A.
Location.
(1)
All streets shall be designed and located so as to
be continuous and in alignment with existing streets, insofar as practicable,
and shall compose a convenient system with connections adequate to
ensure free and safe movement of vehicular traffic.
(2)
Provision shall be made for the proper projection
of streets to adjoining property.
(3)
Reserve strips preventing access to streets or adjoining
property shall not be permitted, except where, in the opinion of the
Board, such strips shall be in the public interest.
(4)
Minor street systems shall be designed so as to minimize
through traffic by creating discontinuities and by offsetting street
intersections.
(5)
The maximum number of ways converging at an intersection
shall be limited to four, with the center lines of said streets intersecting
at one common point.
(6)
The intersection of center lines of streets with another
street shall occur not less than 300 feet apart.
B.
Width, alignment and grades.
(1)
Minor streets shall be designed using the following
minimum criteria:
(a)
Width of layout: 44 feet.
(b)
Width of pavement, including twelve-inch berms:
22 feet.
(c)
Minimum center-line radii of 150 feet.
(d)
Reverse curve tangent: 100 feet.
(e)
Grades not less than zero and eight-tenths percent
(0.8%) and not more than 10%.
(f)
Vertical curve sight distance of at least 150
feet.
(2)
Curvilinear alignments shall be used to discourage
traffic speeds of more than 25 miles per hour on minor streets, but
bumps shall not be used for that purpose.
(3)
Vertical curves are required whenever the algebraic
difference in grade between center-line tangents is 2% or more. The
minimum vertical curve length for minor streets shall be 100 feet
but also no less than the length obtained by multiplying the algebraic
difference in grade by the factor 20 for crest and by factor 25 for
sag curve. A combination of steep grades and curves shall be avoided.
(4)
Streets shall be laid out so as to intersect as nearly
as possible at right angles or radial to curves. No street shall intersect
any other street at less than 60°.
(5)
Street lines at intersections shall be rounded with
a radius of not less than 25 feet in residential subdivisions and
not less than 35 feet in industrial and commercial subdivisions.
(6)
Grades at intersections of more than 2% for the first
100 feet, measured from the exterior line of the intersected street,
will not be approved.
(7)
The grading at the intersection of streets shall be
so designed as to be safe and convenient for travel and to direct
the flow of surface water in a suitable manner.
(8)
If a street layout at the entrance to a subdivision
abuts property not owned by the subdivider, the width of the layout
shall be 60 feet for the first 200 feet from the intersecting road.
The entrance road shall be located within the layout so that the extra
16 feet of width will be used to provide additional buffering from
the road for the abutting property owner.
C.
Street cross section. The grading of the shoulders
and slopes and the location of the pavement, utilities and drainage
structures shall conform to the typical sections shown on the drawings
filed as part of the definitive plan.
D.
Dead-end streets.
(1)
For the purposes of these subdivision rules and regulations,
a "dead-end street" is defined as any street or system of streets
which has only a single access to an existing street system with two
or more points of access. Any such street or system of streets shall
be considered a dead end regardless of size or internal circulation
patterns.
(2)
Dead-end streets shall not be longer than 500 feet
unless, in the opinion of the Board, a greater length is desirable
due to topography or other local conditions. Fire hydrants shall not
be more than 500 feet apart.
(3)
Dead-end streets shall be provided at the closed end
with a turnaround having an outside street line radius of at least
60 feet. The width of the paved loop shall not be diminished and the
grade shall not exceed 3%. T-turnarounds shall consist of an eighteen-foot
minimum width of pavement approximately at right angles to the street,
at least 80 feet in length, with maximum grade of 4% and minimum curb
radii of 25 feet.
E.
Adequate access from a public way. When the physical
condition or width of a public way from which a subdivision has its
access is considered by the Board to be inadequate to carry the traffic
expected to be generated by such subdivision, the Board may require
the applicant to dedicate a strip of land for the purpose of widening
the abutting public way to a width at least as great as that required
within the subdivision, and to make physical improvements to and within
such public way to the same standards required within the subdivision.
Any such dedication of land for purpose of 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, and all costs of any such
widening or construction shall be borne by the applicant.
F.
Drainage.
(1)
The Falmouth Department of Public Works considers
road drainage designs which rely entirely on standard-type leaching
basins to be inadequate.
(2)
Adequate areas of land must be set aside at all significant
low points to receive the stormwater. These street drainage catchment
areas, along with any drainage easements required, shall be shown
on the definitive plan so as to become part of the permanent record.
(3)
Storm drainage facilities shall be designed to accommodate the runoff from the entire watershed area, whether inside or outside the subdivision, under conditions of total potential development permitted under Chapter 240, Zoning.
(4)
When the subdivision creates a need for drainage improvements
outside the subdivision, the applicant shall be required to secure
the necessary easement and provide such improvements.
