Under the authority vested in the Planning Board of the Town of Ipswich by Section 81-Q of Chapter 41 of the General Laws, said Board hereby adopts these rules and regulations governing the subdivision of land in the Town of Ipswich.
The Ipswich Planning Board is authorized under the General Laws of Massachusetts to regulate the laying out and construction of ways in subdivisions to insure the safety, convenience and welfare of the present and future inhabitants of Ipswich. The Board shall exercise its authority with due regard for provision of adequate access to all of the lots in the subdivision by ways that will be safe and convenient for travel; for lessening congestion in such ways and in the adjacent public ways; for reducing danger to life and limb in the operation of motor vehicles; for securing safety in the case of fire, flood, panic and other emergencies; for insuring compliance with applicable provisions of the Ipswich Zoning By-law and the Town of Ipswich General Wetlands by-law; for securing adequate provisions for water, sewerage, drainage, underground utility service, police and fire protection and other requirements where necessary in a subdivision; for coordinating the ways in a subdivision with each other and with the public ways in neighboring subdivisions.
In considering a proposed subdivision, the Planning Board shall solicit the opinions of other Town Boards, Committees, Commissions and officials as they pertain to the activity of the subdivision. The Board may also solicit the opinion of technical experts employed by the Board for the purposes of providing specialized technical review to the Board.
In constructing these Regulations, the definitions in Section 81-L of Chapter 41 of the General Laws shall apply. In addition, the following other terms and words are defined:
1.3.1 APPLICANT : a person applying for the approval of a plan under these regulations, including owner, agent representative or assigns of the owner. The applicant's agent and/or representative shall obtain and submit to the Board written authorization from the owner of record.
1.3.2 BASE FLOOD ELEVATION : the level of flooding having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year, as designated on the Federal Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) or, in the absence of such designation, as may be determined based upon the best available information regarding flood hazards, including any available U.S. Geologic Survey, Soil Conservation Service, and/or the Corps of Engineers studies.
1.3.3 BENCH MARK : a permanent physical mark of known elevation. All elevations shall be based on the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD).
1.3.4 BOARD : The Town of Ipswich Planning Board. A quorum for a meeting or hearing is three members.
1.3.5 COURT : A street which, by its location and design, serves as the sole means of access to no more than two residential lots, and which has no potential to serve additional lots. [Added 5-18-95]
1.3.5 CUL-DE-SAC : a local, dead-end street with a turnaround at the end.
1.3.7 DRAINAGE : the control of surface or subsurface water within the tract of land to be subdivided.
1.3.8 EASEMENT : a right in land acquired by public authority or other person to use or control property for a utility or other limited purpose.
1.3.9 ENGINEER OR SURVEYOR : a person registered by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to perform professional civil engineering or land surveying services in accordance with 250 CMR 3.00 - 6.00.8
1.3.10 LANE : A street which, by its location and design, serves as the sole means of access to no more than five residential lots, and which has not potential to service additional lots. [Added 5-18-95]
1.3.11 LOT : an area of land in one ownership with definite boundaries used, or available for use, as the site of one or more buildings. Areas endorsed by the Board upon a plan as "Not a Building Lot" or "not available for building purposes" shall not be considered lots.
1.3.12 MUNICIPAL SERVICE : public utilities furnished by the town in which a subdivision is located, such as water, sewerage, and electricity. For the purposes of these regulations, private utilities including, but not limited to gas, and community antenna television cabling, shall be considered municipal services.
1.3.13 OWNER : the owner of record as shown by the records of the Essex County South District Registry of Deeds or of the Land Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1.3.14 RECORDED : recorded in the Registry of Deeds for Essex County South District; if registered land is affected, filed with the recorder of the Land Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1.3.15 REGISTERED MAIL : registered or certified mail.
1.3.16 REGISTER OF DEEDS : the register of deeds of the county or district in which the land in question, or the city or town in question, is situated, and, when appropriate, shall include the recorder of the Land Court.
1.3.17 STREET :
Local: a street that provides direct access to abutting properties only and carries low volumes of traffic; this category includes cul-de-sacs and loop streets.
Collector: a street used primarily to connect local streets to arterial streets. It carries moderate volumes of traffic. Less than 25% of the average daily traffic of a collector street is normally attributed to through traffic.
Minor arterial: a street used to provide movement between major arterials, collectors and other minor arterials. It carries relatively high volumes of traffic. At least 25% of the average daily traffic volume is normally attributed to through traffic.
Major arterial: a street of regional significance, with high volumes of traffic used primarily to-carry traffic through the Town. It is not intended as a residential street.
1.3.18 SUBDIVISION : the division of a tract of land into two or more lots, including re-subdivision, provided that such division shall not be deemed to constitute a subdivision under the subdivision Control Law (M.G.L. c.41) if at the time it is made, every lot within the tract so divided has frontage on a) a public way certified by the Town Clerk as being maintained and used as a public way, b) a way shown on a plan theretofore approved and endorsed in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law, or c) a way in existence prior to the date on which the subdivision control law was adopted by the Town, and meeting the standards of the Board as set forth in Section 3.3.p
1.3.19 SUBDIVISION CONTROL : the power of regulating the subdivision of land granted by the Subdivision control Law.
1.3.20 WAY, PUBLIC : a way which in the reasonable judgment of the Board has sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate construction to provide for the needs of the vehicular traffic existing and/or resulting from the development of the abutting land and for the installation of municipal services to such land(s) and/or buildings located on or to be constructed on such land and which complies with one of the following criteria:
1. a way which the Town Clerk certifies is used as and maintained regularly and consistently as a public way by the Town to the same extent to which other public ways are maintained by the Town; or
2. a way shown on a plan previously approved and endorsed by the Board and recorded at the Registry of Deeds or in the Land Court; or
3. a way existing prior to the date on which subdivision control was adopted by the Town; or
4. a way shown on a plan of a subdivision recorded at the Registry of Deeds or at the Land Court prior to the date on which the subdivision control law was adopted by the Town.
1.3.21 UTILITIES : private or municipal services to be furnished within the subdivision including, without limitation, telephone, community access television, electric light and power, gas lines, sanitary sewers, storm drains, water mains and appurtenances.
1.3.22 ZONING BY-LAW : the Protective Zoning By-law of the Town of Ipswich, adopted under Article 36 of the Annual Town Meeting, May 2, 1977, and approved by the Attorney General August 18, 1977, and any and all duly adopted and approved amendments thereto.
