[Adopted as Secs. 32-1 through 32-7 of the 1963 City Code (Ch. 222, Art. I, of the 1980 Code)]
No street or way, except an old way which contains all services and where it would be a physical impossibility to comply strictly with the law, and provided that these requirements are approved by the Planning Board, shall hereafter be approved by the Planning Board or laid out, established or accepted by the City of a less width than 50 feet. All petitions for the relocation, laying out and establishment, widening, alteration or discontinuance of streets and ways shall be presented to the City Council which shall, by itself, or by such officer or officers as it may lawfully designate for the purpose, determine whether or not the common convenience and necessity require that such street or way should be relocated, laid out and established, widened, altered or discontinued.
In case the City Council shall determine that such street or way should be relocated, laid out and established, widened, altered or discontinued, it shall cause the measurements and boundaries of that street or way as proposed to be relocated, laid out and established, widened, altered or discontinued to be distinctly marked out on the premises by the City Engineer, and a plan thereof made by the City Engineer showing the grade and locations of such alterations, together with a report specifying the manner in which such relocating, laying out and establishment, widening, altering or discontinuing shall be completed.
The report specified in the preceding § 222-2 shall state the names of the owners of all lands affected thereby and in anyway subject to sustain damage or receive benefit by the relocating, laying out and establishing, widening, altering or discontinuing of such street or way, together with the amount of damage or benefit proper and reasonable to be awarded to or assessed on each of the owners. The report shall, in addition, in every case be accompanied by an agreement referring thereto, signed by all parties who claim no damage and by all parties who will accept specific damages, with the amounts thereof, and shall include the names of all other parties who decline to release or to state their prospective damages and the names of all parties who, in the judgment of the officer or officers making the report, should be assessed for benefits conferred, together with the estimated amounts thereof.
[Amended 6-21-1977 by Doc. 152; 5-29-1979 by Doc. 88; 12-18-1979 by Doc. 271-C]
A. 
Before any order for relocating, laying out and establishing widening, altering or discontinuing any street or way shall be finally passed by the City Council, a public hearing of the Planning Board (or City Council when applicable) to consider to relocate, lay out and establish, widen, alter or discontinue such street or way shall be held and notice given by publication in newspapers of general circulation in the City, once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication to be not less than 14 days before the day of the hearing and by posting such notice in a conspicuous place in City Hall not less than 14 days prior to the hearing date. Notice shall be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to the petitioner and owners of land abutting said street or way not less than 14 days prior to the hearing date. Said notice shall specify the time, place and date of the hearing and shall contain the name of the petitioner, a description of the street or way or other adequate identification of the location which is the subject of the petition and the nature of the action requested.
B. 
The Planning Board shall hold said public hearing on the petition and make recommendations and shall send copies thereof to the Council and to the petitioner within 35 days of receipt from the Council; provided, however, that failure of the Planning Board to make recommendations within 35 days of receipt by the Board of the petition should be deemed lack of opposition thereto.
C. 
After the hearing shall have been held, the Council may proceed to act upon an order for the relocating, laying out and establishing, widening, altering or discontinuing of such street or way. All costs for both Planning Board and City Council public hearing advertising, notification of abutters and recordings shall be borne by the petitioner at the time of filing in a sum to be determined by the City Clerk. (In the event that a balance remains after costs, it shall be returned to the petitioner). In the case of a petition for discontinuance of a street or public way, in addition to the above-mentioned costs, the petitioner shall pay an amount equal to 10% of the amount of the increase in the assessed value of the resultant land as determined after the addition of the land area portion of the discontinued street or public way to the preexisting land area abutting said street or public way. The City Council, in the event the Council finds that charging such fee is a hardship, as a part of its hearing on the petition, may abate part or all of such fee.
[Amended 6-22-2004 by Doc. 85]
D. 
All petitions for such action filed with the City Clerk shall be accompanied by a reproducible plan (and 16 copies) of said street or way, a report including a legal description of and a listing of abutters to said street or way taken from the most recent applicable tax list and shall all be prepared, signed and stamped by a registered land surveyor to the satisfaction of the City Engineer. Such plan and report, which shall be the complete responsibility of the petitioner, shall be made available by the City Clerk to both the Planning Board and City Council prior to their respective public hearings.
