For the purpose of this Bylaw certain terms and words are herein defined as follows:

Words used in the present tense include the future; words in the singular number include the plural number, and words in the plural number include the singular number; the word "shall" is mandatory and not directory; the word "building" includes the word "structure", the word "lot" includes the word "plot", and the word "land" includes the words "marsh" and "water". Definitions included in the Building Code of the Town of Shrewsbury are applicable, unless otherwise designated.

Accessory Building:

A detached building, the use of which is customarily incidental and subordinate to that of the main building, and which is located on the same lot as that occupied by the main building.

Accessory Dwelling Unit: (added 8/8/2020)

An accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is a self-contained dwelling unit in an owner-occupied single-family home that is either enclosed within the principal dwelling unit or made part of an accessory structure on the same property. An ADU may be located either within, attached to, or detached from the principal structure. Not more than one such unit shall exist on any lot. The gross floor area of an existing structure, addition, or new detached structure, converted to, or constructed for the purpose of creating an ADU shall not exceed 40 percent of the gross floor area of the principal single family structure, or 800 square feet, whichever is less. ADUs shall not be less than 300 square feet of gross floor area.

Accessory Use:

A use accessory or subordinate to a main use of a structure or lot or a use not the main use which is located on the same lot as the main structure.

Adult Bookstore:

An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade, books, magazines and other matter which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis depicting, describing or relating to sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in M.G.L. c.272 §31.

Adult Day Health Center: (added 5/15/2023)

An establishment, licensed by the Division of Health Care Facility Licensure and Certification, which offers a flexible day alternative to nursing or other long-term care facilities where participants are offered a variety of therapeutic, social, and recreational activities both on-site and in the community. Participants are typically facing challenges that require nursing oversight and support, or would otherwise benefit from a socialization program that is activity-based.

Adult Motion Picture Theater:

An enclosed building used for presenting material distinguished by an emphasis on matter depicting, describing, or relating to sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in M.G.L. c.272 §31.

Adult Paraphernalia Store:

An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock devices, objects, tools, or toys which are distinguished or characterized by their association with sexual activity, including sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in M.G.L. c.272 §31.

Adult Video Store:

An establishment having as a substantial or significant portion of its stock in trade, videos, movies, or other film material which are distinguished or characterized by their emphasis depicting, describing, or relating to sexual conduct or sexual excitement as defined in M.G.L. c.272 §31.

Animals, Domestic:

Any of the various animals domesticated by man so as to live and breed in a tame condition including horses, sheep, cattle, swine, etc.

Apartment Hotel or Extended Stay Hotel: (amended 5/22/2008)

A building or group of buildings under single ownership, containing six (6) or more rooms or suites, with independent cooking facilities, providing transient or temporary lodging, available at daily, weekly or monthly rates to guests only, and which also may include accessory services; such as restaurants, meeting rooms, function halls and recreation facilities. No guest room or suite in an apartment hotel or extended stay hotel shall be occupied by any guest for more than eighty-nine (89)continuous days, nor may the guest reoccupy any unit within thirty (30) days of a continuous eighty-nine (89) day stay. No occupant of an apartment hotel may claim residency at such location. As used in this bylaw, apartment hotel or extended stay hotel shall not include "hotel," "motel" or "multi-family dwelling."

Aquifer: (added 10/22/2018)

A geologic formation that can store and transmit significant amounts of potable water.

Assisted Living Residence:

A residential development subject to certification under G.L. Chapter 19D, which provides room and board; provides, directly by employees of the entity or through arrangements with another organization which the entity may or may not control or own, assistance with activities of daily living for three or more adult residents who are not related by consanguinity or affinity to their care provider; and collects payments or third party reimbursement from or on behalf of residents to pay for the provision of assistance with the activities of daily living.

Basement: (amended 5/22/1985)

A portion of the building with less than one-half (1/2) its height measured from the finished floor to the ceiling, below the average grade of the adjoining ground and, except for one and two-family dwellings, will be considered a story.

Bed and Breakfast: (amended 11/13/2001)

A private, owner-occupied residence with accommodations for overnight guests for a fee, which includes breakfast, provided that no more than five rooms in any building may be used for such accommodations.

