17.12.1 Preapplication
Prior to the submittal of a site plan, a "Concept Plan" may be submitted to help guide the development of the definitive site plan for site buildout and individual elements thereof. Such Concept Plan should reflect the following:
1. Overall building envelope areas;
2. Approximate building massing, showing heights;
3. Open space and natural resource areas; and,
4. General site improvements, groupings of buildings, and proposed land uses.
The Concept Plan is intended to be used as a tool for both the applicant and the PAA to ensure that the proposed development design will be consistent with the design standards and other requirements of the OSGOD.
17.12.2 Application Submission.
An application for Plan Approval shall be submitted to the PAA on the form provided by the PAA, along with application fees which shall be as set forth in the Regulations.
17.12.3 Required Submittals
The application for Plan Approval shall be accompanied by such plans and documents as may be required and set forth in the PAA's Regulations. All site plans shall be prepared by a certified architect, landscape architect, and/or a civil engineer registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All landscape plans shall be prepared by a certified landscape architect registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All building elevations shall be prepared by a certified architect registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. All plans shall be signed and stamped, and drawings prepared at a scale of one inch equals forty feet (1 "=40') or larger, or at a scale as approved in advance by the PAA.
17.13.1 Filing
An applicant for Plan Approval shall file the required number of copies of the application form and the other required submittals as set forth in the Regulations with the Town Clerk, and a copy of the application including the date of filing certified by the Town Clerk shall be filed forthwith with the PAA. An Applicant is encouraged to review the final application with the PAA or its Agent to confirm application completeness prior to filing the final application with the Town Clerk and PAA.
17.13.2 Circulation to Other Boards
Upon receipt of the Application, the PAA shall immediately provide a copy of the application materials to the Board of Selectmen, Board of Appeals, Board of Health, Conservation Commission, Fire Department, Police Department, Building Commissioner, Department of Public Works, and other municipal officers, agencies or boards for comment, and any such board, agency or officer shall provide any written comments within 60 days of its receipt of a copy of the plan and application for approval.
17.13.3 Hearing
The PAA shall hold a public hearing for which notice has been given as provided in Section 11 of G.L. Chapter 40A. The decision of the PAA shall be made, and a written notice of the decision filed with the Town Clerk, within 120 days of the receipt of the application by the Town Clerk. The required time limits for such action may be extended by written agreement between the applicant and the PAA, with a copy of such agreement being filed in the office of the Town Clerk. Failure of the PAA to take action within said 120 days or extended time, if applicable, shall be deemed to be an approval of the application and site plan.
17.13.4 Peer Review
The applicant shall be required to pay for reasonable consulting fees to provide peer review of the Plan Approval application, pursuant to G.L. c. 40R. Such fees shall be held by the Town in a separate account and used only for expenses associated with the review of the application by outside consultants, including, but not limited to, attorneys, town counsel, engineers, urban designers, housing consultants, planners, and others. Any surplus remaining after the completion of such review, including any interest accrued shall be returned to the applicant.
17.14.1 Waivers
Upon the request of the Applicant, but subject to Section 17.8.12 as to Affordability, the Plan Approval Authority may waive dimensional and any other requirements of Section 17.0, including but not limited to, the design standards of Section 17.10, in the interests of design flexibility and overall development quality, and upon a finding of consistency of such variation with the overall purpose and objectives of the OSGOD, or if it finds that such waiver will allow the development to achieve the density, Affordability, mix of uses, and/or physical character allowable under this Section 17.0.
17.14.2 Plan Review
An Application for Plan Approval shall be reviewed for consistency with the purpose and intent of this Section, and such Plan Review and shall be construed as an as-of-right review and approval process as required by and in accordance with the Enabling Laws.
17.14.3 Plan Approval
Plan Approval shall be granted where the PAA finds that:
1. The applicant has submitted the required fees and information as set forth in the Regulations;
2. The development and site plan meet the requirements and standards set forth this Section 17.0, or a waiver has been granted there from; and,
3. Any extraordinary adverse potential impacts of the development on nearby properties have been adequately mitigated.
17.14.4 Plan Disapproval
A site plan may be disapproved only where the PAA finds that:
1. The applicant has not submitted the required fees and information as set forth in the Regulations; or
2. The development and site plan do not meet the requirements and standards set forth this Section 17.0, or a waiver has been granted there from; or
3. It is not possible to adequately mitigate significant adverse potential impacts on nearby properties by means of suitable conditions.
