The regulations for each district pertaining to minimum lot area, minimum lot frontage, minimum lot depth, minimum front yard depth, minimum side yard depth, minimum rear yard depth, maximum height of buildings, maximum number of stories, maximum building area, and minimum open space shall be specified in this article and set forth in the Table of Dimensional and Density Regulations and subject to the further provisions of this bylaw.
See table attached to this bylaw plus attached notes, which is declared to be a part of this bylaw.
The lot, yard areas or open space required for any new building or use may not include any part of a lot that is required by any other building or use to comply with any provisions of this bylaw, nor may these areas include any property of which the ownership has been transferred subsequent to the effective date of this bylaw, if such property was a part of the area required for compliance with the dimensional regulations applicable to the lot from which such transfer was made.
Lots shall not be so separated or transferred in ownership as not to comply with the provisions of this bylaw.
A. 
Screening and buffers shall be required in any industrial or business district which adjoins a residential district as follows: this strip shall be at least 35 feet in width; it shall contain a screen of plantings in the center of the strip. The screen shall be not less than five feet in width and six feet in height at the time of occupancy of such lot. Individual shrubs or trees shall be planted not more than three feet on center and shall thereafter be maintained by the owner or occupants so as to maintain a dense screen year round.
B. 
At least 50% of the plantings shall consist of evergreens. A solid wall or fence, not to exceed six feet in height, complemented by suitable plantings, may be substituted for such landscape buffer strip by special permit. The strip may be part of the yard area.
C. 
Where an "I" or "B" District abuts an "R" District, no building within the "I" or "B" District shall be within 25 feet of the boundary line of the "R" District.
[Added April 2012 ATM]
Where any interest in a lot of land adjacent to the existing public way of Plain Street (State Route 139), between School Street and Furnace Street, is taken by eminent domain by the Town or the commonwealth in connection with the widening of Plain Street, the remainder of the lot outside of the area subject to the taking shall be treated for purposes of dimensional and density requirements as though the portion of the lot acquired by eminent domain were still included as part of the original lot.
In the "R" District a detached accessory building shall conform to the following provisions: it shall not occupy more than 25% of the required rear yard; it shall not be less than 20 feet from the front street line, or less than 10 feet from any other lot line or from any principal building; and it shall not exceed 20 feet in height. An accessory building attached to a principal building shall be considered as an integral part thereof and shall be subject to front, side, and rear yard requirements applicable to the principal building. An accessory outdoor private swimming pool in any district shall comply with the State Board of Building Regulations and Standards, 780 CMR 421.0, Swimming Pools. No permanent swimming pool shall be located within any required front yard nor within 10 feet from any side or rear lot line. The height of an accessory barn may be increased to 35 feet if the minimum front setback is increased to 50 feet and the other lot line setbacks are increased to 30 feet.
In addition to the regulations in §§ 305-6.01 through 305-6.07, the following regulations shall apply:
A. 
Existing and permitted residential uses in the "B" or "I" District shall be subject to the dimensional density regulations of the nearest residential district as determined by the Building Commissioner/Zoning Enforcement Officer or, in the case of an age-restricted adult village as authorized under § 305-11.08, shall be governed by the dimensional density regulations set forward therein and as approved by the SPGA.
B. 
Except for planned developments, community facilities, and public utilities, only one principal structure shall be permitted on a lot. In the case of planned developments, the minimum distance between the walls of such principal buildings which contain windows shall be twice the minimum side yard or side setback required in the district.
C. 
A corner lot shall have minimum street yards which shall be the same as the required front yard depths for the adjoining lots.
D. 
At each end of a through lot, there shall be a setback depth required which is equal to the front yard depth required for the district in which each street frontage is located.
E. 
Projections into required yards or other required open spaces are permitted only as follows:
(1) 
Balcony or bay window, limited in total length to 1/2 the length of the building, but not projecting more than two feet.
(2) 
Open decks, terraces, steps or stoops under four feet in height, up to 1/2 the required yard setback.
(3) 
Open decks, steps, or stoops over four feet in height, windowsills, chimneys, roof eaves, fire escapes, fire towers, storm enclosures or similar architectural features, not more than two feet.
(4) 
Corner boards, sheathing and the normal construction practice of squaring the structure, not more than four inches.
(5) 
No dimensional lot requirement of this bylaw, including but not limited to front, side, rear setbacks and open space requirements shall apply to handicapped access ramps on private property used solely for the purpose of facilitating ingress or egress of a physically handicapped person, as defined in Section 13A of Chapter 22 of Massachusetts General Laws.
[Added 4-26-2021 ATM by Art. 8]
F. 