(5)
Storm drainage installations, including catch basins,
pipelines, leaching basins, culverts, manholes, outlet head walls
with rip-rap aprons and paved waterways, shall be required to permit
unimpeded flow of all natural watercourses, to ensure adequate drainage
of all low points along streets, to control erosion of slopes and
shoulders and to intercept stormwater runoff along streets at intervals
reasonably related to the extent and grade of the area drained. To
the maximum extent feasible, stormwater shall be recharged rather
than piped to surface waters, and no drainage structure should be
installed within 100 feet of any natural water body or wetland.
(6)
Natural drainage courses, swales properly stabilized
with plant materials and drainage catchment areas shall be utilized
to dispose of water on the site through natural percolation. To obtain
maximum percolation of runoff, it is necessary in all drainage areas
to retain and leave undisturbed as much existing vegetation as possible,
particularly large trees and shrubs. Use of natural areas for drainage
is preferred. However, if such natural drainage areas are insufficient
or nonexistent, drainage areas shall be constructed only under the
supervision of the Falmouth Department of Public Works. Newly constructed
drainage areas shall be planted with shrubs and trees suitable for
moist soils. All drainage areas shall be tested for the rate of percolation.
(7)
The surface water may be directed to the catchment
areas by pipes of not less than 10 inches diameter from catch basins
or by the use of paved Type I asphalt waterways. Storm drains shall
be designed to ensure a rate of flow of not less than three nor more
than eight cubic feet per second under design conditions.
(8)
A design analysis by a registered professional engineer
shall be submitted with each definitive plan and shall include consideration
of the entire watershed and the calculations used in designing the
drainage system, including area calculations, intensity of rainfall,
coefficient of runoff, time of concentration, discharge, coefficients
of roughness and quantity and velocity of flow under design conditions.
(9)
The following standards shall be used in designing
drainage facilities for new subdivision roads: storm intensity, 2.5
inches rainfall per hour (twenty-five-year storm); storm duration,
one hour; road areas to be considered 100% impervious, with all other
land area within the watershed considered to be 40% impervious.
(10)
When the land is in a watershed protection area,
hydrographic tests may be required to determine the direction of underground
water flow.
A.
Easements for municipal services, utilities and drainage
facilities, within or outside of the street layout, shall be provided
where necessary. Easements shall be at least 20 feet wide and centered
on lot lines where practical.
B.
Slope easements shall be provided where cut or fill
slopes cannot be contained within the street layout.
C.
Sight easements shall be provided where clearing and
grading at street intersections is necessary to prevent blind corners
and to permit permanent maintenance of visibility.
D.
Easements may be required for the continuation of
pedestrian traffic, underground utilities and bikeways.
E.
Easements for all municipal utility services shall
be granted to the Town when the performance bond or covenant is executed
for the maintenance, repair and extension of municipal utility services
within all the private ways shown on the approved definitive plan.
The Board may require in proper cases that the
plan show a park or parks suitably located for playground or recreation
purposes. The park or parks shall not be unreasonable in area in relation
to the land being subdivided and to the prospective uses of such land.
Deeding of open spaces to lot owners is preferred. The applicant shall
furnish the Board with a certified copy of any easement or restrictions
of record relating to or affecting such parks, playgrounds and recreation
areas and the continued maintenance thereof.
A.
Due regard shall be shown for all natural features,
such as large trees, watercourses, scenic points, historic or archaeological
sites and similar community assets, which if preserved, will add attractiveness
and value to the property.
B.
Existing contours shall be preserved insofar as it
is practical to do so. No change shall be made in the contour of the
land that adversely affects the land abutting the proposed subdivision.
C.
To be more attractive and economical, subdivisions
should closely adhere to the topography of the land, with the streets
designed so as to minimize the necessity for excessive cut or fill.
One fire alarm box shall be provided in all
subdivisions with 12 or more lots.
Hydrants shall be provided every 500 linear
feet of street. They shall be of a style approved both by the Fire
Chief and Department of Public Works.
Sidewalks, grass plots and street trees shall
be required in every subdivision. (See Standard Cross Sections, Schedules
A and B.)[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Schedules A and B are on file
in the office of the Planning Board.
[Amended 7-25-1995]
All public utilities, including Town water service,
shall be required in all subdivisions and shall be placed underground
at the time of initial construction. All water lines and hydrant locations
shall be shown on the roadway layout and cross section plans submitted
with the application. Standard plans and specifications for construction
and installation are available from the Falmouth Department of Pubic
Works Utility Division.
Pedestrian walkways and/or bikeways may be required
by the Planning Board to provide access to schools, playgrounds, parks,
public transportation, open spaces and/or other community facilities.
These may or may not be part of normal sidewalk provision; however,
they shall not be part of any lot, except open space lots, in the
subdivision.
Street signs shall be required for every subdivision.
They shall be of a style approved by the Department of Public Works.
Streetlights shall be required at the entrance
to the subdivision, street intersections within the subdivision and
at the end of culs-de-sac over 500 feet.
