ACCESSORY BUILDING OR USE is one which is subordinate in purpose to, and serves, a principal building or principle use.
ALTERATION shall mean any change in size, shape, character, or use of a building or structure.
BULK is the term used to indicate the size and setbacks of buildings or structures and the location of same with respect to one another.
DWELLING is a structure used in whole or in part for human habitation. A dwelling does not include a trailer or mobile home however mounted, or a vessel.
GUEST HOUSE is a subordinate dwelling to the principal dwelling on a lot.
LOT is a parcel of land in one ownership, with definite boundaries, occupied or suitable to be occupied by a certain use. See also "Lot Area".
STRUCTURE is a combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter. A structure includes any building. A fence or wall over six feet high shall be considered a structure; an open terrace not more than thirty inches above grade shall not be considered to be a structure. A vessel shall not be considered to be a structure.
USE is the purpose for which land or any structure is occupied or maintained, arranged, designed, or intended.
OPEN LAND is a parcel or parcels of land or an area of water, or a combination of land and water, not including roads set aside in an undeveloped state for the benefit, use and enjoyment of the residents of a Cluster Development or the residents of the Town.
SIGN shall mean and include any structure, devise, letter, work, model, banner, pennant, Insignia, trade flag, or representation used as, or which is in the nature of, an advertisement, announcement or direction.
RECREATIONAL VEHICLE shall mean vehicles normally used for recreational purposes including removable truck-mounted campers, motor homes, travel trailers, van conversions and similar vehicles.
SPECIAL PERMIT GRANTING AUTHORITY shall be:
The Planning Board for Special Permit for Cluster Developments; and for Special Permits in the Beach Areas and Wetlands; and in the B-II Upper Main Street District, and within the Coastal, Island Road and Special Places, and Cape Pogue Districts; and for the Surface Water District.
Building Inspector for the Sign By-law (Article XV); and
The Zoning Board of Appeals for all other special permit authorized by this By-Law.
FAST FOOD RESTAURANT is an establishment for the sale of on-premise prepared food or drink, if providing in-car service, window service, drive-through service, or service at two or more take-away stations within the building, or if there is sale in any other way of food or drink packaged for takeout except incidental to a conventional restaurant or other permitted use.
WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM (WECS) : a device which converts wind energy to mechanical or electrical energy.
FARM SILO is a structure used for storing feed for livestock.
PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT (PDD) . A Planned Development District shall mean an area of land in which a mixture of residential, open land, and/or other uses, and a variety of building types and designs, are determined to be sufficiently advantageous to render it appropriate to grant a special permit and to depart from the normal requirements of the underlying district, to the extent authorized by this zoning by-law and by General Laws, Ch. 40A, Section 9. A Planned Development District shall consist of not less than five (5) contiguous acres of land."
TIME SHARING OR TIME INTERVAL OWNERSHIP DWELLING UNIT : A dwelling unit in which the exclusive right of use, possession or occupancy circulates among various owners of lessees thereof in accordance with a fixed or floating time schedule on a periodically recurring basis whether such use, possession or occupance is subject to either: (a) Time Share Estate, in which the ownership or leasehold estate in property is devoted to a time-share fee (tenants in common, time span ownership, interval ownership) and a timeshare lease; or (b) Time-Share Use, including any contractual right of exclusive occupancy which does not fall within the definition of Time-Share Estate, including, but limited to, a vacation license, prepaid hotel reservation, club membership, limited partnership or vacation bond.
TRANSIENT RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES : Hotels, motels, inns or lodging houses with a capacity of more than four guest beds, and time-sharing or time-interval ownership dwelling units.
DEVELOPMENT shall include any building, reconstruction, or alteration of a structure or land; division of land into lots; change in the type of use of a structure or land; material increase in intensity of use of land, such as an increase in the number of offices, stores, or dwelling units in a structure or on land or a change in occupancy resulting in larger traffic, wastewater, or other offsite impacts; reestablishment of a use which has been discontinued for two years or longer; and commencement of mining, excavation, or filling on a parcel of land. "Development" shall not include ordinary maintenance or repair not requiring a building permit, transfer of title not involving the division of land into parcels, or change of occupancy not materially increasing intensity of use of land.
MULTI-UNIT DWELLING shall mean any building consisting of attached single family units with each unit providing independent living facilities.
STREET shall mean a public way or a way, having in the opinion of the Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate construction to provide for the proposed use of the land abutting thereon or served thereby
VESSEL : Every description of watercraft, other than a sea/float plane on water, uses as a means of transportation on water. Specifically excluded by this definition are floating homes or dwellings.
