Dedham City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IV
Dimensional Requirements
§ 280-4.1 Dimensional requirements - Table 2. [1]
No building, structure, or part thereof shall be constructed, altered, moved, added, or reconstructed, except in accordance with the Table of Dimensional Requirements (see Table 2) or as exempt therefrom by other provisions of this Bylaw, and no buildable or built-upon lot shall be subdivided, altered, or reduced, except by taking by eminent domain or conveyance for a public purpose for which a taking by eminent domain could have been made, so as to result in a violation of the requirements of said Table.
[1]
Editor's Note: Table 2 is included as an attachment to this chapter.
§ 280-4.2 Height of buildings and structures.
A.
Buildings permitted in residential districts. Dwellings shall not exceed the height of 38 feet to the high point of a hip, gable, or gambrel roof, or 30 feet to the high point on a flat or mansard roof, measured from the average finished grade of the lot between the frontage street and the rear building line. Other buildings permitted as of right or by special permit in residence districts shall not exceed the height of 38 feet, measured in the same manner.
B.
Buildings permitted in Nonresidential Districts. Buildings in Nonresidential districts CB, GB, HB, LB, LMA, LMB, RDO, and AP, other than single and two-family dwellings, shall not exceed the height of 45 feet, measured from the average finished grade of the lot within 20 feet of the outside walls of the building to the high point of the roof, provided that for buildings with sloping roofs the height shall be measured to the eave line if no portion of the building above the eave line is used for human occupancy. In the CB and LB Districts, there shall be an upper-story, step-back of 10 ft. on any street frontage elevation of a building exceeding two stories or 35 feet. No building shall have more than four stories, including any part of the building below the average finished grade if used for human occupancy.
[Amended 11-30-2020 STM by Art. 23]
C.
Projections and structures. The foregoing height limits shall not apply to structures or parts of buildings customarily carried above the roof line and not used for human occupancy, such as chimneys, ventilators, skylights, solar panels, steeples, domes, towers, tanks, scenery lofts, church spires, and the like, provided they are located at least 50 feet from the centerline of any street, cover less than 25% of the footprint of the building, and do not exceed 85 feet in height, and provided further that antennas, whether on a building or freestanding, shall not exceed the height of 50 feet, measured from the average finished grade within 20 feet thereof.
D.
Special permit. Where the topography of the land, location of the building, its architecture, or the purpose of a structure or projection make adherence to the above height limits impractical the Board of Appeals may by special permit allow such projections or structures to exceed the height of 85 feet, with the exception of antennas which shall not exceed the height of 50 feet, or allow the building height to be measured in a different manner, without changing the substance and intent of building height limits, and subject to appropriate conditions, safeguards, and limitations on location, size, use, construction, and appearance.
§ 280-4.3 Special setback and yard exceptions.
A.
General. Notwithstanding the Table of Dimensional Requirements, no building in any district need be further from the exterior line of any street than the average distance from such line of the dwellings or other principal buildings located on the lots adjacent thereto on either side. In determining such average, a vacant side lot having a frontage of 50 feet or more shall be considered as though occupied by a building having the required set back, and a lot separated from the lot in question only by a vacant lot having a frontage of less than 50 feet shall be deemed an adjacent lot.
B.
Special permit. The side and rear yard requirements hereof may be varied by the Board of Appeals by Special Permit in the specific case of an irregular, narrow, or shallow lot or a lot unusual either in shape or topography, provided that in the opinion of the Board it is impossible or extremely difficult to adhere to such requirements. Nothing herein shall prevent the projection of cornices or eaves not exceeding 18 inches in width or of uncovered steps, unroofed porches or window sills into any required yard or other open space.
C.
Special setback requirements in nonresidential districts. In an Administrative and Professional, Local Business, General Business, and any Limited Manufacturing Districts, no open display or other open use including off-street parking, where permitted, and no sign or other structure, shall be located nearer to the exterior line of any street than either 20 feet or the permitted setback distance for a building on the lot, whichever distance is the lesser, except the following:
§ 280-4.4 Group housing projects.
