Any person desiring to divide or subdivide land shall, before proceeding with the improvement or sale of lots in the division or subdivision, or the construction of ways or the installation of municipal services therein, submit to the Planning Board a plan of such division or subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Control Law and the Regulations and secure approval or endorsement by the Planning Board as hereinafter provided.
The following regulations shall apply in all circumstances governed by the Subdivision Control Law.[1]
Any application for approval or endorsement, required plan, required submittal, and required fee shall comply in all respects with the provisions of the Regulations. No plan shall be approved or endorsed by the Planning Board until said plan, together with all required applications, forms, fees, lists and other items have been duly submitted by the applicant, and are properly executed and fully completed in accordance with the Regulations. Where the applicant fails to comply with the Regulations, the Planning Board may reject the application after detailing the ways in which said application and plan do not conform as required under G.L. c. 41, §§ 81P and 81U.
Any proposed division and any proposed subdivision of land shall comply in all respects with the Regulations, unless the Planning Board authorizes an express waiver therefrom in specified and authorized instances in accordance with the requirements set forth under G.L. c. 41, § 81R and does so in writing.
Strict compliance with the Regulations governing the subdivision of land may be waived under G.L. c. 41, § 81R, provided that the Planning Board determines that, in its judgment, in the particular case at issue, waiver of strict compliance would be in the public interest and not inconsistent with the Subdivision Control Law.
As mandated under G.L. c. 41, § 81Y, Paragraph 2, the Building Inspector shall not issue any permit for erection of a building until first satisfied that:
A.
The lot on which the building is to be erected is not within a subdivision that requires approval under the Subdivision Control Law; or
B.
The way, which furnishes the access to the lot within a subdivision as required by the subdivision control law, is shown on a recorded plan or entitled to be recorded under G.L. c. 41, § 81X; and
C.
Any conditions endorsed on a subdivision plan that limit the right to erect or maintain buildings on such lot have been satisfied or waived by the Planning Board; and
D.
In the event that the Planning Board has by rule or regulation required that not more than one building for dwelling purposes be erected or placed or converted to use as such on any lot without its consent, until the Building Inspector is satisfied that such consent has been obtained.
E.
All other conditions imposed by the Town are satisfactorily satisfied.
The Planning Board shall be responsible for the division or subdivision of land, as set forth in G.L. c. 41, § 81N.
The Planning Board shall schedule and hold meetings at such a place and on such dates and times as may be designated by notice filed with the Town Clerk at least 48 hours in advance as required under G.L. c. 39, § 23B.
All meetings of the Planning Board shall be public, unless conducted in executive session, and shall be conducted formally under the direction of the Chair or the Chair's designee and only when a quorum of the Board is in attendance. Less than a quorum of the Planning Board may reschedule meetings or take action that is required to indicate that a quorum was not present. All applicant s and all other persons desiring to submit a petition or to be heard, shall address the Planning Board only upon being properly recognized by the Chair and shall direct all testimony to the Chair. All spectators at a meeting of the Planning Board shall respect the desire of the Chair to conduct business in an orderly manner. No person shall address a public meeting of the Planning Board without permission of the presiding officer. All persons shall, at the request of the presiding officer, be silent. If, after warning from the presiding officer, a person persists in disorderly behavior, the presiding officer may order that person to withdraw from the meeting and, if the disorderly person does not withdraw, the presiding officer may order a law enforcement officer or any other person to remove the disorderly person and confine said person in some convenient place until the meeting is adjourned. G.L. c. 39, § 23C.
A.
Executive sessions. Executive sessions of the Planning Board may be held as authorized by the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 39, § 23B.
B.
Public hearing procedures. All comments or information, documents, plans and letters received during a public hearing shall be taken into consideration by the Planning Board in making a decision on a pending matter.
Pursuant to G.L. c. 41, § 81Q and G.L. c. 44, § 53G, the Planning Board may assign as its agents appropriate Town officials and/or may hire professional technical consultants for the purpose of reviewing plans and inspecting improvements at the cost of the applicant The selection of an outside consultant shall be subject to an administrative appeal to the Board of Selectmen, but 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 as set forth under G.L. c. 44, § 53G.
The fees, Part 1, Rules and Regulations, Article II, Fees, are hereby adopted under G.L. c. 41 and G.L. c. 44, § 53G and shall apply to the submittal of application materials of the various plans specified in the Regulations, to cover the Planning Board's costs of processing applications, obtaining expert technical review, and inspecting work.
A.