Boarding or Rooming House:

A building or premises, other than a hotel, inn, motel, tourist court or lodging house, where rooms are let and where meals may be regularly served by prearrangement for compensation; not open to transient guests, in contra-distinction to hotels, restaurants and tourist homes, open to transients.

Body Art Establishment: (amended 11/13/2001)

A business where the practice of physical body adornment by permitted establishments and practitioners using, but not limited to, the following techniques: body piercing, tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, branding, and scarification. This definition does not include practices that are considered medical procedures by the Board of Registration in Medicine, such as implants under the skin, which procedures are prohibited.

Boutique or Small-scale Hotel: (added 8/8/2020)

A small hotel with not less than ten (10) and not more than 50 rooms, typically designed to blend into the community and reflect the neighborhoods and culture around it.

Brew Pub: (added 5/21/2024)

Restaurants, licensed under the relevant state and federal statutes, to produce and sell beer and/or ale at the location and may include the sale and preparation of food to be consumed on the premises. Malt beverages including beer, ales and hard ciders produced on the premises may be sold to other establishments but shall not exceed 25 percent of the establishment's production capacity.

Building:

A combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, having a roof and enclosed within exterior walls or fire walls, built to form a structure for shelter of persons, animals or property. For the purpose of this definition "roof" shall include an awning or any similar covering.

Building Area:

The ground area enclosed by the walls of a building together with the area of all covered porches and other roofed portions.

Building, Attached:

A building having any portion of one or more walls in common with adjoining buildings, with said walls being firewalls.

Building, Detached:

A building having open space on all sides.

Building Height:

The vertical distance from the average finished grade within ten (10) feet of the front wall of the building to the highest point of a flat or mansard roof, including the top of a parapet or to the mean level between the eaves and ridge for gable, hip or gambrel roofs.

Building Inspector:

Building Inspector shall mean the Building Official or other designated authority or his duly authorized representative serving under the Building Code and charged with the enforcement of this Bylaw.

Building Lot:

A building lot is that area of land described in an application for a building permit or an application to the Board of Appeals for a permit or a variance or otherwise defined as the area on which a structure is to be constructed or a certain use is to be carried on. A building lot shall not include any part of a street which is relied upon to qualify the lot as to frontage, any water area, any abutting land not under common ownership, or any leased land. The boundaries of a building lot shall conform to those recorded by plan on deed in the Worcester County Registry of Deeds.

Building Materials Salesroom:

An area set aside for display and retail sale of building materials to the general public within facilities whose primary function is wholesale of merchandise to retailers, contractors, or industrial users. The area set aside for such uses shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the floor area devoted to the primary use.

Cellar: (amended 5/22/1985)

A portion of the building with more than one-half (1/2) its height measured from finished floor to finished ceiling below the average grade of the adjoining ground and not considered a story when used exclusively for building storage, services, mechanical equipment and utilities.

Club:

An association of persons which is the owner, lessee or occupant of an establishment operated solely for a recreational, social, fraternal, religious, political or athletic purpose whose activities are confined to the members and guests and are not generally extended to the general public and include the establishment so operated.

Commercial Equipment Rental: (added 5/15/2023)

Storage, sale and distribution of new or used commercial equipment such as manlifts, forklifts, pallet jacks, automated floor cleaning, material handling, tools, and such other equipment as generally used in commercial operations) and including the inspection, maintenance, repair and preparation for sale, distribution or rental of such commercial equipment, but specifically excluding the rental, sale or distribution of automobiles, motorcycles, farming or construction equipment, recreational vehicles, trucks, boats, marine supplies and other similar products.

Commercial Fertilizer: (added 10/22/2018)

Any substance containing one or more recognized plant nutrients which is used for its plant nutrient content and which is designed for use, or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, except unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes, and gypsum, and other products exempted in accordance with M.G.L. c128 §64.

Commercial Vehicle:

A vehicle which is commercially registered, or owned by a business, or which is used primarily for business activities.

Community Center: (added 8/8/2020)

A location where members of a community may gather for group activities, social support, and public information. They may sometimes be open for the whole community or for a specialized group within the greater community.

