A.
Terms and words not defined herein but defined in
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Building Code shall have the
meanings given therein unless a contrary intention clearly appears.
Words not defined in either place shall have the meaning given in
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, most recent edition.
B.
ABUTTER
ABUTTER'S LIST
APPLICANT
BOARD
BOARD'S AGENT
DEFINITIVE PLAN
DESIGNER
DEVELOPER
ENGINEER
GENERAL LAWS
MHD
NAVD
PRELIMINARY PLAN
ROADWAY or TRAVELED WAY
STREET OR WAY
(1)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(2)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
SUBDIVISION
SUBDIVISION CONTROL LAW
SURVEYOR
THESE RULES AND REGULATIONS
UTILITIES
ZONING BY-LAW AND ZONING MAP
For the purpose of these Rules and Regulations, unless
a contrary intention clearly appears, the terms and words defined
in the Subdivision Control Law shall have the meaning given therein.
The following other terms and words shall have the following meanings:
Owners of land directly adjacent to property lines of the
applicant and owners of land directly opposite on any public or private
street or way, as they appear on the most recent tax list, notwithstanding
that the land is located in another city or town.
A list of abutters as defined by these Rules and Regulations,
and which has been certified by the Board of Assessors.
All the owners of record of the land stated in the application
for subdivision. An agent, representative or his assigns may act for
an owner, provided written evidence of such fact is submitted to the
Board. Evidence in the form of a list of their officers and designated
authority to sign legal documents shall be required for a corporate
owner.
The Planning Board of the Town of Abington, Massachusetts
established under Section 81A of Chapter 41 of the Massachusetts General
Laws.
A duly authorized consultant retained or appointed by the
Planning Board to review plans, observe construction, and/or administer
these Rules and Regulations.
Professional engineer and land surveyor registered to practice
in Massachusetts. All public and private utility design and other
engineering practices as defined in Section 81D of Chapter 112 of
the General Laws shall be done by or under the direct supervision
of, and shall be endorsed by, a registered professional engineer.
All layout of lands and subdivisions shall be done by or under the
direct supervision of, and shall be endorsed by, a registered land
surveyor.
An owner or their agent, representative, or assigns.
A person registered or legally permitted to practice professional
engineering in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Highway Department.
1988 North American Vertical Datum.
A plan of a proposed subdivision or resubdivision of land
drawn in accordance with these rules and regulations.
The portion of a street intended for vehicular use.
A way, street or road open and dedicated to
public use, including a public way or a way certified by the Town
Clerk to have been used and maintained by public authorities as a
public way, a way approved and constructed under the provisions of
the Subdivision Control Law, or a private way in existence prior to
said Subdivision Control Law having become effective in the Town of
Abington and having, in the opinion of the Board, adequate width,
grades, and construction for the vehicular traffic and the installation
of municipal services to serve the land abutting on such way and the
buildings erected or to be erected thereon. The Planning Board shall
not deem a way adequate for the purposes of the Subdivision Control
Law whether approval is required or not required and these Rules and
Regulations unless said way meets the following minimum standards:
A right of way width of 40 feet.
A traveled way of 16 feet exclusive of berms
or curbs.
An all-weather surface of bituminous concrete,
which is in suitable condition to allow access for emergency vehicles.
The way shall be properly graded so as to allow
for drainage of surface water runoff as determined by the Board or
its agent.
Streets shall be classified as follows:
Arterial street: existing and proposed streets
that are primarily used, or will be used by through traffic at speeds
generally in excess of 40 miles per hour or as determined by the Planning
Board.
Collector streets: existing and proposed streets
that carry or will carry traffic from residential or minor streets
to the system of arterial streets at speeds generally between 30 and
40 miles per hour or as determined by the Planning Board. All commercial
and industrial subdivisions shall be designed as collector streets.
Minor streets: existing or proposed streets
that are used primarily for access to abutting residential properties
for traffic at speeds of generally less than 30 miles per hour.
Local streets: existing or proposed streets
that are used only for access to abutting residential properties,
are permanently dead end, and provide access for no more than 12 dwellings.
Dead-end: any street, group or extension of
streets, which has only one means of access.
The division of a tract of land into two or more lots and
shall include resubdivision, and shall relate to the process of subdivision
on the land or territory subdivided. The division of a tract of land
into two or more lots shall not constitute a subdivision if, at the
time it was made, every lot within said tract has frontage, in compliance
with the Zoning By-Law, on a public way as laid out by the Selectmen
or a way which the Town Clerk certifies is maintained and used as
a public way, a way shown on a plan previously approved under subdivision
control, or a way in existence on March 8, 1947, having in the opinion
of the Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades, and adequate
construction to provide for the needs of vehicular and pedestrian
traffic and municipal services in relation to the proposed use of
the land abutting thereon or served. (See definition of "street" or
"way.") Conveyances or other instruments adding to, taking away from,
or changing the size and shape of lots, or the division of a tract
of land, on which two or more buildings were standing on March 8,
1947, into separate lots, on each of which one such building remains
standing, shall not constitute a subdivision.
