The purpose of establishment of subdivision
control procedures in Adams is to secure for the Town all of the benefits
and protection authorized by the Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41,
§§ 81K through 81GG, inclusive. The purpose of this
chapter is to specify and make clear the requirements and procedures
to be followed and the responsibilities to be discharged in operations
under the Subdivision Control Law.
Under the authority vested in the Planning Bard
of the Town of Adams by MGL c. 40, § 81Q, said Board hereby
adopts this chapter governing the subdivision of land in order to
guide its orderly development consistent with the purposes of the
Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41, §§ 81K to 81GG.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION
The level of flooding having a one-percent chance of being
equaled or exceeded in any given year, as designated on Federal Insurance
Administration (FIA) maps, or, in the absence of such designation,
to be based upon the best available information regarding flood hazards,
including floodplain delineations on the Adams Zoning Map or any other
available United States Geological Survey (USGS), Soil Conservation
Service (SCS), or Corps of Engineers studies.
BOARD
The Planning Board of the Town of Adams.
COLLECTOR STREET
A street which carries traffic equivalent to that generated
by 50 dwelling units or more or which serves property either used
or zoned for commerce or industry.
LANE
A street which carries traffic equivalent to that generated
by 12 or fewer dwelling units, which has no abutting property either
used or zoned for commerce or industry and which is not capable of
extension.
MINOR STREET
A street which carries traffic equivalent to that generated
by fewer than 50 dwelling units, which has no abutting property either
used or zoned for commerce or industry and which is not capable of
extension.
SUBDIVISION
A.
The division of a tract of land into two or more lots and shall include resubdivision and, when appropriate to the context, shall relate to the process of subdivision of 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 public way or a way which the Clerk of the Town of Adams certifies is maintained and used as a public way, or a way shown on a plan theretofore approved and endorsed in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law, or a way in existence on November 12, 1963, 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 Chapter
125, Zoning, of the Town Code for erection of a building on such lot.
B.
Conveyances or other instruments adding to,
taking away from, or changing the size and shape of lots in such 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 on November 12, 1963, into separate lots, on each of
which one of such buildings remains standing, shall not constitute
a subdivision.