A.
General. Where a row house and an apartment house are permitted, a group of two or more such houses may be located on a tract of land of at least three acres not subdivided into individual lots provided that such use is authorized by the Board of Appeals in each specific case, and provided further that:
(1)
The area of the tract of land shall not be less than the total of the lot areas herein required if each such house were located on an individual lot; and
(2)
The open spaces surrounding each house shall conform to a standard at least as high as required by the provisions of this Bylaw applying to such a house if located on an individual lot.
§ 280-4.5 Special lot size exceptions for dwellings.
A.
General. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions, a single family detached house or a single family dwelling unit of a semi-detached or row house may be constructed, where permitted by the use regulations of the district, on a lot having less than the required area and frontage, provided that all other provisions of this Bylaw are complied with, and provided further that, prior to the effective date of the area and frontage requirements in question, said lot was:
(1)
Laid out by Plan or Deed duly recorded with the Norfolk Registry of Deeds or in the Norfolk Registry of the Land Court which were in conformity with lot size requirements, if any, that were applicable to the construction of a dwelling on said lot at the time of said recording and provided further that:
(a)
Said lot has an area of at least 5,000 square feet and a frontage of 50 feet.
(b)
That at the time this amendment to the Zoning Bylaw became effective, said lot was not in common ownership with abutting vacant lot or lots which can or could have been combined with said undersized lot to comply with or more nearly comply with the Zoning requirements in effect at the time this amendment was adopted.
(2)
Or laid out on a subdivision plan under the subdivision control law that has been duly recorded. The date of approval of said plan being less than eight years prior to the application for a permit to use said lot for a dwelling.
(3)
For the purposes of this Section and notwithstanding any definition to the contrary and provided that all other conditions of this subsection have been met, individual abutting lots shown on a recorded plan will retain their separate identity and will not be considered merged even if as a result of registration such lots are described collectively in a deed or Certificate of Title as a parcel of land with a metes and bound description of a single area.
(4)
A lot which otherwise satisfies the requirements and conditions of this Section shall retain its status as separate building lot notwithstanding said lot is occupied by a garage, shed, or similar accessory structure.
[Added 5-17-2021 STM by Art. 14]
§ 280-4.6 Reduction of occupied lots.
No lot on which a building is located in any district shall be reduced or changed in size or shape so that the building or lot fails to comply with the lot area, frontage, coverage, set back, yard, or height provisions of this Bylaw applicable to the construction of said building on said lot. A lot already nonconforming to the above dimensional provisions shall not be further reduced or its boundaries revised so as to increase the extent of non-conformance or non-compliance with the requirements of this Bylaw. If land is subdivided, conveyed, devised, or otherwise transferred so as to reduce any lot conveyed or retained in violation of this section, no lot resulting from such division, conveyance, or transfer, regardless of its dimensions, shall be deemed to be a building lot or entitled to a building or occupancy permit. This prohibition shall not apply, however, when a portion of a lot is taken or conveyed for a public purpose.
§ 280-4.7 Separate lots for dwellings.
Except for authorized group housing projects and for combined dwelling and business uses on lots in General and Local Business districts, there shall be provided for each residential structure containing one or more dwelling units, as allowed by the applicable district regulations, a separate lot of land meeting the requirements of this Bylaw for the district in which the structure will be situated, or falling within the exemption for previously recorded lots. Nothing herein shall prohibit or restrict the continued use of lawfully established existing living quarters in buildings accessory to the principal residential or other permitted use. The provisions of this paragraph shall not prohibit or restrict the issuance of Special Permits for dwellings accessory to the principal non-residential use in Limited Manufacturing districts.
§ 280-4.8 Irregularly shaped lots.
When the distance between any two points on lot lines is less than 50 feet, measured in a straight line, the smaller portion of the lot which is bounded by such straight line and such lot lines shall be excluded from the computation of the minimum lot area unless the distance along such lot lines between such two points is less than 150 feet.