The power of regulating the subdivision of land granted by
Section 81K to 81GG, inclusive, of Chapter 41 of the General Laws
and any acts in amendment thereof, addition thereto or substitution
therefor.
A person registered or legally permitted to practice land
surveying in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The "Rules and Regulations Governing the Subdivision of Land
in Abington, MA" as adopted and amended by the Planning Board pursuant
to Section 81Q of the Subdivision Control Law.
Municipal services, including stormwater drainage system,
sewerage systems, water supply piping, fire alarm conduits and equipment,
cable, electric, telephone and other communications wiring, gas and
all appurtenances thereof.
Zoning By-Law shall mean the Abington Zoning By-Law, as amended;
Zoning Map shall mean the Abington Zoning Map, as amended.
A.
Submission requirements.
(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 the plan does not require approval under the
Subdivision Control Law shall submit to the Planning Board:
(2)
Application shall be made at a scheduled meeting of
the Planning Board. The plans shall not be deemed to be submitted
until receipt has been acknowledged by the Planning Board's signature
on each copy of the application form. Said person shall also file,
by delivery or certified mail, a notice with the Town Clerk stating
the date of submission to the Board, accompanied by a copy of said
receipted application.
(3)
If the Board determines that the plan does not require
approval, it shall, without a public hearing, endorse forthwith on
the plan the words "Planning Board approval under Subdivision Control
Law not required." Such action shall not be construed to indicate
compliance with the provisions of the Zoning By-Law. Said plan shall
be returned to the applicant, and the Board shall notify the Town
Clerk of its action in writing.
(4)
If the Board determines that the plan does require
approval under the Subdivision Control Law, it shall within 21 days
of the date of submission give written notice of its determination
to the Town Clerk and to the applicant by delivery or certified mail.
(5)
An applicant may submit a plan for approval as provided
by law and the Rules and Regulations of the Board, or may appeal from
the determination of the Board in the manner provided in MGL Chapter
41, Section 81BB.
(6)
If the Board fails to act upon a plan submitted under
this section within 21 days after its submission, it shall be deemed
to have determined that approval under the Subdivision Control Law
is not required.
B.
Contents.
(1)
A plan shall be legibly drawn in accordance with the
latest rules and regulations of the Registry of Deeds, pertaining
to plan size, material, lettering and related requirements. The plan
scale shall preferably be 40 feet to the inch or such other scale
as the Board may accept and shall contain the following:
(a)
Identification of the plan by name of owner
of record and location of the land in question; Abington Assessors'
map(s) and parcel(s) numbers on which the land is located; the scale,
North point and date; and the name, signature and stamp of the registered
land surveyor.
(b)
Sufficient space for the date and the signature
of the Clerk of the Board shall be provided.
(c)
Zoning classification; the location of any and
all zoning district boundaries including all flood zones established
by FEMA which may lie within the locus of the plan.
(d)
In the case of the creation of a new lot, the
new lot area and remaining land area and frontage of the land in the
ownership of the applicant shall be shown.
(e)
Notice of any decisions by the Zoning Board
of Appeals, including but not limited to special permits and variances,
regarding the land or any buildings thereon.
(f)
The names of abutters adjacent to the land and
across adjoining ways as obtained for the most recent local tax list
unless the applicant has knowledge of any changes subsequent to the
latest available Assessor's records.
(g)
The names and status (private or public) of
streets and ways shown on the plan.
(h)
The location of all existing easements of record
as well as existing buildings and the location of septic systems,
if any.
(2)
A locus map shall be provided at the same scale as
the Zoning Map.
No person shall make a subdivision, within the
meaning of the Subdivision Control Law, of any land within the Town,
or proceed with the improvements or sale of lots in a subdivision,
or the construction of ways, or the installation of municipal service
therein, unless and until a definitive plan of such subdivision has
been submitted to, approved and endorsed by the Planning Board as
well as endorsed by the Town Clerk, as hereinafter provided.
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 lot in a subdivision, or elsewhere in the Town,
without the consent of the Planning Board. Such consent may be conditioned
upon providing of adequate ways furnishing access to each site for
such building in the same manner as otherwise required for lots within
a subdivision.
