The definitive plan shall have the seal of a Massachusetts registered land surveyor and registered professional engineer, if applicable, and shall be clearly and legibly drawn in black ink on Mylar and submitted in print form. Prior to endorsement but after approval, the approved definitive plan must also be submitted in electronic form according to §
270-32C(5). The plan shall be at a maximum scale of one inch equals 40 feet, unless otherwise specified by the Planning Board, and of a sheet size not to exceed 24 inches by 36 inches outside dimensions. If multiple sheets are used, they shall be accompanied by an index sheet showing the entire subdivision, and all plans, layouts, cross sections and profiles and the application shall be deemed to constitute the definitive plan.
A. The definitive plan shall contain the following information:
(1) The subdivision name, which shall be the same as the name of the primary street in the subdivision and which may not resemble other street names too closely in the judgement of the Planning Board; North arrow, indicating whether true, grid, or magnetic and noting the latest recording date of magnetic North; date; scale; legend; and the title "Definitive Plan."
(2) The names and addresses of owners of record, the applicant, and the registered land surveyor, and engineer, if applicable, and official seals and signatures. Certification that all surveying conforms to the technical standards for property surveys of the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping shall appear on the plan.
(3) Names and correct locations of all abutters, indicating limits of contiguous boundaries, and all owners of land separated from the subdivision only by a street. This must agree with the Assessors' list as of the date of submission of the definitive plan.
(4) Existing and proposed lines of streets, pavement widths, rights-of-way for utilities, sewer, drainage, and water lines, lots, easements, and any public or common areas within the subdivision. (Proposed names of streets shall be indicated in a temporary manner until these have been approved by the Planning Board).
(5) Any previously subdivided lots conveyed out of the parcel, whether by deed, formal subdivision process, or through "approval not required" plan procedures.
(6) Location, names, and present widths of adjacent streets approaching or within a two-hundred-foot proximity of the subdivision, and street intersections and driveways within 200 feet of the subdivision boundaries.
(7) The location, dimensions, and purpose of all existing and proposed easements within, abutting, or extending from the subdivision. The purpose of any proposed easements, limitations, or restrictions shall be described fully.
(8) Location and names of natural waterways, water bodies, and wetlands subject to control under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, and procedures outlined in 310 CMR 10.00 et seq., as amended, within the subdivision and within 100 feet of the subdivision boundaries, including water surface elevations.
(9) Locations of all buffer zones of rivers and wetlands as defined in MGL c. 131, § 40, including rivers and wetlands within 200 feet of the subdivision, and all resource areas as defined in the Code of the Town of
Belchertown, Chapter
290, §
290-2C.
(10) Location of all special flood hazard areas as determined from Flood Insurance Rate Maps, designated as Zones A and A1-A30, for the Town of Belchertown.
(11) Locations of groundwater aquifer recharge areas, and soil types.
(12) Locations of other significant natural and artificial site features, including existing stone walls, paths, fences, buildings, orchards, agricultural fields, culverts, wetland resource areas, areas designated by the Natural Heritage Endangered Species program as containing rare species or priority habitat, large trees, and rock outcroppings.
(13) Boundary lines and dimensions of all proposed lots and lot areas in square feet and acres, with all lots designated alphabetically.
(14) Sufficient data, including lengths, bearings, radii, tangent distances, and central angles, to determine the exact location, direction, and length of every street and way line, lot line, and boundary line, and to establish these lines on the ground.
(15) Location of all permanent monuments and benchmarks properly identified as to whether existing or proposed. Existing monuments found and held to locate the lands to be subdivided shall be shown. Concrete bounds shall be shown as "to be set" at all original property corners, and at existing and proposed points of curvature and points of tangency. All other existing or proposed property corners shall be marked with iron monuments approved by the Planning Board.
(16) Suitable space to record the action of the Planning Board and the signatures of the members of the Planning Board on each sheet of the definitive plan.
(17) Where the applicant elects to secure completion of the required improvements by covenant (rather than by a performance guarantee), there shall be a notation above such space as follows: Approved (date) ________________ subject to covenant conditions set forth in a covenant executed by (developer) ________________ dated (date) _____________ and to be recorded in the Hampshire Registry of Deeds. This approval is hereby invalidated if not recorded at the Hampshire Registry of Deeds within 21 days of the above date.
(18) A locus plan of the subdivision at a scale of one inch equals 400 feet showing the subdivision's boundary, and the exterior lines of the subdivision's proposed streets and their exact location in relation to two or more existing streets.
