Palmer City Zoning Code
ARTICLE III
Establishment of Districts
§ 171-6 Districts and designations.
A.
The Town of Palmer, Massachusetts, is hereby divided into zoning districts to be designated as follows:
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
Full Name | Short Name | Class |
|---|---|---|
Rural Residential/Agricultural | RR | Residential "R" District |
Suburban Residential | SR | Residential "R" District |
Town Residential | TR | Residential "R" District |
Village Center District I | VCI | Village "V" District |
Village Center District II | VCII | Village "V" District |
Village Center District III | VCIII | Village "V" District |
Village Center District IV | VCIV | Village "V" District |
General Business | GB | Business "B" District |
Highway Business | HB | Business "B" District |
Neighborhood Business | NB | Business "B" District |
General Industry A | IA | Industrial "I" District |
General Industry B | IB | Industrial "I" District |
Urban Renewal Industrial Park | URIP | Industrial "I" District |
Water Supply Protection | WSP | Overlay "O" District |
Floodplain | F | Overlay "O" District |
B.
Districts may be grouped by "Class" and may be referred to herein by the class name or by the abbreviations "R Districts," "V Districts," "B Districts," "I Districts" or "O Districts."
§ 171-7 Special Floodplain District.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The Floodplain District is herein established as an overlay district. The district includes all special flood hazard areas within the Town of Palmer designated as Zone A or AE on the Hampden County Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the administration of the National Flood Insurance Program. The map panels of the Hampden County FIRM that are wholly or partially within the Town of Palmer are Panel Numbers 25013C0234E, 25013C0242E, 25013C0245E, 25013C0252E, 25013C0253E, 25013C0254E, 25013C0256E, 25013C0257E, 25013C0258E, 25013C0259E, 25013C0261E, 25013C0262E, 25013C0263E, 25013C0264E, 25013C0266E, 25013C0267E, 25013C0268E, 25013C0269E, 25013C0276E, and 25013C0278E, dated July 16, 2013. The exact boundaries of the district may be defined by the 100-year base flood elevations shown on the FIRM and further defined by the Hampden County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report dated July 16, 2013. The FIRM and FIS report are incorporated herein by reference and are on file with the Planning Board.
§ 171-8 Overlay zoning districts.
A Water Supply Protection District and Floodplain District are established as an overlay and are considered to be superimposed over the other districts shown on the Zoning Map, as recognition of the special conditions which exist in such areas. See Article XII, Floodplain District, and Article XIV, Water Supply Protection District, for applicable regulations.
§ 171-9 Zoning Map.
The location and boundaries of the zoning districts are hereby established as shown on a map titled "Zoning Map of the Town of Palmer, Massachusetts," and which is hereby declared to be a part of this chapter. The official copy of the Zoning Map shall be the map which is located in the office of the Building Inspector, which copy shall be identified as authentic, attested by the Town Clerk and the imprinted Seal of the Town under the following words: "This is to certify that this is the official copy of the Zoning Map of the Town of Palmer, Massachusetts - Article III § 171-9, which was adopted by the Town Council." In addition, this copy of the map shall carry a statement, attested by the Town Clerk, indicating the fact that all adopted amendments are incorporated therein, as well as a history of all such amendments.
§ 171-10 Changes to Zoning Map.
Any change in the location of boundaries of a zoning district hereafter made through the amendments of this chapter shall be indicated by the alteration of such map, such changes to be dated and authenticated as prescribed in § 171-9. The map thus altered is declared to be part of such map, and the map thus altered is declared to be part of the chapter thus amended. The Planning Board shall be responsible for making the approved changes to the Zoning Map.
§ 171-11 Boundaries of districts.
Where any uncertainty exists with respect to the boundary of any district as shown on the Zoning Map, the following rules apply:
A.
Where a boundary is indicated as a street, alley, railroad, watercourse or other body of water, it shall be construed to be the center line or middle thereof, or where such boundary approximates a Town boundary, then to the limits of the Town boundary.
B.
Where a boundary is indicated as following approximately or parallel to a street, railroad, watercourse, or other body of water, it shall be construed to be parallel thereto and at such distance therefrom as shown on the Zoning Map. If no dimension is given, such distance shall be determined by the use of the scale shown on the Zoning Map.
C.
Where a dimensioned boundary coincides within 10 feet or less with a lot line, the boundary shall be construed to be the lot line.
D.
Where a zoning boundary is indicated as intersecting the center line of a street, railroad, watercourse or other water body, and unless it is otherwise indicated, it shall be construed to intersect at right angles to said center line or, in the case of a curved center line, at right angles to the tangent to the curve at the point of intersection.
E.
The Floodplain and Water Supply Protection Districts are superimposed over any other districts established by this chapter. The rules for these superimposed (overlay) districts shall be in addition to, rather than in place of, the rules for such underlying other districts. The boundaries of these districts are shown on the Aquifer Protection District Map, Palmer, Massachusetts and the Town of Palmer Flood Insurance Rate Map.
F.
Where a question arises and no dimensions or official lot lines of record are shown, then the district boundaries shall be determined by the Zoning Enforcement Officer.