Continuing/Continuum Care Retirement Community: (added Feb. 3, 1986)

A multi-family residential complex for persons 62 years of age or older. Said complex shall be associated with and located within close proximity to a nursing home and shall contain a minimum of common and/or shared facilities such as dining, recreational areas, etc. equal to 15% of the gross floor area of the complex. The community may also contain other accessory uses such as retail and service facilities which provide goods and/or services exclusively to the residents thereof.

Coop:

See Kennel.

Contractor's Yard and Storage Yard:

Storage yards operated by, or on behalf of, a contractor for storage of equipment, vehicles, or other materials commonly used in the individual contractor's type of business; storage of scrap materials used for repair and maintenance of contractor's own equipment; and buildings or structures for uses such as offices and repair facilities. All operations shall be such as to confine to the premises dust, noise, odors, and other objectionable effects. All materials and equipment shall be screened from public view and abutting properties. (added 10/21/2019)

Country Club:

A membership club used primarily for outdoor recreation activities, such as golf, tennis, and swimming, and which may include a club house for dining and social events of its members.

Court:

An unoccupied open space, other than a yard, on the same lot with a building which is bounded on three (3) or more sides by walls of such building or wall erected in continuance with the building walls. An outer court extends to a street line or opens upon a front, side or rear yard. An inner court is enclosed on all sides by the walls of a building.

Craft marijuana cultivator cooperative:

A marijuana cultivator comprised of residents of the commonwealth as a limited liability company or limited liability partnership under the laws of the commonwealth, or an appropriate business structure as determined by the commission, and that is licensed to cultivate, obtain, manufacture, process, package and brand marijuana and marijuana products to deliver marijuana to marijuana establishments but not the consumer. (added 4/23/2018)

Disposal: (added 10/22/2018)

The deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, incineration or placing of any hazardous material into or on any land or water so that such hazardous material or any constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air or discharged into any waters, including groundwater.

Drive-in Establishment:

The term "drive-in" includes drive-in eating establishments where food is purchased from a building on the lot but is consumed in the vehicle or off the lot; and drive-in service establishments such as banks or the like.

Dwelling:

(one-family): A building arranged for the use of one (1) family unit in which provisions may be made for not more than five (5) lodgers or boarders.

(two-family): A building arranged for the use of two (2) family units in which provisions may be made for not more than five (5) lodgers or boarders per family.

(multi-family) (apartment house): A building arranged for the use of more than two (2) family units.

(in-law apartment): A portion of a dwelling providing a separate housekeeping unit to be occupied by not more than three (3) persons related (by blood or marriage) to the principal resident. (amended 5/22/1985)

Establishment Which Displays Live Nudity for its Patrons:

Any establishment which provides live entertainment for its patrons, which includes the display of nudity, as that term is defined in M.G.L. c.272 §31.

Exposure:

The face of an exterior wall which is unenclosed and uncovered facing a rear, side or front yard or court.

Family:

Any number of persons related by blood or marriage living in the same dwelling, or not more than five (5) persons unrelated by blood or marriage living together as a single housekeeping unit, but not including a group occupying a boarding house, club, fraternity or hotel.

Farm:

Any parcel of land which is used primarily for the raising of agricultural products, livestock, poultry and dairy products. It includes necessary farm structures within the prescribed limits and the storage of equipment used.

Farm Stand: (added 5/23/2018)

A stand or structure for the display and sale of produce by the owner or tenant of land not exempted by M.G.L. c. 40A, s. 3, and on land where the majority of the produce is grown.

Floor Area:

(net floor area): The interior floor area of a dwelling unit exclusive of basements, stairwells, halls, bathrooms, corridors, attics, walls, partitions and attached accessory buildings.

(gross floor area): The sum of the floor area of all principal and accessory buildings equal to or greater than 200 square feet in size whether or not habitable. Floor area measurements shall be taken within the perimeter of the outside walls of each building without deduction for attached or detached garage space, enclosed porches, hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of interior walls, columns, atria and other vertical open spaces, but not including any space where the floor to ceiling height is less than six feet (6'). (amended 10/21/2019)

Food Court:

An area within a structure having a gross floor area in excess of 500,000 square feet where food is prepared and consumed in a common seating area served by multiple vendors.

Garage, Private:

Covered space for the housing of motor vehicles, but not for commercial storage or rental of more than two (2) stalls.

