search icon

Hopkinton City Zoning Code

ARTICLE XX

Site Plan Review

[Amended 5-7-2012 ATM by Art. 45]

§ 210-133 Purpose.

The purpose of this Article is to protect the health, safety, convenience and general welfare of the public by providing a comprehensive review of plans for uses and structures that may have impacts on traffic, services and utilities, environmental quality, water resources, drainage and community character. The Town encourages site plans to be designed to utilize energy efficient technology and renewable energy resources, and adhere to the principles of energy-conscious design with regard to orientation, building materials, shading, landscaping and other elements. With respect to building design, consideration should be given to the architectural style and its relation to the prevailing character and scale of buildings in the neighborhood. Factors to be considered include appropriate building materials, screening, breaks in roof and wall lines, massing and other architectural techniques. The construction, alteration, enlargement or reconstruction of buildings that are to be used exclusively for residential purposes shall be exempt from the provisions of this Article. Any use or structure, or expansion thereof, referred to in section 3 of Chapter 40A of the Massachusetts General Laws shall not be exempt from the provisions of this article, provided any of the criteria contained in § 210-134 also applies.

§ 210-134 Definitions.

[Amended 5-1-2017 ATM by Art. 37; 5-1-2023 ATM by Art. 27]
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
MAJOR PROJECT
Any construction project that requires new construction or will result in a change in the outside appearance or a change of use of a building or buildings or premises, and that includes one or more of the following
A. 
Construction of 5,000 or more square feet of gross floor area; or
B. 
An increase in gross floor area by 50% or more, which results in a gross floor area of at least 5,000 square feet; or
C. 
Construction of a parking area containing 25 or more parking spaces, or the addition of 25 or more parking spaces to an existing parking lot.
MINOR PROJECT
Any construction project or change of use, not included within the definition of a "major project," that includes one or more of the following:
A. 
An increase in gross floor area of not more than 5,000 square feet or the addition of rooftop HVAC or mechanical equipment, substantially visible from a public or private street or public place, requiring a building permit; or
B. 
Construction, enlargement or alteration of a parking area containing five or more parking spaces.
For the purposes of Site Plan Review, the term “gross floor area” shall mean the sum of the gross horizontal areas of the several floors of a building including all garages, basements and cellars. All dimensions shall be taken from the exterior faces of walls, including the exterior faces of enclosed porches. For the purposes of this Article, solar panels, modules, and associated equipment that is located on the rooftop of a building shall not be considered “mechanical equipment” and shall be exempt from the provisions of this article.

§ 210-135 Procedure.

A. 
An Applicant for site plan review shall file with the Planning Board an application and submission materials as required by the Site Plan Review Submission Requirements and Procedures adopted by the Planning Board and filed with the Town Clerk.
B. 
The Planning Board shall, within five days of receipt of a site plan review application, transmit copies of the application and the site plan to the Director of Municipal Inspections, Conservation Commission, Board of Health, Design Review Board, and Director of Public Works for comments and recommendations.
C. 
The Planning Board shall hold a public hearing within 65 days of the filing of any application for a major project and shall file a decision within 90 days of the close of the hearing. The Planning Board shall hold a public hearing and shall file a decision on an application for a minor project within 60 days of the receipt of the application. Notice of the time, place, and subject matter of the public hearing shall be given by the Planning Board, at the expense of the Applicant, to the Applicant and to all owners of land abutting the land being the subject of such application as appearing on the most recent tax list on file at the Assessors Office. In addition, in the case of major project site plan review, the Planning Board shall also give notice of the time, place, and subject matter of the public hearing, at the expense of the Applicant, by advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town, once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication being not less than 14 days before the day of such hearing. The time within which the Planning Board must act on an application may be extended upon mutual agreement in writing between the Planning Board and the Applicant. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the Planning Board must act on a major project site plan review application for a renewable/alternative energy research and development or renewable/alternative energy manufacturing facility within six (6) months of the date of submission of a complete application. Failure to act within the time limitations established in this article shall be deemed constructive approval of the application.
D. 
Final action shall be a "Decision of Site Plan Review" that is filed with the Office of the Town Clerk and the Director of Municipal Inspections.
E. 
A majority vote of the membership of the Board shall be sufficient to approve or disapprove a Decision of Site Plan Review.
F. 
Appeals. Any person aggrieved by a Decision of Site Plan Review by the Planning Board may appeal such Decision to the Board of Appeals within 20 days of the date filed with the Office of the Town Clerk. All Decisions of Site Plan Review issued by the Planning Board shall include a brief notice of such rights of appeal. Any such appeal shall contain a reasonably concise statement of the grounds therefor.
If the Planning Board has issued a denial decision, the Board of Appeals shall examine the proposal and prepare its own findings to determine if the Applicant has failed to furnish the information, materials or fees required by this Article or by the Submission Requirements and Procedures adopted by the Planning Board, or if the application and site plan present a problem so intractable as to admit of no reasonable solution.
If the Planning Board has issued an approval decision, the Board of Appeals shall examine the proposal and prepare its own findings to determine whether the conditions imposed by the Planning Board are reasonable, and shall limit its evaluation to those conditions at issue in the appeal. The Board of Appeals shall determine the reasonableness of each such condition in a two-step process:
(1) 
The Board shall determine whether the condition relates to one of the Site Plan Standards listed in Section 210-136.1; and
(2) 
The Board shall examine the condition for reasonableness, which requires that the Board make detailed factual findings to justify its determination of the condition’s reasonableness or unreasonableness.
As the party requesting relief, the Appellant bears the burden of proof before the Board of Appeals. Any party before the Board of Appeals upon appeal shall have the right to introduce testimony or evidence relating to the grounds for appeal.

