The purpose of this article is to encourage the preservation of open land for its scenic beauty particularly frontage along public ways, ponds, rivers, wetlands and to enhance open space, forestry, and recreational use; to preserve existing agricultural, historical and archeological resources; to protect the natural environment; to protect the value of real property; to promote more sensitive sitting of buildings and better overall site planning; to perpetuate the appearance of Carver's traditional New England landscape; to facilitate the construction and maintenance of streets, utilities, and public services in a more economical and efficient manner; and to promote the development of varied housing opportunities, including housing affordable to low and moderate income families and provide accompanying conveniences, recreational areas and community center facilities.
A Townhouse Development may be permitted by special permit on a single tract of land, in single or consolidated ownership at the time of application, with an area of at least twenty acres (20) or five (5) acres for over 55 housing entirely in the RA District or in the HC District, or with an area of at least three (3) acres entirely in the GB District or in the V District.
An applicant for a Townhouse Development shall submit to the Planning Board an application for a special permit and ten (10) copies of a Development Plan in such form as may be required in the Planning Board's Rules and Regulations Governing Townhouse Development Special Permits, together with a Net Usable Land Area plan as described in § 290-3-10.4 and an application for Site Plan Approval under Article 3-1. Special permits for Townhouse Developments shall be acted upon in accordance with Article 5-3 of this by-law, and shall conform to the standards in § 290-2-2.3 and to the following requirements.
The number of dwelling units shall be established by having a Net Usable Land Area (NULA) plan for the overall property submitted to the Board. The NULA acreage is established by subtracting all water bodies, wetlands, marshes, bogs and land within a sixty-five (65) foot wetland buffer area to these regulated lands. The remaining upland area is the NULA for the purposes of establishing the number of dwelling units allowed in a town house development. In the RA and HC districts, the total number of proposed dwelling units within the development shall not exceed one point two-five (1.25) units per NULA acre or two (2) units per NULA acre for over 55 housing. In the GB and V districts, the total number of proposed dwelling units within the development shall not exceed two (2) units per NULA acre.
A. 
Fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of dwelling units shall meet the State's affordable housing requirements for low to moderate income. These affordable units shall be marketed through, and homebuyers or renters selected by, a housing organization approved by the Board with resale restrictions to assure continued affordability in perpetuity. Such restrictions shall be made known to the homebuyer or renter prior to the purchase/occupancy of unit. Dwelling units reserved for occupancy by persons or families of low to moderate income, or for occupancy by a single individual, shall not be segregated from market rate or larger dwelling units in the Townhouse Development.
[Amended 4-11-2023 ATM by Art. 33]
B. 
Dwelling units shall be varied as to the number of bedrooms. The maximum number of bedrooms allow in a dwelling unit shall be three (3). No more than fifteen percent (15%) of the total number of dwelling units shall have three (3) bedrooms.
C. 
Maximum building height shall not exceed thirty-five (35) feet.
D. 
The number of townhouse units in a proposed Town House Development, when combined with the number of all existing and previously permitted townhouse units in Carver, shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of existing dwelling units in the Town as of the date of the Townhouse Development special permit application.
E. 
Duplexes and/or two family dwellings shall be allowed in a Townhouse Development and shall adhere to all requirements as set forth in this by law. At no time shall more than 25% of the total number of units proposed in a Townhouse development be comprised of duplexes or two family structures.
A. 
One or more open space areas shall be shown on the development plan.
(1) 
Such areas shall include the following:
(a) 
All undeveloped wetlands on the parcel;
(b) 
The 65 ft. buffers to those wetlands; and
(c) 
A minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the NULA or thirty percent (30%) for over 55 housing of the parcel if it is in the RA or HC district, or a minimum of thirty percent (30%) of the NULA of the parcel in the GB or V district.
(2) 
Such open space shall exclude required building envelopes, and buffers to adjoining properties (except where buffer areas are contiguous to said open space areas). Such open space may be divided by roads constructed within the Townhouse Development.
B. 
The required open space shall be used for conservation, historic preservation and education, outdoor passive education, park purposes, or for a combination of these uses, and shall be served by suitable access for such purposes.
C. 
