A. 
The Planning Board shall be the administrative agency of these regulations and shall have all the powers conferred upon the Board by the Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG, inclusive.
B. 
The Planning Board may designate as its agents appropriate Town agencies or officials and may from time to time hire professional assistance to review plans and inspect improvements at the cost of the applicant.
C. 
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 subdivision plan, or to require a change in a plan as a condition of its retaining the status of an approved plan (per MGL c. 41, § 81W).
A. 
Strict compliance with the requirements of these Rules and Regulations may be waived only when, in the judgment of the Board, such action is in the public interest and not inconsistent with the intent and purpose of the Subdivision Control Law. In waiving strict compliance, the Board may impose such alternative conditions as will serve substantially the same objective as the standards or regulations waived.
B. 
Any definitive plan requiring waivers from Part 2, Article IV, Design Standards, and/or Part 2, Article V, Required Improvements, must be accompanied by fully engineered plans complying with § 380-2.10C, illustrating that a subdivision road in compliance with Part 2, Articles IV and V, is feasible. The Planning Board shall submit these plans to the Conservation Commission, Board of Health, and the Director of Community Maintenance and Development for review. The Planning Board shall request the advice of such Board, Commission and Director as to whether the proposed road could be built under applicable regulations and standards. The Planning Board shall not act to approve such a definitive plan until it has received such advice or at least 45 days has passed since the date of the requests.
A. 
General.
(1) 
Inspection of the required subdivision improvements shall be made by the Planning Board agent during the work, and arrangements therefor shall be made by the applicant with the agent prior to the starting of street construction.
(2) 
Inspections shall be requested at least 48 hours in advance of each inspection by written notice to the Planning Board agent, a copy of which notice shall be sent to the Board.
(3) 
All weight slips for bituminous concrete shall be furnished to the Planning Board agent.
B. 
Required inspections.
(1) 
The following scheduled inspections shall be required in all subdivisions during the installation of the required improvements:
(a) 
Marking of trees to be preserved in the street rights-of-way;
(b) 
Satisfactory clearing and grubbing of the proposed paved areas, embankments and trimmed slopes of each street;
(c) 
Satisfactory excavation of street and subgrade preparation;
(d) 
Satisfactory installation of all mechanisms to prevent erosion and contain siltation;
(e) 
Satisfactory installation of drainage pipes, conduits, catch basins, manholes and other below-grade facilities;
(f) 
Satisfactory installation of utility pipes and conduits located under street and sidewalk locations;
(g) 
Satisfactory filling, grading and compaction of the street and sidewalk subgrades;
(h) 
Satisfactory installation of sloped granite edging at catch basins and at street intersections;
(i) 
Satisfactory placement and compaction of gravel base for streets;
(j) 
Satisfactory installation of underground electric and telephone services;
(k) 
Satisfactory installation of catch basins and manhole frames, headwalls, riprapping and measures to prevent erosion;
(l) 
Satisfactory placement of bituminous binder course on streets;
(m) 
Satisfactory placement of bituminous finish course on streets;
(n) 
Satisfactory construction of sidewalks;
(o) 
Satisfactory installation of streetlights, if required;
(p) 
Satisfactory loaming, grading and seeding of grass strips;
(q) 
Satisfactory installation of street signs;
(r) 
Satisfactory installation of street trees where required;
(s) 
Satisfactory installation of monuments;
(t) 
Satisfactory cleanup;
(u) 
Satisfactory maintenance.
(2) 
The Board may authorize its agent to make additional inspections at his discretion during any stage of the work.
A. 
When reviewing an application for, or when conducting inspections in relation to, a special permit or approval of a subdivision or any modification of a special permit or approval of subdivision, the Board may determine that the assistance of outside consultants is warranted due to the size, scale or complexity of a proposed project, because of a project's potential impacts, or because the Town may lack the necessary expertise to perform the work related to the special permit or approval. The Board may require that applicants pay a project review fee consisting of the reasonable costs incurred by the Board for the employment of outside consultants engaged by the Board to assist in the review of a proposed project.
B. 