§ 210-136.1 Site plan standards.

[Amended 5-6-2015 ATM by Art. 36; 5-2-2016 ATM by Art. 35]
The site plan shall be designed to conform to the following Site Plan Standards:
A. 
Site disturbance in wetland buffer zones and to slopes in excess of 25% shall be minimized.
B. 
Unique natural and historic features shall be preserved whenever feasible, and the use of § 210-117.2, Lots with Historic Structures, shall be considered as a mechanism to do so, where appropriate.
C. 
Tree, vegetation and soil removal shall be minimized.
D. 
The site activities shown on the Site Plan shall be screened from view from abutting properties in residential use. Methods of screening may include solid fencing, landscaping or other proposals of the Applicant, subject to review by the Planning Board. Such screening may be located on or off-site. If located off-site, written permission of the off-site property owner shall be provided to the Board.
E. 
All utilities shall be underground.
F. 
Exposed storage areas, machinery, service areas, truck loading areas, utility buildings and structures and other similar uses shall be visually screened from abutting properties and those using public ways. Screening methods may consist of solid fencing, landscaping or similar proposals submitted by the Applicant, subject to review by the Planning Board.
G. 
The site plan shall show measures to reduce and abate noise and odors generated from the site that will impact surrounding properties.
H. 
The site plan shall comply with all zoning requirements.
I. 
The site plan shall maximize the convenience and safety of vehicular and pedestrian movement within the site and to and from adjacent public ways. If supporting documentation, such as a traffic or parking study, submitted to the Planning Board indicates that the vehicular and pedestrian traffic movement depicted on the site plan and proposed in the application will have a significant negative impact or impacts on the site or within the adjacent ways, such impacts shall be mitigated by the Applicant.
J. 
Parking areas shall be designed so that they are safe and convenient and do not detract from the use and enjoyment of proposed structures. Parking areas shall be designed to facilitate safe pedestrian access to the structures and other on-site facilities.
K. 
The site plan shall minimize the number of curb cuts on public ways.
L. 
Driveways shall be designed to ensure safe sight distances at interior and exterior intersections and along driveways, in accordance with applicable AASHTO requirements.
M. 
Sidewalks shall be provided along the entire frontage of the subject property along existing public ways. The Planning Board may approve alternative provisions or waive the requirements of this Standard in situations where sidewalk construction or use is not feasible or practical.
N. 
Levels of illumination shall be provided as follows:
(1) 
No property may have exterior lighting that exceeds the average illumination level recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America for such use as set forth in “Lighting Facilities for Parking Facilities,” Illuminating Engineering Society, 2014 and “The Lighting Handbook,” 10th Ed., Illuminating Engineering Society, 2011.
(2) 
For pole mounted lights in parking and driveway areas, the height of the light source shall not exceed 15 feet, which shall be measured from the ground at the base of the pole to the bottom of the fixture.
(3) 
Pedestrian area lighting shall utilize fully shielded fixtures, and the height of light source shall not exceed 12 feet, measured from the ground at the base of the pole to the bottom of the fixture.
(4) 
No exterior lighting may interfere with the safe movement of motor vehicles on public ways or private ways open to the public.
(5) 
Mercury vapor lamps shall be prohibited.
(6) 
Uplighting shall be permitted only when used in one of the following manners:
(a) 
To light a primary entrance, when the fixture or lamp is wall-mounted under an architectural element (e.g., roofs over walkways, entries or overhanging, nontranslucent eaves) so that the uplighting is fully captured;
(b) 
To light local, state or national flags; or
(c) 
To highlight or illuminate a building facade or landscaping, or to highlight or illuminate statues or monuments.
(7) 
Floodlighting shall be permitted only if a fully shielded fixture is utilized and no lighting will fall onto the property of others.
(8) 
Safety and security lighting shall use motion sensors, photocells, or photocells or timers to control duration of nighttime illumination.
(9) 
Exterior lighting of recreation facilities shall utilize fully shielded fixtures and, except as authorized by Special Permit or Site Plan Approval, shall be turned off by 10:00 p.m. or at the conclusion of an activity begun before 10:00 p.m.; provided, however, that in any event the exterior lighting shall be turned off by midnight.
(10) 
Blinking, flashing, moving, revolving and flickering lights, as well as lighting that changes intensity or color shall be prohibited except for lighting for public safety or traffic control and lighting required by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for air traffic control and warning purposes.
(11) 
Notwithstanding any provisions of this subsection to the contrary, sidewalks that run along the perimeter of a site and are in a public right of way or on abutting property may be illuminated, and illumination may spill onto abutting non-residential property if requested in writing by the abutting property owner.
Exterior lighting that does not conform to the provisions of this subsection may be allowed by special permit from the Planning Board if the Planning Board finds that such exterior lighting will be consistent with the Purposes of this Article, or that there are other demonstrable community, health, safety or welfare benefits that will be served by the exterior lighting. No special permit may be granted pursuant to this subsection unless the Planning Board determines that the proposed exterior lighting is appropriate for the size and use of the property, any buildings thereon, and the neighborhood setting.
O. 
Adequate access shall be provided to each structure for emergency vehicles and personnel.
P. 
The site plan shall conform to applicable Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Stormwater Management Regulations. The site plan shall show adequate measures to prevent pollution of surface water and groundwater, to minimize erosion and sedimentation and to prevent changes in the potential for flooding. Stormwater management facilities shall be designed so that neighboring properties, public ways and public storm drainage systems will not be adversely impacted.
Q. 
Mechanical equipment or other utility hardware on the roof, grounds or buildings shall be screened from view from the ground.
R. 
All dumpsters shall be screened from public view.