17.14.5 Form of Decision
The PAA shall issue to the applicant a copy of its decision containing the name and address of the owner, identifying the land affected, and the plans that were the subject of the decision, and certifying that a copy of the decision has been filed with the Town Clerk and that all plans referred to in the decision are on file with the PAA. If twenty (20) days have elapsed after the decision has been filed in the office of the Town Clerk without an appeal having been filed or if such appeal, having been filed, is dismissed or denied, the
Town Clerk shall so certify on a copy of the decision. If a plan is approved by reason of the failure of the PAA to timely act, the Town Clerk shall make such certification on a copy of the application or notice. A copy of the decision or application bearing such certification shall be recorded in the registry of deeds for the county and district in which the land is located and indexed in the grantor index under the name of the owner of record or recorded and noted on the owner's certificate of title. The fee for recording or registering shall be paid by the applicant.
17.15.1 Minor Change
After Plan Approval, an applicant may be apply to make minor changes involving minor utility or building orientation adjustments, or minor adjustments to parking or other site details that do not affect the overall buildout or building envelope of the site, or provision of open space, number of housing units, or housing need or affordability features. Such minor changes must be submitted to the PAA on redlined prints of the approved plan, reflecting the proposed change, and on application forms provided by the PAA. The PAA may authorize such changes at any regularly scheduled meeting, without need upholding a public hearing. The PAA shall set forth any decision to approve or deny such minor change by motion and written decision, and provide a copy to the applicant for filing with the Town Clerk.
17.15.2 Major Change
Those changes deemed by the PAA to constitute a major change because of the nature of the change in relation to the prior approved plan, or because such change cannot be appropriately characterized as a minor change as described above, shall be processed by the PAA as a new application for Plan Approval pursuant to this Section 17.0.
This Section 17.0 is promulgated pursuant to the authority of G.L. c. 40R and G.L. c. 40A, as applicable. If any provision of this Section 17 is found to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of Section 17 shall not be affected but shall remain in full force and effect. The invalidity of any provisions of this Section 17 shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this Section.
1. In all districts except Village Commercial and any Corridor Development District, front setbacks along Route 114 shall be a minimum of 100'. Front setbacks shall be 100' along 125 in Industrial 1 and 2 Districts; the first 50' of front setbacks under this requirement shall be made to provide an effective visual buffer and no parking shall be permitted.
2. Adjacent to residential district, an additional 15 foot side or rear setback shall be required. The first 15 feet of the total setback abutting the residential district shall remain open and green, be suitably landscaped, un-built upon, unpaved and not parked upon. In the Business 2 District, the side yard requirements may be eliminated when two (2) adjoining property owners agree to share a party wall.
3.Adjacent to residential districts, the required side or rear setback shall be 100 feet. The first 50 feet of such setback abutting the residential district shall remain open and green, be suitably landscaped, un-built upon, unpaved and not parked upon.
4. If an enclosed parking structure is provided, lot coverage may be increased up to the amount of such parking area but not exceed a total coverage of 45%.
5. Minimum lot size for a townhouse complex shall be 43, 560 square feet although individual townhouse lots may be a minimum of 3,000 square feet. Minimum lot size for an apartment complex shall be 60,000 square feet.
6. Dimensional regulations for townhouse complexes shall meet the requirement of the Residence 5 District; individual townhouses within the complex, however, shall be regulated as follows:
Minimum Front Setback 30 Feet
Minimum Side Setback None required where a party wall is constructed between units; otherwise a 25 foot side setback shall be provided.