E. 
The Mayor shall be empowered to petition the City Council for acceptance of any private way which is certified by the Superintendent of Highways to have been in existence and open to public use prior to 1972. Such certification shall waive the necessity of a Planning Board hearing as set forth herein and the necessity of the report as to damages set forth in § 222-3. Such certification shall be deemed to meet the requirements of § 222-1 relative to old ways. A public hearing shall be held by the City Council with notice by publication as set forth in § 222-4A, but notice to owners abutting said street or way shall not be required.
[Added 7-12-1994 by Doc. 108]
F. 
The Mayor shall be empowered to petition the City Council for acceptance of any public way which is certified by the Superintendent of Highways to be a hazard to public safety. Such certification shall waive the necessity of a Planning Board hearing as set forth in § 222-4A. Such certification shall be deemed to meet the requirements of § 222-1 relative to old ways. A public hearing shall be held by the City Council, with notice by publication as set forth in § 222-4A, but notice to owners abutting said street or way shall not be required.
[Added 10-21-1997 by Doc. 160]
[Added 5-8-1979 by Doc. 88]
In the event that the City Council acts as a result of a petition filed by a private party or parties, such marking on the premises, preparation of a plan and a report, including a legal description shall be the responsibility of the petitioner and shall be accomplished by a registered land surveyor to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
No street or way not shown on any plans approved, attested and filed according to law in the office of the City Engineer by the Planning Board shall hereafter be laid out and established or accepted as a public street or way in the City, unless the sewers or drains therein or the culverts crossing such streets or way are constructed in accordance with the directions of or are approved by the City Engineer in regard to the dimensions, materials and grades thereof.
A. 
No street or way constructed on or through private lands by any person other than the City shall hereafter be laid out and established or accepted as a public street or way by the City Council unless the owner of the land over or through which such private street or way is constructed shall have complied with, and such private street or way shall conform to, the requirements and specifications of the Planning Board as provided by law. Before any order to accept a private way as a public way can be acted upon, a petition shall be filed and public hearings held in accordance with the provisions contained within Article I.
[Amended 12-14-1982 by Doc. 211]
B. 
No street or way constructed on private lands by the owners thereof shall be hereafter laid out or accepted as a public street unless previously constructed and completed in accordance with the specifications hereafter set forth:
(1) 
A plan profile and typical cross section of every such street or way, prepared in conformity with the rules and regulations of the Planning Board shall, after proper hearing and approval thereof by such Planning Board, be filed in the office of the City Engineer. The City Engineer shall fix the grade, designate the cross section and design the capacity of the trench system of every such street or way.
(2) 
The entire area of every such street or way shall first be cleared and grubbed. Such ornamental or shade trees as the City Council shall designate shall be preserved.
(3) 
All loam and sponge material shall be removed from the entire street or way to such depth as may be approved by the City Council.
(4) 
All work in excavation and embankment shall be brought accurately to a subgrade of not more than six inches for the roadway and four inches for the sidewalks below the finished grade as shown on the plans. The side slopes on embankments shall be at the ratio of at least 1 1/2 horizontal and one vertical to a berm not less than one foot in width outside the limits of the streets.
(5) 
Embankments shall be made of clean sand, gravel, cinders, furnace slag, sound rock, broken stone or other suitable material. No perishable material shall be used for making street embankments under any circumstances.
(6) 
Above and upon the subgrade and to the finished grade of the roadway and sidewalks, binding gravel or broken stones shall be used, and both the roadway and the sidewalks shall be wetted and rolled; provided, however, that this requirement may be waived by the City Council, in its discretion.
Whenever any public street or way shall be laid out and established, widened, relocated or altered, the City Engineer shall cause to be placed therein at all angles and curves thereof and at all intersections of streets and ways therein stone bounds of granite not less than three feet in length and not less than six inches square in section, the location of which shall constitute a part of the record of the layout out and establishment, widening, relocation or alteration of such street or way.