Streets and ways shown on the subdivision plan must comply with the following requirements:
A. Location and alignment.
(1) Due consideration shall be given by the Planning Board and the subdivider to the attractiveness and design of the street layout. Except where public safety and compliance with these regulations require otherwise, streets shall follow natural contours.
(2) The streets shall conform to any Master Plan adopted under MGL c. 41, § 81D, in whole or in part by the Planning Board.
(3) Provision shall be made, to the satisfaction of the Planning Board, for the proper projection of streets or for access to adjoining property which is not yet subdivided or developed. Reserve strips prohibiting access to streets shall not be permitted, except where, in the opinion of the Planning Board, such strips shall be in the public interest.
(4) Temporary dead-end or cul-de-sac streets shall conform to the provisions of alignment, width and grade that would apply to such streets if they were extended.
(5) The roadway cross section shall conform to the typical street cross section drawing. (See
Appendix B.)
(6) Stopping sight distance shall be provided for the applicable design speed of the road in accordance with A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets by AASHTO, latest edition. The minimum design speed for any road shall be 30 miles per hour. This does not prevent a lower posted speed should the town require such.
B. Width.
(1) The minimum widths of street rights-of-way and paved roadways (traveled way) shall be:
(a) Right-of-way width: 50 feet.
(b) Paved roadway width: 24 feet per Subsection
B(2).
(2) The paved roadway width shall be measured as follows:
(a) Without berms: 24 feet from pavement edge to pavement edge.
(b) With berms: 24 feet from face of berm to face of berm. All berms shall be set on the base course of the roadway pavement consistent with the Street Cross Section Drawing. (See
Appendix B.)
(3) The center line of the roadway shall coincide with the center line of the right-of-way.
(4) Greater widths may be required by the Planning Board when deemed necessary for present and future vehicular traffic.
(5) Lesser widths may be required by the Planning Board to discourage speeding traffic, and to achieve neighborhood designs that are sensitive to the landscape and that will promote community goals.
(6) Street center islands are not allowed. They obstruct snowplowing and deteriorate unless frequent maintenance is performed.
C. Grades.
(1) No grade shall be greater than 8%.
(2) No grade shall be less than 1/2 of 1%.
D. Horizontal alignment. The minimum center-line radius of horizontal street curves shall be 180 feet.
E. Intersections.
(1) Streets and ways shall be laid out to intersect as nearly as possible at right angles. In no case shall street and way intersections be less than 75°. (See
Appendix B.)
(2) Street and way lines at all intersections shall be rounded with a curve at each corner which has a property line radius of not less than 30 feet. When the intersection of two streets varies more than 10° from a right angle, radii shall be provided in accordance with the detail in
Appendix B.
(3) When streets and ways do not intersect directly, intersections of streets and ways shall have center-line offsets of not less than 200 feet.
(4) Intersection approaches shall have a slope of less than 2% for at least 50 feet measured from the edge of the pavement of the intersecting road.
F. Dead-end street.
[Amended 7-26-2005]
(1) The length of a dead-end street allowed by right is 600 feet. A longer dead-end street is allowed up to 1,200 feet if a corresponding amount of open space in the subdivision is dedicated (See §
270-9 for the definition of "Open Space".) The formula is that for every two acres of open space dedicated, 100 feet of street length is allowed, up to 1,200. If a second dead-end extending from the first one is desired, an additional two acres of open space per 100 feet of street length is required.
(2) The length of the dead-end street shall be measured along the center line of the street right-of-way from the sideline of the nearest intersecting through street to the outside edge of pavement at the farthest end of the dead-end street, including the cul-de-sac or other turnaround, if any.
(3) Except within the limits allowed under Subsection
F(1) above, no existing dead-end street may be extended to create a longer dead-end street and no new permanent dead-end street may be connected to an existing dead-end street.
(4) No more than one new permanent dead-end street may be connected to another new permanent dead-end street. The farthest point of either such dead-end street may not exceed the limits allowed under Subsection
F(1) above.
(5) Except for loop streets, a new permanent dead-end street shall be provided with a cul-de-sac at its end, having a minimum outside edge of pavement radius of 60 feet and a minimum right-of-way radius of 65 feet. The maximum right-of-way radius shall not exceed 90 feet.
(6) The Planning Board may require a cul-de-sac to have a center island, which shall be graded and seeded, left with natural vegetation, or appropriately planted with trees or shrubs, as determined by the Planning Board.
(7) In limited situations, because of unusual topographical conditions or other natural features, the Planning Board may permit an alternative turnaround design in lieu of a cul-de-sac, provided the alternative design is acceptable to the Director of Public Works. T-back-arounds may be used on temporary or unusually short dead-end streets, or those with excessively steep slopes.
(8) The Planning Board may require that provision be made for future extension of a proposed new dead-end street to provide access to adjoining land if the Board believes it desirable to provide a potential connection for a through street.
(9) Subdivision streets connecting to a through street within 300 feet of each other are deemed a single access and do not themselves constitute through streets.
(10) Temporary dead-end.
(a) A temporary dead-end shall be allowed only where, in the opinion of the Planning Board, it is essential to the reasonable development of the subdivision and where it is part of a street or way that will eventually be extended to complete the subdivision as approved. The design of a temporary dead-end shall have a cul-de-sac shown and noted on the plan as temporary, and such property lines shall be those which would normally have been required or used without the cul-de-sac.
(b) Layout of the cul-de-sac beyond the normal street right-of-way lines shall be in the form of an easement to the Town of Belchertown covering said premises included in the cul-de-sac turnaround. When the street is extended into the adjoining property, the easement shall become void.
(c) In a case of a temporary dead-end becoming permanent, open space must be dedicated according to §
270-36F(1), and the cul-de-sac easements become permanent parts of the street layout.
The applicant shall deliver to the Planning Board appropriate instruments (deeds) for any necessary easements in the name of the Town of Belchertown for utilities, watercourses or drainage channels, temporary turnarounds, or other purposes, and to provide for the construction and installation of such utilities before the final bond is released. The Planning Board shall deliver these instruments to the Town Attorney for review before the applicant records the plan with the Hampshire Registry of Deeds.
Natural and significant cultural features must be retained as much as possible. Major features of the land, such as existing walls, fences, wooded areas, orchards, agricultural fields, rock outcrops, culverts, large trees, and other notable features must be shown on the plan. The Planning Board may request comment from the Historic Commission or any other relevant body as to the cultural importance of the site. The developer will be responsible for any archaeological study conducted.
No plan of a subdivision shall be approved unless all of the building lots shown on the plan comply with Chapter
145, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of
Belchertown. All subdivisions shall comply with special requirements for overlay zoning districts as required by Chapter
145, Zoning (for example, the Aquifer Protection Overlay District's runoff requirements).