
B. 
Land to be subdivided shall be of such character that it can be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril from fire, flood, or other menace, and land shall not be subdivided until adequate public facilities and improvements exist and proper provision has been made for drainage, water, sewerage, and capital improvements such as schools, parks, recreational facilities, transportation facilities, and improvements, if deemed necessary by the Planning Board.
C. 
The existing and proposed public improvements shall conform to and be properly related to the proposals shown in the Master Plan, Official Map, and the Capital Budget Program of the Town of Groveland, and it is intended that these regulations shall supplement and facilitate the enforcement of the provisions and standards contained in building and housing codes, zoning bylaws, the Master Plan, Official Map and Land Use Plan, and the Capital Budget Program of the Town of Groveland.
These regulations are adopted for the following purposes:
A. 
To protect and provide for the public health, safety, and general welfare of the Town of Groveland.
B. 
To guide the future growth and development of the Town of Groveland in accordance with the Master Plan.
C. 
To provide for adequate light, air, and privacy; to secure safety from fire, flood, and other danger; and to prevent overcrowding of the land and undue congestion of population.
D. 
To protect the character and the social and economic stability of all parts of the Town of Groveland and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development of the community through appropriate growth management techniques assuring the timing and sequencing of development; promotion of infill development in existing neighborhoods and nonresidential areas with adequate public facilities; to assure proper rural form and open space; to protect environmentally critical areas, including wildlife, wildlife habitat, and areas premature for development.
E. 
To protect and conserve the value of land throughout the Town of Groveland and the value of buildings and improvements upon the land, and to minimize the conflicts among the uses of land and buildings.
F. 
To guide public and private policy and action in order to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water, drainage, sewerage, schools, parks, playgrounds, recreation, and other public requirements and facilities.
G. 
To provide the most beneficial relationship between the uses of land and buildings and the circulation of traffic throughout the Town of Groveland, having particular regard to the avoidance of congestion in the streets and highways and the pedestrian traffic movements appropriate to the various uses of land and buildings, and to provide for the proper location and width of streets and building lines.
H. 
To establish reasonable standards of design and procedures for subdivisions and resubdivisions in order to further the orderly layout and use of land, and to ensure proper legal descriptions and monumenting of subdivided land.
I. 
To ensure that public facilities and services are available, concurrent with development, and will have a sufficient capacity to serve the proposed subdivision and that the Town of Groveland will be required to bear no cost of providing the facilities and services through requiring the developer to pay fees, furnish land, or establish mitigation measures to ensure that the development provides its fair share of capital facilities needs generated by the development.
J. 
To prevent the pollution of air, streams, and ponds; to assure the adequacy of drainage facilities; to safeguard the water table; and to encourage the wise use and management of natural resources throughout the Town of Groveland in order to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community and the value of the land and wildlife.
K. 
To preserve the natural beauty and topography of the Town of Groveland and to ensure appropriate development with regard to these natural features.
L. 
To provide for open spaces through the most efficient design and layout of the land, including providing for minimum width and area of lots, while preserving the density of development as established in the Zoning Bylaw of the Town of Groveland.
M. 
These Subdivision Regulations (adopted under the Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG, inclusive) are adopted under the provisions of Chapter 41 of the General Laws for the purpose of protecting the safety, convenience, and welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Groveland by "regulating the laying out and construction of ways in subdivisions providing access to the several lots therein, but which have not become public ways, and ensuring sanitary conditions in subdivisions and in proper cases parks and open areas. The powers of the planning board under the Subdivision Control Law shall be exercised with due regard for the provision of adequate access to all of the lots in a subdivision by ways that will be safe and convenient for travel; for lessening congestion in such ways and in the adjacent public ways; for reducing danger of life and limb in the operation of motor vehicles; for securing safety in the case of fire, flood, panic and other emergencies; for insuring compliance with the zoning bylaws; for securing adequate provision for water, sewerage, drainage, underground utility services, fire, police and other similar town equipment, and other requirements where necessary in a subdivision; and for coordinating the ways in a subdivision with each other and with the public ways in the town and with the ways in neighboring subdivisions."
The Planning Board of the Town of Groveland, under the provisions of MGL c. 41, § 81Q, is vested with the authority to review, approve, conditionally approve, and disapprove applications for the subdivision of land, including preliminary and final plans. The Planning Board may grant waivers from these regulations pursuant to the provisions of § 70-1.10.