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 definitive plan of a subdivision, or to require a change in a definitive plan of a subdivision 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 G.L. c. 41, § 81W.
B.
No modification, amendment or rescission of the approval of a plan of a subdivision or changes in such plan shall affect the lots in such subdivision which have been sold or mortgaged in good faith and for a valuable consideration subsequent to the approval of such plan, or any rights appurtenant thereto, without the consent of the owner of such lots, and of the holder of the mortgage or mortgages, if any, thereon; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit such modification, amendment or rescission when there has been a sale to a single grantee of either the entire parcel of land shown on the subdivision plan or of all the lots not previously released by the Planning Board.
Not more than one dwelling shall be erected, or placed, or converted to use as a dwelling on any lot in a subdivision or elsewhere in the Town without the consent of the Planning Board and such consent shall be conditioned upon provision of adequate ways furnishing access to each site for such building in the same manner as otherwise required for lots within a subdivision. (G.L. c. 41, § 81Q, Paragraph 1 and § 81Y, Paragraph 2) This regulation applies to all land in the Town, even if it is not being subdivided.
Plans shall be endorsed as not requiring approval under the Subdivision Control Law and definitive subdivision plans shall be approved only if each building lot to be created by such plan has adequate access and egress as intended under the Subdivision Control Law.[1]
A.
Standards of adequacy of access. The following standards of adequacy of access shall be followed:
(2)
Within a subdivision. A street depicted on a proposed subdivision plan shall be considered adequate access only if it complies with the standards established in the Regulations or has received proper waivers therefrom.
(3)
To a subdivision. Adjacent, existing ways that would provide access to streets within a proposed subdivision shall be considered to provide adequate access to the proposed subdivision only if such adjacent, existing ways meet the standards set forth herein for width of right-of-way, construction, drainage, pavement width, sight distance, and maximum grade.
B.
Obligations of applicant to make improvements. The Planning Board may require appropriate and reasonable improvements in adjacent streets and ways to minimize congestion, to insure safe and adequate access to the proposed subdivision and to insure safe and adequate vehicular and pedestrian travel in a coordinated system of streets and ways in Salisbury and connecting to adjacent municipalities. The Planning Board may require, as a condition of its approval of a definitive subdivision plan, that the applicant shall dedicate or acquire and then dedicate an easement or a strip of land for the purpose of widening existing ways to a width as required in the Regulations and that the applicant shall make physical improvements within such way or compensate the Town for the cost of such improvements in order to meet the standards specified above.
C.
Approval not required plans. 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 his plan does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law may submit his plan and application Form A (see Forms) to the Planning Board accompanied by the necessary evidence to show that the plan does not require approval. Said person shall file, by delivery or by registered mail, a notice with the Town Clerk stating the date of submission for such determination and accompanied by a copy of said application.
(1)
Application requirements. An applicant submitting an ANR Plan to the Planning Board for consideration shall provide an application to the Planning Board as set forth below.
(a)
Application form and copies. An ANR Plan applicant shall submit an application on Planning Board Form A (Appendix I, Form A[2]), together with:
[2]
Form A Filing Fee - checks payable to the Town of Salisbury.
[3]
A mylar of the ANR Plan capable of being reproduced, recorded with the Registry of Deeds, and containing the stamp and signature of the appropriate professional; and
[4]
Digital Data Submission Requirements - completed sign off form by MVPC.
[2]
Editor's Note: Forms are available at the office of the Planning Board.
(b)
Required signatures on application. The Form A (ANR) application shall be signed by the applicant and the owner(s) of record of all the land proposed to be divided by the ANR Plan. The application shall be signed under oath and shall certify that all of the owners of record have executed the application. In addition, the professional engineer and/or surveyor who prepared the plan shall sign the application and certify that the plan (referring to the date and last revision date of the plan submitted), as prepared, to the best of his/her knowledge, conforms to all of requirements of the Regulations.
(2)
ANR plan requirements. An ANR Plan shall satisfy all of the requirements set forth as follows:
(a)
Preparation. An ANR Plan shall be 24 inches by 36 inches, provided that, if determined to be appropriate by the Planning Director, size may be reduced to 18 inches by 24 inches and shall be drawn at a minimum scale of one inch equals 40 feet.
(b)
Contents. An ANR Plan shall contain, but shall not necessarily be limited to, the following information and shall be based upon an on-the-ground survey:
[1]
Name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the applicant and each owner of record for the land to be divided under the ANR Plan.
[2]
North point.
