For the purposes of these rules and regulations, the following
words and terms used herein are hereby defined or the meanings thereof
explained, extended, or limited as stated in G.L. c. 41, § 81L,
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.
BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Sterling.
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 Protective
Bylaw.
LOT
An area of land in common 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, except for
lots which have adequate frontage on existing ways to conform to zoning
requirements for a building lot.
MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL LAWS ANNOTATED or G.L.
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.
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.
STREET CATEGORIES
A.
CARTWAYShall be defined as set forth in the Sterling Protective Bylaw and elsewhere in these rules and regulations. Cartways are only allowed in Performance Zone I.
B.
COLLECTORA street with anticipated traffic equivalent to that generated by 50 homes or more, or which serves abutting land zoned for business or industry.
C.
DEAD-ENDA street or a combination of streets which has only one means of ingress from or egress to a collector or minor street.
D.
LANEA dead-end street as shown on a subdivision plan. A lane may serve as access to no more than six dwelling units unless and until it has been converted to a through street via submission and approval of a subsequent new or amended subdivision plan as defined by the subdivision rules and regulations in effect at the time of said submission.
E.
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 re-subdivision, 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 to 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 by-law, 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 twenty 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 G.L. c. 41, § 81L.
SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW
G.L. c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG, inclusive, and
any amendments thereof, additions thereto, or substitutions therefor.
TOWN
The Town of Sterling.
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.
Strict compliance with these rules and regulations may be waived
when, in the judgment of the Board, such action is in the public interest,
not inconsistent with the Subdivision Control Law, and promotes public
health and safety.