§ 381-9. General.

A. 

Design guides. All subdivisions shall be designed and improvements made by the developer consistent with the requirements of this article. Design and construction shall:

(1) 

Reduce, to the extent reasonably possible, the following:

(a) 

Volume of cut and fill for the entire project, including road and drainage system and lot development.

(b) 

Area over which existing vegetation will be disturbed, especially on land within 200 feet of a river, pond or stream or having a slope of more than 15%.

(c) 

Number of mature trees removed.

(d) 

Extent of waterways altered or relocated.

(e) 

Visual prominence of man-made elements which are not necessary for safety or orientation.

(f) 

Visibility of building sites from existing streets.

(g) 

Blockage of vistas through new development.

(h) 

Removal of existing stone walls.

(i) 

Number of driveways exiting onto existing streets or collector streets.

(j) 

Alteration in groundwater or surface water levels or chemical constituents.

(k) 

Disturbance of important wildlife habitats, endangered species protected under the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, outstanding botanical features or scenic or historic environs.

[Amended 4-3-2003]

(l) 

Soil loss or instability during and after construction.

(2) 

Increase, to the extent reasonably possible, the following:

(a) 

Configurations using collector streets to avoid traffic on streets providing house frontages.

(b) 

Visual prominence of natural features of the landscape.

(c) 

Street layout facilitating solar orientation of houses.

(d) 

Uses of curvilinear street patterns.

B. 

Conformance with Chapter 218, Zoning.

(1) 

The proposed streets shall conform so far as practical in width and alignment to those shown on the General Plan or Master or Study Plan of the Town as adopted in whole or in part by the Board except as the same purposes may be shown, to the satisfaction of the Board, to be better served by a modification thereof in the general area of the proposed subdivision.

(2) 

All lots shown on the plan shall conform to the area, dimensions, frontage, buildable area and all other requirements in Chapter 218, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Groton. A registered professional engineer or land surveyor shall certify on the plan that all lots conform to the requirements of Chapter 218, Zoning.

(3) 

No building lot shall be laid out which is substantially irregular in shape. For purposes of this provision, "substantially irregular" is defined as having a coefficient of regularity lower than 0.4 as determined by the formula:

[Amended 11-3-1994]

	Where
		r	= The coefficient of regularity.
		A	= The area of the lot in square feet.
		p	= The perimeter of the lot in linear feet.

(4) 

Waivers of this regulation may be granted if the Planning Board determines that a better use of the land will be accomplished through the use of less regularly shaped lots.

[Amended 11-3-1994]

(5) 

The coefficient shall be labeled on each lot, including lots developed under conventional rules and lots utilizing open space residential development and the basic number of lots plan (§ 218-26 of Chapter 218, Zoning).

C. 

Access to residential subdivision.

(1) 

The Planning Board will not approve a subdivision of land where access to any portion of the subdivision tract in Groton is through another town.

[Amended 4-3-2003]

(2) 

No subdivision plan shall be approved unless its street system will connect with a way qualifying to provide frontage under § 218-22A, Frontage, of Chapter 218, Zoning, of the Code of the Town of Groton, and no subdivision plan shall be approved unless the Planning Board, following its public hearing and consultation with the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Highway Surveyor and Select Board, determines that access will be adequate in light of the expected traffic without reduction in the level of service or creation of hazard in the adjoining public ways.

[Amended 10-1-2018 ATM by Art. 14]

(3) 

No subdivision plan shall be approved unless its street system assures physical access to each lot without reliance on common driveways. The driveway for each house shall have the ability to access through the frontage of the lot, and the location of the proposed driveway shall be shown on the definitive plan.

[Amended 11-3-1994]

(4) 

The actual location of the proposed driveway shall be shown on the plan and properly graded to ensure that the street stormwater runoff is maintained in the street gutter.

[Added 11-3-1994]

D. 

Open spaces.

(1) 

Before approval of a plan, the Board may require the plan to show a park or parks suitably located for playground or recreation purposes or for providing light and air. The park or parks shall be of reasonable size, but generally not less than 5% of the area of the land to be subdivided, depending upon the location and quality of the land being set aside. The minimum area acceptable for later public acquisition shall be three acres. The Board may, by appropriate endorsement on the plan, require that no building be erected upon such park or parks without its approval for a period of three years.

(2) 

Land designated for park or playground purposes shall not include wetlands, ledge or other land unsuitable for recreation purposes.

(3) 

Any open space, park or playground shall provide at least 50 feet of continuous frontage on a street. Pedestrianways will normally be required to provide access from each of the surrounding streets, if any, to which the open space, park or playground has no frontage. Such parks and/or playgrounds may be required to have maintenance provided for by covenants and agreements acceptable to the Board, until public acquisition is accomplished by the Town, but in no case longer than three years.

E. 

Wetlands protection. The Wetlands Protection Act, MGL C. 131, § 40, states that "No person shall remove, fill, dredge or alter any bank, freshwater wetland, beach, dune, flat, creek, marsh, meadow or swamp bordering on an estuary, creek, river, stream, pond or lake. . . ., without filing written notice of his intention to so remove, fill, dredge or alter, including such plans as may be necessary to describe such proposed activity and its effect on the environment and without receiving and complying with an order of conditions and provided all appeal periods have elapsed . . . No such notice shall be sent before all permits, variances and approvals required by local bylaw with respect to the proposed activity, which are obtainable at the time of such notice, have been obtained." The Board may condition its approval of a definitive plan upon the issuance of an order of conditions by the Conservation Commission.

F. 

Construction guides. See Part 2, Construction Appendix, of this chapter.

Amended 7-5-2000