[3]
Date of ground survey performed and stamp and signature of the registered professional who prepared said plan.
[4]
Name, address and seal of the professional civil engineer or land surveyor who prepared, signed and stamped said plan.
[5]
Names and addresses of all abutters from the most recent Town tax list.
[6]
The Assessors Map reference for the land proposed to be divided.
[7]
Existing and proposed boundary lines, dimensions and areas of each of the parcels and lots shown on said plan, with all bounds, keyed into the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System. If the division is within 500 feet of a highway or road which has been laid out by the Town of Salisbury, Essex County Commissioners, or the Massachusetts Department of Public Works, the division shall also be tied into two or more permanent points or bounds of the existing highway or road by bearing and distance.
[8]
Existing and proposed lines of streets, ways and easements and whether each is a public or private way.
[9]
Zoning classification and location of any zoning district boundaries that may lie within the locus.
[10]
Any present or proposed public areas within the property.
[11]
Location of all existing buildings or structures, if any, including setback and side and rear yard designations of any existing structures on any remaining adjoining land owned by the applicant and dimensions of yards relating to such structures. A note shall be placed on the plan as follows:
Endorsement of this plan shall not be deemed to be a verification of the location of the structures shown or setbacks indicated.
[12]
A locus map at a minimum scale of 1" = 1,000' extending a minimum of 1/2 mile beyond the property limits.
[13]
Remaining land in the ownership of the applicant, if any; if applicable, the applicant shall furnish evidence on the plan indicating that the adjoining land has adequate frontage for later development. If the remaining land does not have adequate frontage, a note saying "Not to be considered a building lot for the purpose of the Subdivision Control Laws and no building shall occur on the lot until further approval is obtained from the Planning Board pursuant to Subdivision Control Law."
[14]
Location of any easement, public or private, across the land, with a designation as to the use of the same.
[15]
A signature block shall be placed on the plan that provides sufficient space for the date of the endorsement and the signatures of the members of the Planning Board. In any instance in which an ANR endorsement of a plan is sought based upon the assertion that the plan show a division of a tract of land on which two or more buildings were standing when the Subdivision Control Law went into effect into separates lots on each of which one of such buildings remains standing, under G.L. c. 41, § 81L, Paragraph 13, the applicant shall provide information to satisfy the Planning Board that:
[16]
In the event that the Planning Board votes to endorse such an ANR plan, a note shall be placed on each of the new parcels created as follows:
This parcel was created as a separate parcel under G.L. c. 41, § 81L, Paragraph 13 and that endorsement does not indicate a compliance with zoning requirements.
[17]
A note shall be placed on every ANR Plan as follows:
"Approval Under the Subdivision Control Law Not Required".
[18]
A note shall be placed on every ANR Plan as follows: "Endorsement of this plan shall not be an indication, express or implied, that the parcels or structures shown on this plan conform to applicable zoning, Conservation Commission or Board of Health requirements."
[19]
If a parcel is shown on the plan is to be severed from or joined with an existing lot, leaving both with the required frontage, a note should be placed on the plan stating that the parcel is to be "conveyed and combined" with the subject parcel.
D.
Planning board action. The Planning Board or its authorized agent shall review the ANR Plan to determine whether it is a subdivision within the meaning of the Subdivision Control Law and whether it conforms to the standards for endorsement of an ANR Plan.
(1)
Endorsement. If the Planning Board or its authorized agent determines that the ANR Plan does not require approval under the Subdivision Control Law, a majority of the Planning Board or its Clerk or authorized agent shall, without a public hearing and within 21 days of submission, endorse on the plan the words "Approval under the Subdivision Control Law Not Required," together with any reasonable notations to indicate that: (1) endorsement shall not constitute a determination as to zoning compliance; (2) in particular cases, that zoning relief shall be required.
(a)
Denial of endorsement. If the Planning Board or its authorized agent determines that an ANR 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, notify the applicant and the Town Clerk in writing that in the Planning Board's or its authorized agent's opinion the plan requires approval under the Subdivision Control Laws or does not conform to the applicable Regulations and cannot be endorsed and return the mylar plan to the applicant .
(2)
Distribution of prints and original tracing. One copy of the endorsed ANR Plan shall be retained by the Planning Board for its files and a copy shall be forwarded to each of the Assessor and Building Departments. The mylar shall be returned to the applicant for recording in the Southern Essex District of Deeds or for registration with the Land Court. No construction shall commence in accordance with the endorsed ANR Plan until it has been duly recorded and the Planning Board notified of recording.