In order that land may be subdivided in accordance with these purposes and policies, these subdivision regulations are hereby adopted and made effective as of November 10, 1998 (the effective date of these regulations). All applications for subdivision approval, including final plans, pending on the effective date of these regulations shall be reviewed under these regulations; except that these regulations will not apply if a preliminary plan was filed with the Planning Board within a seven-month period prior to the effective date of these regulations. Refer to MGL c. 41, § 81S.
A. 
Interpretation and application. In their interpretation and application, the provisions of these regulations shall be held to be the minimum requirements for the promotion of the public health, safety, and general welfare. These regulations shall be construed broadly to promote the purposes for which they are adopted.
B. 
Public provisions. These regulations are not intended to interfere with, abrogate, or annul any other bylaw, rule or regulation, statute, or other provision of law except as provided in these regulations. Where any provision of these regulations imposes restrictions different from those imposed by any other provision of these regulations or any other bylaw, rule or regulation, or other provision of law, the provision which is more restrictive or imposes higher standards shall control.
C. 
Private provisions. These regulations are not intended to abrogate any easement, covenant or any other private agreement or restriction, provided that where the provisions of these regulations are more restrictive or impose higher standards or regulations than such easement, covenant, or other private agreement or restriction, the requirements of these regulations shall govern. Where the provisions of the easement, covenant, or private agreement or restriction impose duties and obligations more restrictive or standards that are higher than the requirements of these regulations, or the determinations of the Planning Board or the governing body in approving a subdivision or in enforcing these regulations, and the private provisions are not inconsistent with these regulations or the determinations made under these regulations, then the private provisions shall be operative and supplemental to these regulations and the determinations made under the regulations.
D. 
Invalidation. If any part or provision of these regulations or the application of these regulations to any person or circumstances is adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision, or application directly involved in the controversy in which the judgment shall be rendered and it shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of these regulations or the application of them to other persons or circumstances. The Planning Board hereby declares that it would have enacted the remainder of these regulations even without any such part, provision, or applicant which is judged to be invalid.
Upon the adoption of these regulations according to law, the Subdivision Regulations of the Town of Groveland adopted December 22, 1976, as amended, are hereby repealed, except as to those sections expressly retained in these regulations.
For the purpose of protecting the public health, safety, and general welfare, the Planning Board may from time to time propose amendments to these regulations, which shall then be approved or disapproved by the Planning Board at a public hearing, following public notice.
Regulation of the subdivision of land and the attachment of reasonable conditions to land subdivision are an exercise of valid police power delegated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The developer has the duty of compliance with reasonable conditions established by the Planning Board for design, dedication, improvement, and restrictive use of the land to conform to the physical and economic development of the municipality and to the health, safety, and general welfare of the future lot owners in the subdivision and of the community at large.
A. 
General. Where the Planning Board finds that extraordinary hardships or practical difficulties may result from strict compliance with these regulations and/or the purposes of these regulations may be served to a greater extent by an alternative proposal, it may approve waiver of conditions to these subdivision regulations so that substantial justice may be done and the public interest secured; provided that the waiver of conditions shall not have the effect of nullifying the intent and purpose of these regulations; and further provided the Planning Board shall not approve waiver of conditions unless it shall make findings based upon the evidence presented to it in each specific case that:
(1) 
The granting of the waiver of conditions will not be detrimental to the public safety, health, or welfare or injurious to other property;
(2) 
The conditions upon which the request is based are unique to the property for which the relief is sought and are not applicable generally to other property;
(3) 
Because of the particular physical surroundings, shape, or topographical conditions of the specific property involved, a particular hardship to the owner would result, as distinguished from a mere inconvenience, if the strict letter of these regulations is carried out;
(4) 
The relief sought will not in any manner vary the provisions of the Zoning Bylaw, Master Plan, or Official Map, except that those documents may be amended in the manner prescribed by law.
B. 
Conditions. In approving waiver of conditions, the Planning Board may require such conditions as will, in its judgment, secure substantially the purposes described in § 70-1.3.
C. 
Procedures. A petition for a waiver of conditions shall be submitted in writing by the subdivider at the time when the preliminary plan is filed for the consideration of the Planning Board. The petition shall state fully the grounds for the application and all of the facts relied upon by the petitioner. If a preliminary plan is not filed, the petition shall be filed with the definitive plan.