LOT AREA : The horizontal area of the lot exclusive of any area in a street or recorded way. Land under any water body, bog, swamp, wet meadow, marsh, wetland, coastal beach or coastal dune as defined in MGL C. 131, s. 40 or by the Edgartown Wetlands Protection Bylaw, shall not be included in the "lot area" required for zoning compliance. This definition shall not apply to a lot shown on a plan or described in a deed duly recorded at the Registry of Deeds as of April 8, 1997 which at the time of the Zoning Bylaw change conformed to the then existing requirements for the zoning district in which it is located.
CONVENIENCE STORE : A retail store with a floor area of less than 501 square feet, located within and subsidiary to a gas station and selling goods limited to prepackaged food items, beverages not including alcoholic beverages, household and gas station items, pharmaceuticals and personal hygiene items, newspaper, maps and tobacco.
DETACHED BEDROOM : In any district in Edgartown, a detached bedroom is defined as either a freestanding structure or a bedroom over a non-habitable accessory structure and all of the following:
a. bedroom(s) and bathroom(s) only
b. no sitting rooms, no entrance alcoves, no hallways
c. the footprint, measured by the inside perimeter of the proposed livable space, is no larger than 400 square feet (includes bathroom and closets) and including enclosed porches.
d. plumbing in the bathroom only and limited to one hand sink, one toilet, and one bathtub/shower
ELEVATED DECK or elevated porch is any accessible walking surface larger than 8' in any dimension, and more than 7'-6" above the mean natural grade.
ASSISTED HOUSING is defined to mean housing in a single structure which meets a range of personal needs and provides a range of support services for senior or disabled residents. For the purposes of this bylaw, senior person shall mean a person aged 60 or older and a disabled person shall mean a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his or her major life activities. Assisted housing may sometimes be called congregate houses, rest homes, retirement homes, board and care, assisted living homes and other similar terms which are all residential in nature. The structure may contain, but is not limited to the following areas:
-Common group areas for dining and food preparation; libraries, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and gardening areas are encouraged.
-Bedrooms or suites for residents
-Separate or shared bathroom facilities
-Living quarters for support staff
ISLAND INDEPENDENT LIVING is defined to mean attached or detached living units in which residents live year-round, either as tenants or owner occupants. This may include but is not limited to single persons, single parents, widows, widowers, seniors, or exceptional persons.
ACCESSORY APARTMENT is a separate housekeeping unit complete with its own sleeping, cooking and sanitary facilities, which is substantially contained within or added to the single family dwelling or attached accessory structures.
SUBSTANDARD LOT is a lot which has been established and recorded in Dukes County Registry of Deeds prior to April 10, 2001 which is smaller than the required minimum size for a building lot in the zoning district in which it is located and which is determined to be unbuildable in accordance with the provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws and the Edgartown Zoning Bylaw (that is, not "grandfathered" by other laws.)
STAFF APARTMENTS are defined to mean attached or detached living units owned by an employer, either public, private, or non-profit, in which employees of that employer are housed.
STREAM - Any natural watercourse, generally containing water, through and along which water may flow from a pond, swamp or similar body of water to another, to another stream, or to the ocean.
TIDAL RIVER - Any stream in which action of the oceanic tide causes the water to ebb and flow or the water level therein to rise and fall with some regularity, exclusive of hurricane tides or tidal waves, irrespective of any actual incursion or admixing of oceanic salt water.
MARSH - Any essentially flat, frequently wet and occasionally flooded area adjoining open water along the shores of a pond or the banks of a stream and lying between such open water and the adjacent natural or artificial upland.
TIDAL MARSH - Any marsh area in which action of the oceanic tide causes a change in the water level from time to time, exclusive of hurricane tides or tidal waves and any marsh area developed and maintained by incursion of oceanic salt water or by action of the oceanic tide. Such area shall include all of the originally contiguous area geologically indefinable as tidal marsh, irrespective of the presence of artificial dykes, causeways, or the like which may have divided the original marsh area into two or more sections.
SWAMP - Any depressed area of poor drainage in which the water table is generally at or above the ground level, not caused or affected by salt water or action of the oceanic tide.
POND - Any body of water, other than a stream or the ocean, habitually more than 5,000 square feet in area.
BEACH AREA - That area extending from the mean low water line to the inland edge of land covered by sand dunes or by beach grass.
AIRFIELD - the Edgartown Katama Airfield.