Garage, Public or Storage:

A building or part thereof, other than a private garage, for the storage of motor vehicles and in which repairs or service station activities are or may be carried on.

Gasoline Service Stations with Related Uses: (amended 3/24/2003)

A building or use in which gasoline sales, automotive related sales and service activities are conducted including the incidental sale of non automotive goods.

General Laws:

The General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

General Outdoor Entertainment: (added 8/8/2020)

A specific event or activity held in the open and not within an enclosed structure. Enclosed structures do not include tents, sound stages, pavilions or amphitheaters

Gross Vehicle Weight:

Total weight of a loaded vehicle, including chassis, body, and payload.

Ground Floor: (added 8/8/2020)

The floor of a building that has the primary entrance to the building. Where there may be more than one primary entrance, the entrance most readily accessible to the front yard of the lot shall be considered the primary entrance.

Groundwater: (added 10/22/2018)

All the water beneath the surface of the ground.

Hazardous Materials: (added 10/22/2018)

Any substance or combination of substances, including liquid petroleum products, that, because of quantity, concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics, poses a significant present or potential hazard to water supplies or to human health if disposed of, into, or on any land or water in this Town.

Hazardous Waste: (added 10/22/2018)

Those substances listed in M.G.L. c21C.

Home Occupation: (amended 11/13/2001)

An accessory use which is carried on by the permanent residents of a dwelling unit. Occupations such as preserving or home cooking, repair of portable equipment or appliances, computer and Internet-related occupations, real estate agent, craft manufacturing, giving private music or dancing lessons, but not including a beauty parlor, barber shop, convalescent or nursing home, or similar establishment offering services to the general public.

Hotel, Motel: (amended 5/22/2008)

A building or a group of buildings under single ownership, containing six (6) or more rooms or suites, providing transient overnight lodging accommodations, available at daily rates to guests and/or the general public, and which also may include accessory services; such as restaurants, meeting rooms, function halls and recreation facilities. Not more than twenty percent (20%) of the guest rooms may include independent cooking facilities. When a hotel or motel offers guest rooms with independent cooking facilities, no room shall be occupied by any guest(s) for more than sixty (60) continuous days, nor may the guest reoccupy any unit within thirty (30) days of a continuous sixty (60) day stay, nor may the guest stay more than a combined total of four (4) months in any calendar year. No occupant or guest of a hotel or motel may claim residency at such location. As used in this bylaw, hotel or motel shall include "inn" but shall not include "apartment hotel," "extended stay hotel" or "multi-family dwelling."

Impervious Area: (amended 10/22/2018)

A surface covered by materials or structures on or above the ground that severely limit the amount of precipitation that infiltrates the underlying soil, including but not limited to asphalt, dirt or gravel roads and parking areas, roofed buildings, in-ground swimming pools, and any other elements rendering any portion of a lot impervious.

Impervious Coverage, Maximum: (amended 10/22/2018)

The maximum percentage of a lot that may be covered by an impervious area.

Independent Testing Laboratory:

An entity licensed to test marijuana and marijuana products in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. (added 4/23/2018)

Indoor or outdoor farmers markets: (added 10/21/2013, amended 5/20/2015, amended 5/21/2024)

A farmers' market pursuant to this section is the temporary use of a site for the sale of food and farm produce, fine craft and art media, other farm products, including baked goods, jams and jellies, maple products, honey, farmstead cheeses, flowers, animal products, and eggs. Sale of items are from parked vehicles or temporary display areas. Farmers' markets are also subject to all applicable provisions of the Health Code. The definition of 'fine craft and art media' is 100% produced by the local artisan and original and to be accepted, but not limited to, items using clay, fiber, glass, leather, metal, paper, soap or wood, as well as painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, clothing, jewelry, accessories, weaving, pottery, carvings, furniture, woodworking, illustration, mixed media works and fresh floral and dried flower arrangements in which all components are grown locally or by the Artisan. Unacceptable art products include: "kit" or "assembly line" craft projects; use of artificial flowers or greenery; purchased retail items; mass or commercial produced kits, or imports." The majority of the vendors in the Market shall not be vendors of arts and crafts items. Any arts and crafts items must be created by the vendor offering such items for sale at the Market.