Minimum Rear Setback 30 Feet
Maximum Floor Area Ratio: 1.20:1
Maximum Lot Contiguous Units: 10
7. The Following additional requirements shall apply when apartments or townhouse complexes are constructed in this district.
a. There shall be a paved driveway or paved walk adequate to accommodate emergency vehicles within 50 feet of the outside entrance of each dwelling unit.
b. Any road providing access to townhouses or lots intended for townhouses shall conform to the Subdivision Control Regulations of the Planning Board.
c. Any road providing access to more than 18 apartment dwelling units or more than 24 parking spaces shall conform to appropriate provisions of the Subdivision Control Regulations as if it were a minor residential street. Before issuing a building permit in such cases, the Building Inspector shall obtain a report from the Planning Board on the extent of such conformity.
d. Maximum height (apartment building): 40 feet.
e. Maximum stories of living quarters (apartment building): 3.
8. In Residence 4 Districts only, front setback may be the average of all front setbacks of dwelling units within 250 feet on either side of lot. Buildings on corner lots shall have the required front setback from both streets except in the Residence 4 Districts, where setback from the side street shall be a minimum of 20 feet.
9. Nursing and convalescent homes shall have at least 600 square feet of lot area per bed. Minimum lot size for such homes in R1, R2, and R3 shall be 2 acres.
10.Where a public sanitary disposal site is the primary use, the setback area shall be used to provide a screening, natural or artificial, from adjacent residential use of public roadway.
11. Where a public sanitary disposal site is the primary use, an increase up to 100% of the lot coverage shall apply, not including the setback areas.
12. If multifamily structures are selected to attain the maximum density allowed, the proposed project shall be subject to the minimum open space requirements found in Section 8.5 (Planned Residential Development), and to the site plan review requirements of Section 8.3.
In the instance where no public sewer service is provided and there is no private sewer system acceptable to the Town, the allowed density in the Village Residential Zone shall be one dwelling unit per acre and said dwelling and associated lot shall conform to all the regulations consistent with development in the R-2 Zone. Further, under no circumstances shall multifamily development be allowed in the Village Residential Zone, regardless of density, without the provisions of public sewer or a town approved and accepted private sewer system.
13. In instances where a lot fronts on Route 114, for purposes of public safety, the required lot frontage shall be 250 feet. This restriction does not apply to the Corridor Development District."
14. The dimensional criteria described in the table below applies only to detached single family development. Multifamily structures developed in this district shall be subject to all criteria applicable to multifamily developments as stated in Section 8.5. However, in no instances shall the bonus density subsections of Section 8.5 apply in the Village Residential District.
15. In accordance with the procedures and regulations set forth in Section 10.3 and 10.31 of this Bylaw, an application for a special permit may be submitted to increase the allowed Floor Area Ratio (Maximum) from 0.25:1 to 0.30:1 provided that at least 5,000 sq. ft. (excluding basements) of the resulting gross floor area be deeded to the Town for public use purposes; that at least 2,500 sq. ft. of said area be located at street level, and that the entire square footage, exclusive of basements, deeded to the Town be supported with parking spaces at the rate of one space per 250 square feet.
16. Open space shall be consistent with the definition of usable open space as contained in Section 8.5, subsection 5f. Usable Open Space no loading areas shall be allowed on the usable open space.
All required front, rear, and side yard requirements may be calculated as part of the usable open space, but in no instance shall any area designated for open space be less than 15 feet in width.
Further, no more than 25% of the total area required for open space shall be a wetland area, and no permanent or standing water bodies shall be calculated as part of the required open space.
17. Village Commercial Dimensional Requirements
Setbacks
Objective: The setbacks have been determined and arranged in such a way as to promote a quality development which lends itself to the surrounding community in an un-obstructive manner.
a. Front setbacks for structure along Route 114 shall be a minimum of 50', all of which shall be used as an effective visual buffer. No parking shall be allowed within that 50' buffer. Any roadways or drives within that 50' buffer shall be as necessary for access only.
b. When adjacent to a Residential District the minimum setback shall be 40', with the first 25' remaining as an effective visual buffer. The Planning Board may allow the minimum setback adjacent to a Residential District to be reduced to 25' providing that the maximum height of the proposed structure be 25', not to exceed one (1) story. Further, for every 1 foot that the structure is moved closer than 40' to the Residential Property Line the maximum allowed height of the structure shall be reduced by 1 foot (See Diagram 1). In no instances shall a structure be closer than 25' to a side or rear setback. Any roadway or drives within those setbacks shall be as necessary for access only.