(19) A sketch plan of the applicant's contiguous unsubdivided land, showing possible or contemplated development and street layout.
(20) Existing and proposed topography (sufficiently differentiated) with two-foot contour intervals, unless the Planning Board agrees that the natural surface of the ground may be adequately represented with larger intervals or by figures of elevation. The existing and proposed topographical information presented shall be sufficient to define the grading of each proposed street and lot.
(21) A street layout plan on a separate sheet, 24 inches by 36 inches, for each street in the proposed subdivision showing exterior lines, roadway lines, partial lot lines, curb lines, intersection angles, points of tangency, and radii of curves. Also included on the street layout plan shall be the location, size, type of construction, elevations, and invert sizes of all pipes and conduits of the:
(a) Water supply system, including pumps, valves, stubs, wells, gates, hydrants, and similar equipment.
(b) Storm drainage system, including manholes, pipes, culverts, catch basins, and appurtenant structures.
(c) Public sanitary sewerage systems, including piping, manholes, pumps, community septic tanks, and appurtenant equipment.
(d) Underground utility systems, including conduits, manholes, junction boxes, and appurtenant structures.
(22) A profile on the same sheet located directly below or above and coordinated with the street layout plan indicating existing profiles on the exterior and center lines (using lightweight lines), and proposed profiles on the center line (using heavyweight lines) of each proposed street, at a maximum stationing of twenty-five-foot intervals, and at a vertical scale of one inch equals four feet and a horizontal scale of one inch equals 40 feet. All elevations shall refer to National Geodetic Survey mean sea level datum.
(a) Profiles shall show existing and proposed street grades, rates of gradients in percentages, ground and proposed elevations at center line of each twenty-five-foot station, high and low points, curve lengths and PVC (points of vertical curvature) and PVT (points of vertical tangency) stations. Grades of intersecting streets and ways shall be clearly indicated.
(b) A profile shall show the vertical locations of existing and proposed storm drainage, sanitary sewer lines, water mains, and underground utilities; slopes of all storm drains, sanitary sewer lines, water mains, and utility lines; and invert and rim elevations of each manhole or catch basin, and such structures shall be identified by number and type of materials proposed to be used.
(23) A typical cross section for the full width of the right-of-way shall be shown in accordance with the typical cross section illustrated in
Appendix B, showing foundation material, wearing surface, crown, and width of traveled way, curbing or berming, grass strips, sidewalks, side slope transitions to the existing or finished grade, underground utility locations, etc.
(24) Construction details for catch basins, erosion control, manholes, headwalls and retaining walls, etc.
(25) Proposed layout and design of any and all parks, pools or similar community improvements and any area proposed for open space, public or private, including all water, drainage and electrical layouts, if any, designed to serve such community improvements.
(26) Location of all existing wells and septic systems within 200 feet of the proposed subdivision.
(27) Any other conditions or pertinent information required by the Planning Board.
B. The following statements shall appear on all plans:
(1) Planning Board approval shall be deemed revoked two years following the date of endorsement in all cases when the construction of ways and installation of municipal services has not been completed or when the applicant, or the applicant's agents or assigns, has failed to meet any condition of said approval, unless such time is extended, in writing, between the applicant, or the applicant's agents or assigns, and the Planning Board in accordance with §
270-32F of the Subdivision Regulations.
(2) The Subdivision Regulations of the Town of Belchertown are a part of this plan.
(3) This plan shall be deemed revoked if recorded more than six months following the date of endorsement.
In accordance with MGL c. 131, § 40, no person shall remove, fill, dredge, or alter any bank, fresh water wetland, beach, dune, flat marsh, or swamp bordering on any existing creek, river, stream, pond, lake, or any land under said waters without first filing written notice of intention to perform such work with the local Conservation Commission and state Department of Environmental Protection, and receiving an order of conditions. Any work, which includes building construction, removal of vegetation, grading, or excavation, that occurs within 100 feet of a wetland resource area or within 200 feet of a perennial stream or river requires that an application be filed with the local Conservation Commission for review. A permit is required from the Conservation Commission for work in these regulated areas, under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and Regulations 310 CMR et seq., and the Belchertown Wetlands Bylaw.
A. Failure of the Conservation Commission to report to the Planning Board within 45 days after receipt of a definitive plan shall not exempt the proposed plan from wetland regulations pursuant to MGL c. 131, § 40.