The provisions of this bylaw governing the height of buildings shall not apply to chimneys, elevator bulkheads, electronic equipment, elevator shafts, and other necessary appurtenances usually carried above the roof; nor to domes, towers, stacks or spires, if not used for human occupancy and which occupy not more than 20% of the ground floor area of the building; nor to ornamental towers, observation towers, radio broadcasting towers, television and radio antennae, and other like structures which do not occupy more than 20% of the lot area; nor to churches or public, agricultural or institutional buildings or buildings of private schools not conducted for profit that are primarily used for school purposes; provided, however, that the height of all structures exempted by this subsection shall not be more than four times the distance between the nearest lot line and the point directly below the specific structure and further provided the excepted appurtenances are not located within the flight paths of an airport as defined by Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Any proposed communications tower that exceeds the height requirements set forth in § 305-6.02 must file for a special permit with the SPGA.
[Amended 4-24-2017 ATM by Art. 12]
G. 
The maximum gross floor area for a commercial establishment in the Neighborhood Business District shall be 8,000 square feet.
H. 
Where the existing development along a block amounts to more than 50% of the block frontage, and where said development has an average setback less than that required by this bylaw, then any vacant lot setback may be reduced to said average of the existing development.
I. 
In all districts the lot width shall not be less than that prescribed in the Table of Dimensional and Density Regulations as measured at any point between the front lot line and the rear building line.
J. 
At no street intersection in any district shall any obstruction to vision exceeding three feet in height above the plane established by the intersecting streets be placed or permitted to grow on any lot within the triangle formed by the lot lines abutting the intersecting streets and a line connected points on these lot lines at a distance of 25 feet from the point of intersection of the lot lines.
K. 
A fence, hedge, wall, sign or other structure or vegetation may be maintained on any lot provided that in the front yard area, no such structure or vegetation shall be over three feet in height above the adjacent ground within five feet of the front lot line unless it can be shown that such structure or vegetation will not restrict visibility in such a way as to hinder the safe entry of a vehicle from any driveway to the streets.
L. 
In all residential areas where buildings other than single-family dwellings are constructed, a buffer zone of 35 feet must be provided as described in § 305-6.05.
M. 
When floodproofing an existing home on a preexisting nonconforming residential lot, one single-story thirty-two-square-foot utility addition (bump out) located on the first floor may project into the side or rear setback. The utility addition is only for utilities such as furnaces, water heaters and/or HVAC systems and shall be above the minimum flood elevation. The owner shall provide the Building Department with proof of recording of a restrictive covenant on said utility addition prior to the issuance of the building permit. A minimum setback of five feet shall be maintained from the property line.
[Added 10-26-2015 STM by Art. 8]
N. 
Projections into required yards or other required open spaces for residential lots under 5,000 square feet in size shall be covered through the issuance of a special permit or variance.
[Added 10-26-2015 STM by Art. 8]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original § 6.09, Lot width, was deleted 4-24-2017 ATM by Art. 12. See the definition of "lot width" in Art. II.
Zone
Use
Minimum Lot Area2
(square feet)
Width and Frontage
(feet)
Minimum Lot Depth
(feet)
Minimum Yards
Maximum Height
(feet)
Maximum Stories
Maximum Building Area
Minimum Open Space Area
Front
(feet)
Side
(feet)
Rear
(feet)
R-1
Any permitted use
43,560
125
150
40
20
40
35
2.51
15%
50%
R-2
Any permitted use
20,000
100
120
40
15
40
35
2.51
25%
40%
R-3
Any permitted use
10,000
80
100
15
15
30
35
2.51
40%
30%
RB
a. Residential use
20,000
125
150
40
15
40
35
2.5
25%
40%
b. Other use
20,000
125
150
40
15
40
255
15
40%
30%
OP
Any permitted use
20,000
125
100
40
20
40
25
2
40%
30%
B-1
Any permitted use
10,000
100
100
5
None
10
35
3
None
None
B-2
Any permitted use
20,000
150
150
40
154
40
35
2.5
40%
20%
B-33
Any permitted use
5,000
80
80
20
5
15
35
2.5
40%
20%
B-43
Any permitted use
10,000
100
100
10
5
15
35
2.5
60%
20%
I-1
Any permitted use
40,000
150
150
40
20
40
65
2
None
30%
A
Any permitted use
20,000
125
100
40
20
40
35
3
40%
30%
NOTES:
1
In the R-1, R-2 and R-3 Districts, the height may be increased to three stories if the minimum front yard is increased by 14 feet and the minimum side yard is increased by five feet.
2
For lots partially within the Inland Wetlands or the Coastal Wetlands District, the application of the minimum lot areas set forth in this table shall be governed by the regulations of Article XIII.
3
Except as noted in § 305-6.08.
4
The minimum side yard setback may be reduced or eliminated as noted in § 305-11.11 of the bylaw.
5
Buildings may be increased by 1.5 stories (maximum 35 feet) for a residential unit above the first floor.