Words and terms used herein shall have the meanings
assigned to them in the Subdivision Control Law, MGL c. 41 and in
the Southborough Zoning Bylaw.[1] In addition, unless the context unequivocally indicates
otherwise, the meaning of the following words and terms shall be as
defined herein:
A person (as hereinafter defined) who applies for the approval of a plan of a subdivision or a person who applies under § 244-3. "Applicant" shall include an owner or his agent or representative or his assigns.
The Planning Board of the Town of Southborough.
A person (as hereinafter defined) to whom approval of a plan of a subdivision has been granted under Article III of these rules and regulations.
The General Laws of Massachusetts. In case of a rearrangement
of the General Laws, any citation of particular sections of the General
Laws shall be applicable to the corresponding sections in the new
codification.
An area of land in one common ownership, with definite boundaries
ascertainable of record and used, or set aside and available for use,
as the site of one or more buildings and buildings accessory thereto.
Sewers, water drains, water pipes, gas pipes, electrical
lines, telephone lines, fire alarm system, guardrails, shade trees,
street signs, boundary markers and their respective appurtenances.
As applied to real estate, the person holding the ultimate
fee simple title to a parcel, tract or lot of land, as shown by the
record in the appropriate land registration office, registry of deeds
or registry of probate.
An individual or two or more individuals or a group of association
of individuals, a partnership or a corporation having common or undivided
interests in a tract of land.
A plan of a proposed subdivision or resubdivision of land
drawn on tracing paper, or a print thereof, showing the subdivision
name, boundaries, North point, date, scale, legend and title "Preliminary
Plan"; the names of the record owner and the applicant and the name
of the designer, engineer or surveyor; the names of all abutters,
as determined from the most recent local tax list; the existing and
proposed lines of streets, ways, easements and any public areas within
the subdivision in a general manner; the proposed system of drainage,
including adjacent existing natural waterways in a general manner;
the approximate boundary lines of proposed lots, with approximate
areas and dimensions; the names, approximate location and widths of
adjacent streets; the topography of the land in a general manner.
A "preliminary plan" is not recordable.
The complete plans of a subdivision, as submitted with all
required exhibits and the completed application and fees to the Board
for approval and endorsement, to be recorded upon such endorsement
in the registry of deeds or filed with the Land Court, as distinguished
from a preliminary plan.
That portion of a street or way which is designed and prepared
or used for vehicular travel: may also be referred to as the "traveled
way" or "pavement."
A strip of land dedicated to use as a public thoroughfare,
including a public way laid out and accepted by a public authority
or which the Town Clerk certifies is used and maintained as a public
way, or a way laid out on a definitive subdivision plan theretofore
approved and endorsed under the Subdivision Control Law, or a way
in existence when the Subdivision Control Law became effective in
Southborough and having in the opinion of the Planning Board adequate
width, construction and grades for the needs of the existing and future
buildings and uses abutting thereon or to be served thereby.
A street which carries or can be expected to carry vehicular
traffic originating in another street or streets, or streets expected
to carry at least 2,000 vehicles average daily traffic.
A street expected to serve more than eight but fewer than
50 dwelling units, no nonresidentially zoned land, and to carry no
significant through traffic.
A street expected to have an estimated average daily traffic
volume in excess of 5,000 trips.
A street expected to serve more than 200 dwelling units and/or
nonresidentially zoned land and to have an estimated daily traffic
volume of fewer than 5,000 trips.
A relatively short street expected to have no through traffic
and to serve no more than eight dwelling units and no nonresidentially
zoned land.
A street expected to serve more than 50 but fewer than 200
dwelling units and no nonresidentially zoned land.
The process of dividing or resubdividing a tract of land
into two or more lots, or the land being subdivided, provided that
a division of land into two or more lots shall not be deemed to constitute
a "subdivision" if every lot created or altered thereby has the frontage
required by the Southborough Zoning Bylaw on a street or way as defined
therein and by these Rules and Regulations. Conveyances or other instruments
adding to, taking away from or changing the size or shape of lots
in such a manner as not to leave any lot so affected without the frontage
set forth above, or the division of a tract of land on which two or
more nonaccessory buildings were lawfully standing when the Subdivision
Control Law went into effect in Southborough into separate lots on
each of which one of such buildings remains standing, shall not constitute
a "subdivision."
Plans and applications shall be deemed "submitted" when delivered
at a meeting of the Board or when sent by registered mail to the Planning
Board, care of the Town Clerk; and if so mailed, the date of mailing
shall be the date of submission (MGL c. 41, § 81O).
Unless otherwise stated, "Town" shall mean the Town of Southborough,
and references to Town officials, boards and the like shall mean those
of the Town of Southborough.
A.
Submission of plan.
(1)
Any person who wishes to cause to be recorded in the
registry of deeds or to be filed with the Land Court a plan of land
and who believes that such a plan does not require approval under
the Subdivision Control Law may submit the original drawing and three
contact prints and a properly executed Form A (see Appendix A)[1] to the Planning Board, accompanied by the necessary evidence
to show that the plan does not require approval. Said person shall
file, by delivery or registered mail, a notice with the Town Clerk
stating the date of submission for such determination, accompanied
by a copy of said application and describing the land to which the
plan relates sufficiently for identification. If the notice is given
by delivery, the Town Clerk shall, if requested, give a written receipt
therefor.
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix A is on file in the
Town offices.