AIRFIELD APPROACH ZONE - any airspace above the area defined as clear zone and shown on a map entitled "Map of Approach Protection Zones, Katama Airport, Prepared for the Edgartown Planning Board dated March 24, 1982 and revised by the Katama Airfield Commission in 1988" which is on file in the Town Clerk's office and the Planning Board office. The location of the airfield approach zones may be amended when appropriate. Subsequent amendments will be recorded on a map and so filed.
AIRFIELD HAZARD - any structure or tree which extends into any airfield approach zone.
CLEAR ZONE - the area perpendicular to the runway, including the airspace above the runway, 65' each side of the center line and a distance from the runway threshold to the outermost limit of the clear zone along the center line of 1000 feet. The distance across the threshold end of the clear zone is 250 feet. The distance across the outermost end of the clear zone is 450 feet. The slope of the floor of the clear zone from the runway threshold to the outermost end of the clear zone is 20 to 1 vertical rise.
THRESHOLD - the beginning of that portion of the runway usable for landing.
STRUCTURE - any object or structure installed by man, including any object regulated or licensed under any other provision of law.
TREE - any tree or other object of natural growth.
WETLAND : any fresh water or coastal wet meadow, marsh, swamp, bog, or vernal pool; an area of low lying topography where ground water, flowing water, standing surface water, or ice provides a significant part of the supporting substrate for a plant community composed of 50% or more of the species adapted for life in saturated soil conditions (species so adapted shall include only indicative wetlands plants, including, but not limited to, those listed as Obligate Wetland, Facultative Wetland, or Facultative in the most recently published edition of "The National List of Plant Species That Occur in Wetlands - Massachusetts List" prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the National Wetlands Inventory); any disturbed area where the substrate is composed of hydric soils but where wetlands indicative plants may be absent, including but not limited to filled wetlands, mowed lawns, or hayfields; emergent and submergent plant communities in inland waters; that portion of any bank which touches any inland waters.
COASTAL BANK : the seaward face or side of any elevated landform, other than a coastal dune, which lies at the landward edge of a coastal beach, land subject to tidal action, or other coastal wetland.
INLAND BANK : the portion of the land surface which normally abuts and confines a water body, occurring between a water body and a wetland and adjacent floodplain, or, in the absence of these, occurring between a water body and an upland; a bank may be partially or totally vegetated, or it may be comprised of exposed soil, gravel, or stone; the upper boundary of a bank is the first observable break in the slope or the mean annual flood level, whichever is lower.
WILDLIFE : all non-domesticated mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, or invertebrates which use an area for part of their life cycle; special consideration shall be given to those wildlife species listed as rare, endangered, or of special concern by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage Program or its successor.
WILDLIFE HABITAT : the are which wildlife use for nesting, breeding, or feeding during any part of their life cycle and including the landforms and plans in the area which shall support the wildlife; special consideration shall be given to those plants listed as rare, endangered, or of special concern by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage Program or its successor.
SIGN . Any privately owned permanent or temporary device, placard, painting, drawing, poster, letter, word, banner, pennant, insignia, trade flag, merchandise, or representation used as or which is in the nature of an advertisement, announcement, or direction which is on a public way or on private property within public view or a public or private way, public park or reservation.
ACCESSORY SIGNS . Any sign that advertises, or indicates the person occupying the premises on which the sign is erected or maintained, or business transacted thereon, or advertises the property itself or any part thereof as for sale or rent, and which contains no other matter.
NON-ACCESSORY SIGN . Any sign not an accessory sign.
PERSON shall include an individual, corporation, society, association, partnership, trust or other entity, public or private.
STANDING SIGN . Any accessory sign that is not attached to a building.
SIGN, AREA OF ,
1) The area of a sign shall be considered to include all lettering, wording and accompanying designs and symbols, together with the background on which they are displayed, any frame around the sign and any "cutouts" or extensions, but shall not include any supporting structure or bracing.
2) The area of a sign consisting of individual letters or symbols attached to or painted on a surface, building, wall or window, shall be considered to be that of the smallest quadrangle or triangle which encompasses all of the letters and symbols.
3) The area of a sign consisting of a three dimensional object shall be considered to be the area of the largest vertical cross-section of that object.
4) In computing the area of signs, both sides of V-shaped signs but only one side of back-to-back signs shall be counted.
TEMPORARY SIGN . Any sign, including its supporting structure, to be maintained for a continuous period of not more than 30 days.
