Medfield City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 7
Open Space Residential Zoning
§ 300-7.1 Purpose; application process.
For the purpose of encouraging the preservation of open space and promoting the more efficient use of land in harmony with its natural features and within the general intent of the Zoning Bylaw, an owner or owners, or their agent, of a tract of land may, in connection with the submission of a subdivision plan for Planning Board approval under the Subdivision Control Law also make application to the Board of Appeals for a special permit excepting his or her plan from the lot size and yard dimension regulations as required in the Zoning Bylaw. In no event, however, shall such permit operate as an exception from any other provision of this Bylaw. The owner or such agent shall at the same time file a copy of the application with all accompanying plans and environmental impact statement with the Board of Health, the Water and Sewerage Board, Superintendent of Public Works, the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board, which boards shall, within 30 days from the date of receipt of such documents by them, file their written recommendations concerning said applications with the Board of Appeals. If no such recommendations are filed within 30 days, said Board of Appeals shall have been deemed to have no recommendations on the application.
§ 300-7.2 Conditions for granting special permit.
After notice and public hearing, and after due consideration of recommendations required to be filed, the Board of Appeals may grant such a permit for residential use, provided that:
A.
It finds that the proposed plan will promote the purposes of this Article; and
B.
Not less than 25% of the area of the tract, exclusive of land set aside for road area and parking area, shall be open land; and
C.
The maximum number of lots permitted on a given piece of land shall be determined by reducing the total acreage of the proposed subdivision by the area of ponds as shown on the Zoning Map, but not deducting for street right-of-way, and by dividing the remaining area by the minimum lot area requirements of the zoning district in which the subdivision is to be located; and
D.
The size of the tract of land shall be not less than 10 times the minimum lot size permitted in the zoning district in which the tract is located and land area of not more than 25% of open land in the tract may be wetlands, Floodplain District, Watershed Protection District, or have a greater than 20% slope; and
E.
The entire development shall be serviced with a public water supply and a public sewer or an on-site sewage disposal system capable of processing in excess of 2,000 gallons of sewage effluent per day and to which all units in the development shall be connected and which shall be approved by the Board of Health and the Water and Sewerage Board; and
F.
To insure the protection of existing residences, proposed lots abutting lots with existing single-family dwellings shall conform to the area requirements of the adjacent zone. The Board of Appeals may substitute a requirement for a buffer zone which shall be at least 50 feet in width for the protection of the abutting lots; and
G.
All lots adjoining existing ways shall meet all existing regulations for zoning districts in which the lots are located. Land adjoining existing ways may be used for open land, provided that its minimum dimension is 50 feet; and
H.
Minimum lot size shall be 12,000 square feet in area, 80-foot frontage and a perfect square 80 feet by 80 feet, 100-foot width, 100-foot depth, 20-foot front yard, 12-foot side yards and 30-foot rear yard.
I.
Only land located within the Town of Medfield shall be included in determining whether a proposed development meets the open land and minimum lot dimensional requirements of Article 7; land or that portion of land located outside of the Town's borders shall not be included.
§ 300-7.3 Ownership of and restrictions on open land.
[Amended 5-6-2024 ATM by Art. 33]
Open land shall be:
A.
Owned by a membership corporation, trust or association whose members are all the owners or occupants of the dwelling units in the tract, by the Town or otherwise as the Board of Appeals may approve; and
B.
Restricted by a conservation restriction as defined in MGL c. 184, §§ 31, 32, and 33, running to the Town appropriate to retaining the open land predominantly in its natural scenic and open condition in such form as shall be approved by the Conservation Commission, the Planning Board and the Select Board. The applicant shall provide satisfactory assurance that such conservation restriction, following approvals, has been properly recorded in the appropriate Registry of Deeds or Registry District of the Land Court and the interest in land thereby created is not subject to any mortgage, security interest, lien or other monetary encumbrance of any kind other than the aforesaid conservation restriction; and
C.
Further restricted by covenants in deeds to all grantees in the tract for recreational, agricultural, conservation, or park uses on which no building may be erected more than 15 feet in height and only incidental to the foregoing uses; and
D.
Open to such uses by at least the owners and occupants of the dwelling units in the tract; and
E.
Open to Town officials for purposes of maintaining public facilities; and
F.
Subject to such further restrictions and conditions as the Board of Appeals may impose.
§ 300-7.4 Compliance with subdivision regulations.
A special permit for an open space development issued hereunder by the Board of Appeals is primarily an authorization for the use of lots which have less than the normal lot size and yard dimension. Subsequent approval by the Planning Board of such portions of the development as constitute a subdivision will be required as set forth in the Subdivision Control Law,[1] including approval of the street and utility systems. A favorable recommendation by the Board of Appeals that the special permit be issued shall not, therefore, be deemed to either constitute subdivision approval under the Subdivision Control Law or the Subdivision Rules and Regulations or imply that such approval will be given.
§ 300-7.5 Conditions on approval.
Consistent with the general purposes of this Bylaw and the specific purposes of this Article, the Board of Appeals may recommend and may impose, as conditions to the approval of a permit hereunder, such provisions as to parking, loading, road construction and sidewalks, community service and recreational facilities, screening, and care and maintenance of open land as may be deemed advisable for the protection and well being of the occupants of dwelling units in the tract and of the inhabitants of the Town.
§ 300-7.6 Further subdivision prohibited.
No lot shown on a plan for which a permit is granted under this Article may be further subdivided, and a notation to this effect shall be shown upon the subdivision plan recorded with the Registry of Deeds or Registry District of the Land Court.