B. All requirements of local, state, and federal agencies having jurisdiction in wetland issues, such as the Belchertown Wetlands Protection Bylaw; the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's regulations governing wetlands and waterways (MGL c. 91); the Water Pollution Control Division's Water Quality Certification; the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs' MEPA requirements; and the Army Corps of Engineers, shall be satisfied.
Due regard will be given by the Planning Board for the provision of adequate access to all of the lots in a subdivision by ways that will be safe and convenient for travel; for lessening congestion in such ways and in the adjacent public ways; for reducing danger to life and limb in the operation of motor vehicles; for securing safety in the case of fire, flood, panic and other emergencies; for insuring compliance with the applicable zoning bylaws; for securing adequate provision for water, sewerage, drainage, underground utility services, fire, police, and other similar municipal equipment, and street lighting and other requirements where necessary in a subdivision; and for coordinating the ways in a subdivision with each other and with the public ways in
Belchertown and, if applicable, adjoining towns, and with the ways in neighboring subdivisions. The School Committee may offer opinions regarding school bus access and safety. The Planning Board may request, at the developer's expense, a traffic study, to be reviewed by the Town Engineer, that will demonstrate the effects the proposed subdivision may have on surrounding public ways. (See §
270-26.) When the physical condition or width of a private or public way from which a subdivision has its access is considered by the Planning Board to be inadequate to carry the traffic expected to be generated by a subdivision, the Board may require the applicant to make physical improvements to and within the public way, except for any state highway. The Planning Board may seek the opinions of the Town Engineer, Director of Public Works, Fire Department, School Committee, owners of land abutting the public way, and anyone else it deems appropriate to determine its requirements for improvements to existing ways. Such improvements may include a requirement to dedicate land abutting the subdivision frontage for the purpose of widening the public way to a width as great as that required within the subdivision. Any such dedication of land for the purpose of widening the public way and any such work performed within such public way shall be made only with permission of the governmental agency having jurisdiction over such way. Such improvements may also include physical improvements to and within the public way to the same standards required within the subdivision. All costs of any such widening or construction shall be borne by the applicant.
For every subdivision the developer must provide a traffic analysis prepared by a registered traffic engineer. This report must bear the traffic engineer's stamp and detail the number of vehicle trips generated per day, and how traffic will affect the surrounding road network. This analysis must conform to all current ITE standards.
Any proposed subdivision shall be reviewed to determine whether such proposals will be reasonably safe from flooding. If any part of an area proposed to be developed is located within a Floodplain District established under Chapter
145, Zoning, it shall be reviewed to assure that:
A. The proposal is designed to minimize flood damage;
B. All utilities and public facilities, such as sewer, gas, electrical, and water systems, shall be located and constructed to avoid flood damage;
C. Adequate drainage systems shall be provided to reduce exposure to flood hazards;
D. Base flood elevation (the level of the one-hundred-year flood) data shall be provided for all proposals for that portion within the Floodplain District; and
E. The applicable requirements of the Wetlands Protection Act, MGL c. 131, § 40, are satisfied.
A fire protection agreement with the Belchertown Fire Department shall be signed by the applicant and filed with the Planning Board. The agreement shall meet the standards on water supplies for suburban and rural fire fighting as outlined in 1-3.1 of the National Fire Protection Association 1142 1999 Edition: "The requirements of Chapters 5 (Calculating Minimum Water Supplies) and 6 (Water Supply) shall be performance-oriented and shall allow the authority having jurisdiction the option to specify how these water supplies are provided, which gives consideration to local conditions and need." If hydrants are to be connected with any municipal water supply, an agreement must be signed by the applicant and the appropriate water district. If any fire ponds are to be constructed, the Belchertown Fire Chief and the Conservation Commission must approve of the ponds' design. An agreement with the Belchertown Fire Department and the Belchertown Conservation Commission to maintain all fire ponds must be provided before approval of the definitive subdivision plan.
The Planning Board may disapprove of a subdivision plan where, in the opinion of the Planning Board after consulting with other town offices and the Town Engineer, the existing surrounding municipal infrastructure, such as street width and construction, bridge capacity, sanitary sewer, public water, storm sewer, and fire protection, is insufficient or incapable of handling the additional volumes of traffic, sewage, stormwater, or other demands to be generated by the project.
Final approval of the definitive plan does not constitute the laying out or acceptance by the town of any street or public improvements shown on the plan.
A. Procedures for the laying out and acceptance of town ways are under administration of the Board of Selectmen in accord with MGL c. 82, §§ 21 through 24.
B. The developer may petition the Board of Selectmen to recommend that Town Meeting accept the subdivision's ways as town ways.