ALTERATION OF THE LAND FORM : Any man-made change in the existing character of the land including filling, grading, paving, dredging, mining, excavation or drilling operation other than routine excavation, well-drilling, backfilling, grading and paving incidental to the construction of a residence or other structure for which a building permit has been issued.
BASE FLOOD ELEVATION LEVEL : The level to which coastal waters may rise under the effect of wind, tide and hurricane surge. Base flood means the flood having a one percent chance of being equalled or exceeded in any given year. Base Flood Elevation Levels are measured in feet above Mean Sea Level.
FLOOD PLAIN DISTRICT : Those areas subject to coastal flooding at the Base Flood Elevation Levels established in Section 19.2 of this By-law. The Flood Plain Districts are shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map effective July 6, 2010 as amended and on file with the Town Clerk in Town Hall.
**Webmasters Note: The previous definition has been amended as per an update approved at a town meeting held 4/13/10.
FLOOD PLAIN PERMITS : All permits required by Section 19.3 of this Zoning By-law and shall be in addition to all other permits required by Town By-laws and State and Federal laws for the construction of a structure or the alteration of the land form.
MEAN SEA LEVEL : Whenever Mean Sea Level appears in this By-law, it shall be the Mean Sea Level Datum of 1929, known as the National Geodetic Vertical Datum.
VELOCITY ZONES (V ZONES) : Those direct coastal areas within a Flood Plain District which may be subject to extreme damage from the velocity of wave action or storm surge. The V Zones are shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Map effective July 6, 2010 as amended on file with the Town Clerk in the Town Hall.
**Webmasters Note: The previous definition has been amended as per an update approved at a town meeting held 4/13/10.
VESSEL SERVICE FACILITY : A shorefront commercial facility providing one or more of the following: vessel construction, repair or servicing; vessel storage, hauling and launching; the sale of vessels; the sale of supplies and services for vessels and their equipment and accessories; berthing or dockage facilities for not more than five (5) vessels not being serviced or repaired.
MARINA : A facility which provides dockage or berthing for more than five (5) vessels and may also provide the services of a vessel service area (see definition above).
SUBDIVISION shall mean the division of a tract of land into two or more lots and when appropriate to the context, shall relate to the process of subdivision of land or territory subdivided; provided, however, that the division of a tract of land into two or more lots shall not be deemed to constitute a subdivision within the meaning of the subdivision control law, if at the time when it is made, every lot within the tract so divided has frontage on (a) a public way, or (b) a way shown on a plan theretofore approved in accordance with the subdivision control law, or (c) a way in existence when the subdivision control law became effective in the city or town in which the land lies, having, in the opinion of the planning board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate construction to provide for the needs of vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed use of the land abutting thereon, or served thereby, and for the installation of municipal services to serve such land and the buildings erected or to be erected thereon. Such frontage shall be of at least such distance as is then required by zoning or other ordinance or by-law, if any of said town for erection of a building on such lot, and if no distance is so required, such frontage shall be of at least twenty feet. Conveyances or other instruments adding to, taking away form, or changing the size and shape of lots in such a manner as not to leave any lot so affected without, the frontage above set forth, or the division of a tract of land on which two or more buildings were standing when the subdivision control law went into effect in the city or town in which the land lies into separate lots on each of which one of such buildings remains standing, shall not constitute a subdivision." (Section 81-L of Chapter 41, G.L.)
PRELIMINARY PLAN shall mean a plan of a proposed subdivision or resubdivision of land drawn on tracing paper, or a print thereof, showing (a) the subdivision name, approximate boundaries, approximate acreage, legend and title, `Preliminary Plan'; (b) the name of the owner of record; (c) adequate description of the location of the property so that the general relationship to abutting properties is described, (the names of abutters should be noted when known); (d) the existing and proposed lines of streets, ways, easements, and any public areas within the subdivision in a general manner; (e) the proposed system of drainage, including adjacent existing natural waterways, in a general manner; (f) the approximate boundary lines of proposed lots, with approximate areas; (g) the names and approximate location of adjacent streets; (h) the topography of the land in a general manner; (i) preferred building locations."
APPLICANT shall mean either the owner of the land stated in the application for subdivision or all the owners where title is held jointly, in common or in tenancy by the entirety, including corporations, limited liability companies and parterships. An agent, representative or his assigns may act for the owner or owners, provided that written evidence of such fact is submitted. Evidence in the form of a list of their officers and designated authority to sign legal documents shall be required for a corporation. [Amended 2/16/99]