Junk:

Any worn out, castoff or discarded article or material which is ready for destruction, or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion to some other use. Any article or material which unaltered or unchanged and without further reconditioning can be used for its original purpose as readily as when new shall not be considered junk.

Junk Yard:

The use of more than one hundred (100) square feet of the area of any lot, whether inside or outside a building, or the use of any portion of that half of any lot that joins any street for the storage, keeping or abandonment of junk.

Kennel, Coop, Pen or Barn:

Accessory building or enclosure for keeping of domestic pets, animals or birds for use of or pleasure of residents limited to litters, and three (3) or less such pets or animals three (3) months or older in age and to two dozen (24) birds.

Loading Space, Off-street: (amended 5/22/2008)

An off-street space or berth, on the same lot with a building, for the temporary parking of vehicles while loading or unloading merchandise or material which has access to a street, alley or other appropriate means of ingress and egress.

Lodging House: (amended 5/22/2008)

A building or portion thereof, situated upon a single lot, containing five (5) or fewer rooms providing for the temporary occupancy of paying guests who are lodged, with or without meals, and in which cooking facilities may be provided in a central kitchen but shall not be in individual guest rooms or suites.

Lot, Corner:

A lot at the point of intersection of and abutting on two or more intersecting streets. The interior angle of intersection of the street lot lines or in case of a curved street, extended lot lines, shall not be more than one hundred thirty-five (135) degrees.

Lot, Coverage:

The total horizontal area of the lot occupied by structures and outside storage. Paved parking areas and drives will not be considered as lot coverage.

Lot, Frontage of: (amended 5/17/2017)

The horizontal distance measured along the front lot line between the points of intersection of the side lot lines or an intersecting street lot line of a corner lot with the front lot line. The minimum required lot frontage shall be provided along one street lot line and cannot be accumulated along two (2) or more streets. The measurement of lot frontage shall not include jogs in street width right-of-way or other irregularities in street line. The end of streets without a turning circle shall not be considered lot frontage. General, access, septic or drainage easements shall not be included in the calculation for required frontage.

Lot Line, Front or Street:

The property line defining the lot from the street right of way. On a corner lot all property lines defining a lot from the street or right of way shall be considered a front lot line.

Lot Line, Rear: (amended 5/22/1985)

The lot line opposite and furthest removed from the front lot line except on a corner lot where there shall not be a rear lot line. Corner lots will have only front and side lot lines.

Lot Line, Side:

Any lot line not a front or rear lot line.

Main Use:

The main or primary purpose for which a structure or lot is designated, arranged or intended, or for which it should be used, occupied or maintained under this Bylaw. Any other structure or land on the same lot and incidental or supplementary to the principal use and permitted under this Bylaw shall be considered an accessory use.

Manufacturing and Accessory Retail:

Manufacturing facilities located on the same site with a primary retail outlet for one or more products manufactured on premises, provided that retail sales shall be limited to the product or products manufactured on site and any directly related items or services.

Marijuana Cultivator:

An entity licensed to cultivate, process, and package marijuana, to deliver marijuana to marijuana establishments, and to transfer marijuana to other marijuana establishments, but not to consumers. (added 4/23/2018)

Marijuana Establishment:

A marijuana cultivator, independent testing laboratory, marijuana product manufacturer, marijuana retailer, or any other type of licensed marijuana-related businesses.(added 4/23/2018)

Marijuana Product Manufacturer:

An entity licensed to obtain, manufacture, process, and package marijuana and marijuana products, to deliver marijuana and marijuana products to marijuana establishments, and to transfer marijuana and marijuana products to other marijuana establishments, but not to consumers. (added 4/23/2018)

Marijuana Retailer:

An entity licensed to purchase and deliver marijuana and marijuana products from marijuana establishments and to deliver, sell, or otherwise transfer marijuana and marijuana products to marijuana establishments and to consumers. (added 4/23/2018)

Membership Club:

Buildings or facilities owned or operated by a non-profit corporation, association, or persons, to which membership is limited or controlled, for a social, educational, civic, charitable, or recreational purpose; but not primarily for profit or to render a service that is customarily carried on as a business.

Mixed-Use Development - Vertical Mix: (added 8/8/2020)

An integration of commercial and multi-family residential uses in a single structure in which the residential uses are located above the ground floor.