(2)
The material, manner of execution, contents and dimensions
of said plan shall conform to the requirements of the registry of
deeds or the Land Court for plans to be recorded, provided that the
plan shall be not smaller than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches nor
larger than 24 inches by 36 inches, and shall contain the following
information:
(a)
Identification of the plan by name of owner
of record and location of the land in question.
(b)
Plans shall be prepared by a professional land
surveyor or registered civil engineer.
(c)
The statement "Approval Under Subdivision Control
Law Not Required," and sufficient space for the date and the signatures
of all five members of the Board and for an explanatory statement
as to why approval is not required.
(d)
Zoning classification and location of any zoning
district boundaries within the locus of the plan, and including a
North arrow.
(e)
The boundaries of all lots newly established,
changed by the plan or to be recorded without change, including any
remaining land, and the dimensions of the required street frontage
for every lot. The frontage street shall be identified by name.
(f)
Notice of any decisions by the Zoning Board
of Appeals, including but not limited to variances and exceptions
regarding the land or any buildings thereon.
(g)
Abutters from latest available Assessors' records,
unless the applicant has knowledge of any changes subsequent to the
latest available Assessors' records.
(h)
All existing above- and belowground structures
and streams and wetlands.
B.
Endorsement of plan not requiring approval.
(1)
If the Planning Board determines that the plan does
not require approval, it shall without a public hearing forthwith
endorse on the plan the words "Approval Under the Subdivision Control
Law Not Required."
(2)
The Planning Board may add to such endorsement a statement
of the reason approval is not required. Within 14 days of the date
of plan submission, the plan shall be returned to the applicant, and
the Planning Board shall notify the Town Clerk in writing of its action.
C.
Determination that plan requires approval. If the
Planning Board determines that the plan does require approval under
the Subdivision Control Law, it shall, within 14 days of the submission
of the plan, so notify the Town Clerk and the applicant in writing
and return the plan.
D.
Failure of Board to Act. If the Planning Board fails
to act upon a plan submitted under this section or fails to notify
the Town Clerk and the person submitting the plan of its action within
14 days after its submission, the Board shall be deemed to have determined
that approval under the Subdivision Control Law is not required, and
it shall forthwith make such endorsement on said plan, and on its
failure to do so forthwith, the Town Clerk shall issue a certificate
to the same effect.
No person shall make a subdivision within the
meaning of the Subdivision Control Law of any land within the Town,
or proceed with the improvement for sale of lots in a subdivision,
or the construction of ways, or preparation therefor, or the installation
of utilities and municipal services therein, unless and until a definitive
plan of such subdivision has been submitted and approved by the Planning
Board as hereinafter provided.
A.
The Board assumes all information provided to be true
and correct, unless evidence is offered or the Board has knowledge
that this is not the case. A subsequent discovery or determination
that the Board had acted on the basis of incorrect information will
justify a rescission of plan approval in addition to other remedies
and penalties provided by law. The responsibility for the presentation
of complete and correct information lies with the applicant.
B.
If the land shown on the plan is abutted by land of
another owner, the Board may require a statement from the person who
prepared the plan as to the source or sources of the information about
the location of boundaries. A separate form for such statement will
be furnished by the Board, Form D, Designer's Certificate (Appendix
D).[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Appendix D is on file in the
Town offices.
Not more than one building designed or available
for use for dwelling purposes shall be erected or placed or converted
to use as such on any lots in a subdivision, or elsewhere in the Town,
without the consent of the Planning Board. Such consent may be conditional
upon the provision of adequate ways furnishing access to each such
building and adequate improvements in the same manner as otherwise
required for lots within a subdivision.
To reimburse the Town for the cost of plan processing
and review, legal advertising, inspection and other costs, filing
and processing fees as specified in Appendix M[1] shall be tendered together with the application (Forms
A, B or C)[2] and constitute a part thereof. If a definitive plan follows
closely the layout shown on a preliminary plan and is submitted within
seven months of the preliminary plan submittal, the required definitive
plan fee shall be reduced by the amount of the preliminary plan fee.
A.
General. Plans shall be endorsed as not requiring
approval under the Subdivision Control Law and subdivision plans shall
be approved only if each building lot to be created by such plan has
adequate access as intended under the Subdivision Control Law, MGL
c. 41, §§ 81K through 81GG.
B.
Standards of adequacy. Streets within a subdivision
shall be considered to provide adequate access if and only if complying
with the standards established in these regulations. Ways providing
access to streets within a subdivision shall normally be considered
to provide adequate access only if there is assurance that prior to
construction on any lots, access to the subdivision will be in compliance
with the right-of-way width, pavement width, maximum grade and sight
distance requirements of these regulations as applicable to ways within
a subdivision.
C.
Obligations. The Board may require, as a condition
of its approval of a subdivision plan, that the developer dedicate
or acquire and dedicate a strip of land for the purpose of widening
access ways to a width as required above, and that he either make
physical improvements within such way or compensate the Town for the
cost of such improvements in order to meet the standards specified
above.
D.
Waivers. The Board may waive strict compliance with
these access requirements only upon its determination, following consultation
with the Select Board, Highway Superintendent, Police Chief and Fire
Chief, that the way in fact will be sufficient to serve the needs
for access to serve potential uses of land abutting on or served by
the way in question, and that alteration to existing ways in order
to meet these standards would not be in the public interest because
of environmental damage or unwarranted expense.