§ 210-136.2 Decision criteria.

The Planning Board shall issue a “Decision of Site Plan Review” in one of the following forms:
A. 
A written approval of the application subject to any reasonable conditions, modifications and restrictions relating to the Site Plan Standards contained in Section 210-136.1; or
B. 
Disapproval of the application if the Applicant fails to furnish the information, materials or fees required in this Article or by the Submission Requirements and Procedures adopted by the Planning Board, or if the application and site plan present a problem so intractable so as to admit of no reasonable solution.
Notwithstanding the above, regulation of uses and structures referred to in section 3 of Chapter 40A of the Massachusetts General Laws shall be limited to the extent required by said section.

§ 210-137 Conditions of approval; building permits.

Site plan approval may be made subject to reasonable conditions, modifications and restrictions relating to the Site Plan Standards contained in Section 210-136.1 as the Planning Board may deem necessary, and any construction, reconstruction, alteration or addition shall be carried out only in conformity with such conditions, modifications or restrictions and in conformity with the application and site plan. An order of conditions issued pursuant to section 40 of Chapter 131 of the Massachusetts General Laws or Chapter 206 of the Town of Hopkinton Bylaws, which imposes conditions inconsistent with a site plan approval, shall require a revision of the site plan to be submitted to the Planning Board for review and approval.
In the discretion of the Planning Board, recording of a certification of the Town Clerk and the Decision of Site Plan Review at the Registry of Deeds may be made a condition of an approval. For any construction project or change in use that requires site plan review, no building permit may be issued unless and until the Applicant has complied with the provisions of this Article. The conditions, modifications, and restrictions contained within the Decision of Site Plan Review shall be referenced in, incorporated into, and made an express condition of, such building permit.

§ 210-138 Performance guarantee.

As a condition of site plan approval, the Planning Board may require that a performance bond, secured by a deposit of money or negotiable securities in a form selected by the Planning Board, be posted with the Town to guarantee completion of improvements to be made in compliance with the plans submitted and approved hereunder. The Board may also require that an amount be included for land restoration not having to do with the construction of improvements. The amount of security shall be determined by an estimate from the Applicant's engineer, which may be confirmed or increased by the Board. The Town may use the secured funds for their stated purpose in the event that the Applicant does not complete all improvements in a manner satisfactory to the Board within two years from the date of approval, or the final date of the last extension of such approval, if any.

§ 210-139 Duration of approval.

Site plan approval for a minor or major project shall become void two years from the date of issue, which two years shall not include time required to pursue or await determination of an appeal, unless any construction work contemplated hereby shall have commenced and proceeded in good faith continuously to completion, except for good cause. In such case, a request for extension of the date of completion must be submitted to the Planning Board for approval.

§ 210-140 Fees.

Site plan review fees shall be governed and set by the Planning Board and shall be assessed to the owner and/or the Applicant. Such fee may include a deposit for review by a consultant selected by the Town.