Mixed-Use Development - Horizontal Mix: (added 8/8/2020)

An integration of commercial and multi-family residential uses in a development comprised of two or more structures on the same lot or on more than one lot. The multi-family residential uses may be located above the ground floor of a commercial structure, in separate structures on the same lot or on more than one lot, or a combination thereof.

Microbrewery: (added 8/8/2020)

A facility, licensed under the relevant state and federal statutes, for the production and packaging of malt, wine, or hard cider beverages for distribution retail or wholesale, on or off the premise, with a capacity of not more than fifteen thousand (15,000) barrels per year (a barrel being equivalent to thirty one (31) gallons), and which may include a tap room where beverages produced on the premises may be sold and consumed. May include other uses such as a restaurant, including outdoor dining if otherwise permitted in the zoning district.

Mobile Home:

Any structure provided with wheels or designed for the attachment of wheels, enabling it to be conveyed upon the public streets or highways, and is duly licensed as a vehicle, and is designed and constructed in such a manner as to permit occupancy thereof as a dwelling or a sleeping place for one or more persons and is equipped with bath facilities, flush toilet and designed to be connected to a water supply and to a sewage disposal system.

Nanobrewery: (added 8/8/2020)

Also considered a craft brewery, a facility, licensed under the relevant state and federal statutes, for the small scale production of malt, wine, or hard cider beverages primarily for on premises consumption and sale with limited distribution to retail or wholesale, with a capacity of not more than six thousand (6,000) barrels per year (a barrel being equivalent to thirty one (31) gallons), and which may include accessory preparation and sale of food for on premises consumption. May include other uses such as a restaurant, including outdoor dining if otherwise permitted in the zoning district.

Non-conforming Use:

Non-conforming use of land or building is a lawfully existing use which does not conform to the regulations for the district in which such use of land or building exists and which existed at the time of adoption of the regulations to which it does not conform.

Non-profit uses: (added 5/16/2011)

A nonresidential use designed, intended, or used by a charitable organization and operated for charitable purposes.

Nursing or Convalescent Home:

Any institution, however named, whether conducted for charity or for profit, which is advertised, announced or maintained for the express or implied purpose of caring for three (3) or more persons admitted thereto for the purpose of nursing or convalescent care.

Office for physician, dentist, or other health care practitioner: (added 5/16/2011)

A building or portion thereof designed, intended, or used as an office for an individual or group medical, dental, or other health care practice, but not including a hospital, clinic, ambulatory surgery center, or other facility that is subject to a determination of need and licensure by the Massachusetts Department of Health under G.L. c. 111.

Open Space: (amended 10/22/2018)

Any space on a lot not occupied by a structure or pavement and devoted to recreational use or conservation of vegetation. Grassed areas shall be considered open space, provided such areas are not to be used as a street, driveway, sidewalk, off-street parking, or for storage or display.

Parking Area:

Any open space used for parking motor vehicles exclusively, and in which no gasoline or fuel or motor vehicle accessories are sold or no other business is conducted.

Planned Residential Development: (added 5/16/2011)

A development with mixed residential uses designed and arranged so as to reserve a majority of a site as permanently protected open space, subject to a special permit from the Planning Board.

Premises:

That portion of a lot, structure or building actually in use for the specific purpose or use under consideration.

Process or Non-Sanitary Wastewater: (added 10/22/2018)

All non-sanitary wastewater, disposed on-site, other than stormwater runoff, including, but not limited to, any liquid wastes resulting from any process of industry or business.

Professional Occupation:

Any recognized profession, such as a doctor, lawyer or dentist.

Public Utility: (amended 5/17/2017)

Any activity which provides or offers to provide services, such as water, sewerage, sewage treatment, electricity, communications, power or transportation to its members or to the public.

Rear Lot: (added 5/17/2017)

Any lot which does not meet the minimum lot frontage requirements in accordance with Section VII, Table II of the Zoning By-Law.

Recharge Area: (added 10/22/2018)

Any area of porous, permeable geologic deposits, especially, but not exclusively, deposits of stratified sand and gravel, through which water from any source drains into an aquifer, and includes any wetland or body of surface water surrounded or adjacent to such area, together with the watershed of any wetland or body of surface water adjacent to such area.