In hiring outside consultants, the Board may engage engineers, planners, lawyers, hydrologists, landscape architects, or other appropriate professionals who can assist the Board in analyzing a project to ensure compliance with all relevant laws, ordinances/bylaws, and regulations. Such assistance may include, but not be limited to, analyzing an application, monitoring or inspecting a project or site for compliance with the Board's decision or regulations, or inspecting a project during construction or implementation.
C. 
Funds received by the Board pursuant to this section shall be deposited with the Town Treasurer, who shall establish a special account for this purpose. Expenditures from this special account may be made at the direction of the Board without further appropriation. Expenditures from this special account shall be made only for services rendered in connection with a specific project or projects for which a project review fee has been or will be collected from the applicant. Accrued interest may also be spent for this purpose. Failure of an applicant to pay a review fee shall be grounds for denial of the special permit or disapproval of the subdivision.
D. 
At the completion of the Board's review of a project, any excess amount in the account, including any remaining interest, attributable to a specific project shall be repaid to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest. A final report of said account shall be made available to the applicant or the applicant's successor in interest. For the purpose of this regulation, any person or entity claiming to be an applicant's successor in interest shall provide the Board with documentation establishing such succession in interest.
E. 
Any applicant may take an administrative appeal from the selection of the outside consultant to the Select Board. Such appeal must be made in writing and may be taken only within 20 days after the Planning Board has mailed or hand-delivered notice to the applicant of the selection. The grounds for 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. The minimum qualifications shall consist either of an educational degree in, or related to, the field at issue or three or more years of practice in the field at issue or a related field. The required time limit for action upon an application by the Board shall be extended by the duration of the administrative appeal. In the event that no decision is made by the Select Board within one month following the filing of the appeal, the selection made by the Board shall stand.
No building permit shall be issued by the Building Inspector for any lot in a subdivision until the Inspector has received written confirmation from the Board that such lot has been released from any surety covenant.
A. 
If the developer shall obtain the release of any lots from his recorded covenant security agreement by the filing of a performance bond, he shall thereafter maintain the roads and utilities serving such lots and the properties adjacent thereto in a safe, satisfactory and sightly condition. Maintenance shall include:
(1) 
Plowing the streets to full width;
(2) 
Sanding the streets;
(3) 
Keeping drainage structures clear of snow, ice and silt;
(4) 
Prevention of erosion on the street right-of-way, abutting property, lots retained and lots sold.
B. 
Upon completion of the required improvements and release of all security, the applicant shall properly maintain all roads and other municipal services within the subdivision until acceptance of the roads by vote of the Town or until the expiration of a one-year period from the date of the Board's release of security. The costs of such maintenance shall be included in the performance guarantee as applicable.
A. 
Modifications. No change shall be made in an approved definitive plan nor in the installation of the required improvements until a revised plan showing such change (prepared from a field survey and signed by a registered engineer and/or registered land surveyor) is filed with the Board for its consideration and approval. No change in the location of a street right-of-way line shall be permitted or approved by the Board until a public hearing is held as required by law (MGL c. 41, § 81Q). All revisions shall be dated, and references to the approved definitive plan shall be provided as per Subsection C below.
B. 
Minor revisions. The Board may permit relocation of lot lines without a public notice or a public hearing and may permit relocation of utility easements and other minor changes which do not affect names, grades or exterior lines of streets without a public notice or a public hearing.
C. 
Reference and dating requirements for revised plans. Any plan showing a revision to an approved definitive plan and submitted prior to the complete release of all lots or sureties in that portion of the subdivision affected by such revisions shall bear notation referring to the original definitive plan. The original definitive plan shall be re-signed and dated to correspond to the revision date by the registered engineer who originally signed the plan.
The failure of the applicant to begin work in a subdivision or a portion thereof within two years of the approval of the definitive plan shall constitute a reason for the rescission of such approval.
If any part of these regulations shall be adjudged invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remainder.
These regulations or any portion thereof may be amended, supplanted or repealed from time to time by the Board after a public hearing on its own motion or by petition (MGL c. 41, § 81Q).