For the purpose of encouraging the preservation of open space
and promoting the more efficient use of land in harmony with its natural
features and within the general intent of the Zoning Bylaw, an owner
or owners, or their agent, of a tract of land may, in connection with
the submission of a subdivision plan for Planning Board approval under
the Subdivision Control Law also make application to the Board of
Appeals for a special permit excepting his or her plan from the lot
size and yard dimension regulations as required in the Zoning Bylaw.
In no event, however, shall such permit operate as an exception from
any other provision of this Bylaw. The owner or such agent shall at
the same time file a copy of the application with all accompanying
plans and environmental impact statement with the Board of Health,
the Water and Sewerage Board, Superintendent of Public Works, the
Conservation Commission and the Planning Board, which boards shall,
within 30 days from the date of receipt of such documents by them,
file their written recommendations concerning said applications with
the Board of Appeals. If no such recommendations are filed within
30 days, said Board of Appeals shall have been deemed to have no recommendations
on the application.
After notice and public hearing, and after due consideration
of recommendations required to be filed, the Board of Appeals may
grant such a permit for residential use, provided that:
A.
It finds that the proposed plan will promote the purposes of this
Article; and
B.
Not less than 25% of the area of the tract, exclusive of land set
aside for road area and parking area, shall be open land; and
C.
The maximum number of lots permitted on a given piece of land shall
be determined by reducing the total acreage of the proposed subdivision
by the area of ponds as shown on the Zoning Map, but not deducting
for street right-of-way, and by dividing the remaining area by the
minimum lot area requirements of the zoning district in which the
subdivision is to be located; and
D.
The size of the tract of land shall be not less than 10 times the
minimum lot size permitted in the zoning district in which the tract
is located and land area of not more than 25% of open land in the
tract may be wetlands, Floodplain District, Watershed Protection District,
or have a greater than 20% slope; and
E.
The entire development shall be serviced with a public water supply
and a public sewer or an on-site sewage disposal system capable of
processing in excess of 2,000 gallons of sewage effluent per day and
to which all units in the development shall be connected and which
shall be approved by the Board of Health and the Water and Sewerage
Board; and
F.
To insure the protection of existing residences, proposed lots abutting
lots with existing single-family dwellings shall conform to the area
requirements of the adjacent zone. The Board of Appeals may substitute
a requirement for a buffer zone which shall be at least 50 feet in
width for the protection of the abutting lots; and
G.
All lots adjoining existing ways shall meet all existing regulations
for zoning districts in which the lots are located. Land adjoining
existing ways may be used for open land, provided that its minimum
dimension is 50 feet; and
H.
Minimum lot size shall be 12,000 square feet in area, 80-foot frontage
and a perfect square 80 feet by 80 feet, 100-foot width, 100-foot
depth, 20-foot front yard, 12-foot side yards and 30-foot rear yard.
I.
Only land located within the Town of Medfield shall be included in
determining whether a proposed development meets the open land and
minimum lot dimensional requirements of Article 7; land or that portion
of land located outside of the Town's borders shall not be included.
Open land shall be:
A.
Owned by a membership corporation, trust or association whose members
are all the owners or occupants of the dwelling units in the tract,
by the Town or otherwise as the Board of Appeals may approve; and
B.
Restricted by a conservation restriction as defined in MGL c. 184,
§§ 31, 32, and 33, running to the Town appropriate
to retaining the open land predominantly in its natural scenic and
open condition in such form as shall be approved by the Conservation
Commission, the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen. The applicant
shall provide satisfactory assurance that such conservation restriction,
following approvals, has been properly recorded in the appropriate
Registry of Deeds or Registry District of the Land Court and the interest
in land thereby created is not subject to any mortgage, security interest,
lien or other monetary encumbrance of any kind other than the aforesaid
conservation restriction; and
C.
Further restricted by covenants in deeds to all grantees in the tract
for recreational, agricultural, conservation, or park uses on which
no building may be erected more than 15 feet in height and only incidental
to the foregoing uses; and
D.
Open to such uses by at least the owners and occupants of the dwelling
units in the tract; and
E.
Open to Town officials for purposes of maintaining public facilities;
and
F.
Subject to such further restrictions and conditions as the Board
of Appeals may impose.
A special permit for an open space development issued hereunder
by the Board of Appeals is primarily an authorization for the use
of lots which have less than the normal lot size and yard dimension.
Subsequent approval by the Planning Board of such portions of the
development as constitute a subdivision will be required as set forth
in the Subdivision Control Law,[1] including approval of the street and utility systems.
A favorable recommendation by the Board of Appeals that the special
permit be issued shall not, therefore, be deemed to either constitute
subdivision approval under the Subdivision Control Law or the Subdivision
Rules and Regulations or imply that such approval will be given.
Consistent with the general purposes of this Bylaw and the specific
purposes of this Article, the Board of Appeals may recommend and may
impose, as conditions to the approval of a permit hereunder, such
provisions as to parking, loading, road construction and sidewalks,
community service and recreational facilities, screening, and care
and maintenance of open land as may be deemed advisable for the protection
and well being of the occupants of dwelling units in the tract and
of the inhabitants of the Town.
No lot shown on a plan for which a permit is granted under this
Article may be further subdivided, and a notation to this effect shall
be shown upon the subdivision plan recorded with the Registry of Deeds
or Registry District of the Land Court.