Registered Marijuana Dispensary: (added 5/21/2014)

As defined in the Humanitarian Medical Use of Marijuana Act, G.L. c.94C, App. §1-1, et seq. and the Department of Public Health Regulations promulgated thereunder, 105 CMR 725.001, et seq., and otherwise by their plain language. Registered Marijuana Dispensary: also known as Medical Marijuana Treatment Center, means a not-for-profit entity registered under 105 CMR 725.100, that acquires, cultivates, possesses, processes (including development of related products such as edible marijuana-infused products ("MIPs"), tinctures, aerosols, oils, or ointments), transfers, transports, sells, distributes, dispenses, or administers marijuana, products containing marijuana, related supplies, or educational materials to registered qualifying patients or their personal caregivers. Unless otherwise specified, RMD refers to the site(s) of dispensing, cultivation, and preparation of marijuana.

Restaurant, Indoor Service Only: (amended 10/18/2021)

A place where the primary function is the serving of food and beverages enclosed within a structure.

Restaurant, Indoor and Outdoor Service: (added 8/8/2020, amended 10/18/2021)

A covered or uncovered portion of a restaurant which is not completely enclosed within the building; is used primarily for the consumption of food and/or drinks by the patrons of the restaurant; and is not larger than 50 percent of the indoor dining area.

Salesroom for Agricultural and Construction Equipment, Recreation Vehicles, Motor Homes, Trucks and Boats: (amended 3/24/2003)

A building or use designed for the sale or rental of farm and construction equipment, recreation vehicles, motor homes, trucks, boats, marine supplies, and other similar products.

Salesroom for Automobiles and Motor Cycles: (amended 3/24/2003)

A building or use designed for the sale of passenger vehicles and motorcycles including all terrain vehicles, all trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 14,000 pounds or less, but not including agricultural, construction equipment and motor homes/recreation vehicles greater than twenty feet in length as defined by this bylaw.

Sanitary Wastewater: (added 10/22/2018)

Water carrying putrescible waste arising from ordinary water use as from toilets, sinks, baths, dishwashers, washing machines etc. and containing such concentrations and types of pollutants as to be considered normal wastes as regulated by 310 CMR 15.00.

Self-Service Storage: (added 5/23/2018)

Any real property consisting of a structure or group of structures containing separate storage spaces designed and used for the renting or leasing of individual self-contained units of storage space to occupants who are to have access to such units for storing and removing personal property only, and not for residential purposes.

Senior Housing: (amended 5/22/2002)

A lot under single ownership containing not less than five (5) acres to be used for the placement of owner-occupied homes by persons who must be fifty-five (55) years of age or over commencing occupancy, provided, however, that no more than one of the persons occupying any unit may be under fifty-five (55) years of age, exclusive of nurses or other persons licensed to provide health care services to the elderly occupants of said unit.

Septage: (added 10/22/2018)

Means the liquid, solid, and semi-solid contents of privies, chemical toilets, cesspools, holding tanks, or other sewage waste receptacles. For the purposes of this Aquifer Protection Bylaw, the term septage does not include any material which is hazardous waste pursuant to 310 CMR 32.00.

Sign:

Any permanent or temporary structure, device, letter, word, banner, pennant, insignia, trade flag, streamer or emblem which is in the form of an advertisement or announcement which is designed to attract the eye and visible from a street.

Sign, Area of:

For a sign, either free-standing or attached, the area shall be considered to include all lettering, wording and accompanying designs or symbols, together with the background on which they are displayed but not including any supporting framework and bracing which are incidental to the display itself.

For a sign consisting of individual unconnected letters, designs or symbols attached to or painted onto a surface, building wall, or window without an isolated background, the area shall be considered to be that of the smallest quadrangle which encompasses each individual letter, design or symbol.

For a sign consisting of connected letters, designs and symbols attached to or painted onto a surface, building wall or window without an isolated background, the area shall be considered to be that of the smallest quadrangle which encompasses all of the letters, designs and symbols.

For a sign consisting of letters, designs or symbols attached to or painted onto a surface, building wall or window, with an isolated background, the area shall be considered to be that of the background. For two-faced free-standing signs the area shall be considered to be that of one face only.

