This bylaw is intended to constitute the minimum requirements which are to be complied with in the preservation and promotion of the peace, health, safety, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the Town of Avon. In any case in which the provisions of this bylaw are, or appear to be, in conflict with any other Town bylaw or rule or regulation adopted by any Town agency, that which establishes a higher standard or more restrictive provision shall apply. Any Town Meeting article proposing changes to Article V, Use Regulations, shall indicate the degree to which such changes are consistent with the present Master Plan adopted by the Planning Board, and explain any major divergences from such recommendations.

Except as herein provided, or as specifically exempted by the Zoning Act, the provisions of this bylaw shall apply to the erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration, or use of buildings and structures or use of land. Except as herein provided, any existing conforming use, structure, or lot shall not by any action become nonconforming and any existing nonconforming use, structure, or lot shall not become further nonconforming.

When a lot is situated in part in the Town of Avon and in part in an adjacent municipality, the provisions of this bylaw shall be applied to the portion of such lot which is situated in the Town of Avon in the same manner as if the entire lot were situated in the Town of Avon; provided, however, that no use of any such lot shall be authorized or approved without consultation with the Planning Board of such abutting municipality in which the non-Avon portion of the lot is situated and the use of the lot made harmonious with the zoning regulations of such abutting municipality, insofar as it is practical so to do. The use of the Old Colony Planning Council or the Department of Housing and Community Development of the commonwealth to assist in resolving such situations is hereby recognized as appropriate.

When a lot is transected by a zoning district boundary, the regulations of the bylaw applicable to the larger part of the area of such lot may also, at the option of the lot owner, be deemed to govern in the smaller part beyond such zoning district boundary but only to the extent not more than 30 linear feet in depth beyond such district boundary.

No dwelling shall be erected except on a lot fronting on a street, and there shall be not more than one principal residential building on any lot unless otherwise authorized by special permit; provided, however, that this § 255-4.5 does not apply to development under § 255-5.7, Business Overlay District (BOD), and § 255-5.6, Village Overlay District (VOD). This § 255-4.5 shall not apply to protected use accessory dwelling units as per MGL c. 150, § 8, and 760 CMR 71.00.

Land within the lines of a street on which a lot abuts shall not be counted as part of such lot for the purpose of meeting the area requirements of the bylaw even though the fee to such land may be in the owners of abutting lots.

Any increase in area, frontage, width, yard or depth requirements of this bylaw shall not apply to a lot for a single- or two-family residential use which at the time of recording or endorsement, whichever occurs sooner, was not held in common ownership with any adjoining land, conformed to the then-existing requirements and had less than the proposed requirement but at least 5,000 square feet of area and 50 feet of frontage. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a lot being built upon, if at the time of building, building upon such lot is not prohibited by the zoning bylaw then in effect.

Any land taken by eminent domain, or conveyed for a public purpose for which the land could have been taken by eminent domain, shall not be deemed to be transferred in violation of the land area, width, and space provisions of this bylaw.