The required open space shall remain unbuilt upon, provided that five percent (5%) of such open space may be paved or built upon for structures accessory to the dedicated use or uses of such open space, such as a community center, pedestrian walks, bike paths, pools, tennis courts, and existing agriculture.
D. 
The required open space shall be of a shape, size, character, and location suitable, in the opinion of the Planning Board, for its intended purposes. At least half of the required upland open space shall be in a consolidated and unfragmented mass, as reasonably interpreted by the Planning Board. To the extent possible, the open space shall include land of the greatest scenic, environmental, or recreational importance to the Town.
E. 
The required open space shall be conveyed in conformance to the requirements provided in the Rules and Regulations Governing Townhouse Development Special Permits.
F. 
Any proposed open space, unless conveyed to the Town or its Conservation Commission, shall be subject to a recorded restriction enforceable by the Town, providing that such land shall be perpetually kept in an open state, that it shall be preserved for the uses listed in Subsection B, and that it shall be maintained in a manner that will ensure its suitability for its intended purposes.
The following design standards are required:
A. 
Buffer Areas: All dwellings and structures shall be located a minimum of sixty (60) Feet or may be reduced to a minimum of forty Feet (40) for over 55 housing at the Planning Boards discretion from adjacent properties, and one hundred (100) feet from adjacent surface waters or wetlands. Buffer areas shall be retained in their natural vegetative state to the maximum extent feasible, where the sixty (60) foot buffer or forty Feet (40) for over 55 housing of natural vegetation is not adequate (in the Planning Board's opinion) to screen the development from adjacent properties the Board may require additional plantings, earth berms and/or fencing.
B. 
Building Envelope. All site plans shall locate a building envelope radius of forty (40) feet or thirty Feet (30) for over 55 housing from the outside edge of a townhouse building or group of buildings. Open space, ways, lanes and collectors may not be located within the building envelope. Parking, driveways, sidewalks, individual unit gardens/lawns etc. may be developed within the building envelope. For the minimum setback between buildings see the following Subsection C.
C. 
Architectural style. Architectural style shall be in harmony with the prevailing character and scale of buildings in the neighborhood and the Town, through the use of appropriate building materials, screening, breaks in roof and wall lines, setbacks and other architectural techniques. Variation in detail, style, form and location shall be used (for both the residential units and accessory garages if employed) to provide visual interest and avoid monotony. Proposed buildings shall relate harmoniously to each other with adequate light, air, circulation, and separation between buildings. Adequate separation shall mean a minimum distance of 1.2 times the height of the proposed buildings.
D. 
Roadways. Roadway length and construction details are provided in the Townhouse Development Special Permit Rules and Regulations. The Board may require that existing problems on/or adjacent to the site be mitigated as a condition of approval of the special permit under this article.
E. 
Parking. The development shall provide two (2) spaces per each unit, plus one (1) visitor parking space for every five (5) units, plus one (1) space for every two hundred (200) square feet of non-residential building area. In cases where the units are provided with a garage and two spaces for each unit on a driveway, the visitor spaces shall not be required. Parking areas shall be screened from public ways and adjacent or abutting properties by building location, fencing and/or dense plantings. Parking areas, including maneuvering space for parking and loading areas shall not be located within the required buffer areas. No parking shall be allowed on interior roadways.
F. 
Services. Exposed storage areas, machinery, service areas, truck loading areas, adequate solid waste disposal facilities, utility buildings and structures and other unsightly uses shall be set back and/or screened to protect neighbors and future residents from said features. Electric, telephone, cable TV, and other such utilities shall be underground. An adequate water source for fire protection shall be provided.
G. 
Lighting. No building/structure shall be floodlit. Drives, walkways, entryways, and parking areas shall not be illuminated by lights higher than fifteen (15) feet, which shall be shielded to have a total cutoff of all light at less than ninety (90) degrees and a beam cutoff less than seventy-five (75) degrees..
The Planning Board may approve, approve with conditions, or deny an application for a Townhouse Development, after considering the criterion set out in Article 5-3, and also assessing whether the Townhouse Development better promotes the objectives of § 290-3-10.1, herein, than would conventional development.