For signs consisting of three (3) or more faces and not having plane faces, the aggregate area shall be computed as the sum total of all surfaces visible from a street. Signs located within a building will not be included in area computations.

Sign, Identification:

A sign used simply to identify the name, address and title of an individual, family or firm occupying the premises upon which the sign is located.

Sign, Outdoor Advertising:

A permanent sign advertising an activity not undertaken on the premises on which the sign is located.

Sludge: (added 10/22/2018)

Means the solid, semi-solid, and liquid residue that results from a process of wastewater treatment or drinking water treatment. This residue does not include grit, screening, or grease and oil which are removed at the headworks of a facility.

Small Wireless Facilities: (added 10/18/2021)

A Small Wireless Facility is a facility as defined in 47 CFR 1.6002(I), as such may be amended from time to time.

Special Permit Granting Authority:

Shall mean the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board.

Story: (Notwithstanding any definition in the Town of Shrewsbury Building Code)

That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the next floor above it, or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between such floor and the ceiling next above it. Any portion of a story exceeding fourteen (14) feet in height shall be considered an additional story for each fourteen (14) feet or fraction thereof. One-half (1/2) story means any story or space situated wholly or partly in the roof, so designed, arranged or built to be used for storage or habitation.

Street:

A way which the Town Clerk certifies is maintained and used as a public way or a way shown on a plan approved and endorsed in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law or a way in existence when the Subdivision Control Law became effective in Shrewsbury having, in the opinion of the Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate construction to provide for the needs of vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed use of the land abutting thereon or served thereby and for the installation of municipal services to serve such land and the buildings erected or to be erected thereon

Storage: (added 10/22/2018)

Means containment or stockpiling prior to or during selling or distributing or reuse, or offering for sale, distribution or use.

Structure:

A combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter such as a building framework, carport, tent, deck, bin, fence, sign, flagpole, mast for radio antenna or the like. The word "structure" shall be construed, where the context allows, as though followed by the words "or part or parts thereof".

Theater/Dinner Theater: (added 8/8/2020)

An establishment primarily engaged in producing the following live theatrical presentations: musicals; operas; plays; and establishments, commonly known as dinner theaters, engaged in producing live theatrical presentations along with food and beverages for consumption on the premises.

Tourist Home: (deleted 11/13/2001)

Tourist Camps or Camp Sites: (amended 11/13/2001)

Land used or intended to be used, let or rented for occupancy by campers traveling by automobile or otherwise; or for occupancy by house trailers, tents or movable temporary dwellings; rooms or sleeping quarters of any kind.

Town:

Town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

Trailer or Mobile Home:

Trailer or mobile home shall mean any vehicle or object on wheels so designed and constructed or reconstructed or added to by means of such accessories as to permit the use and occupancy thereof for human habitation, whether resting on wheels, jacks or other foundations and shall include the type of vehicle commonly known as a mobile home, which shall be defined to mean a dwelling unit built on a chassis and containing complete electrical, plumbing and sanitary facilities and designed to be installed on a temporary or permanent foundation for permanent living quarters.

Trucking Terminal:

A building or area in which freight brought by truck is assembled and/or stored for routing or reshipment, or in which semi-trailers, including tractor and/or trailer units and other trucks, are parked or stored. The terminal may include areas for the fueling and repair of trucks associated with the terminal and similar ancillary activities.

Use:

The purpose for which land or building is occupied, maintained, arranged, designed or intended.

Utility Structure:

Public utility buildings, telephone exchanges, sewage pumping stations, gas, water and electrical substations, and similar facilities located on a specific site and necessary for the operation of a public utility, but not including administrative offices and power plants.

Walk-up Establishment:

An establishment that provides goods or services through an exterior service window to patrons travelling on foot and not by motorized vehicle.

Warehousing and Distribution: (amended 3/24/2003)

A building or use designed for the storage, wholesale, and distribution of manufactured products, supplies, and equipment.

Wireless Communications Antenna: (amended 11/1/1999)

A device used to transmit or receive wireless telecommunication signals.

Wireless Telecommunication Tower and Facility: (amended 10/18/2021)

A facility for the provision of wireless communications services, including but not limited to directional, omni-directional and parabolic antennas, structures or towers to support receiving and/or transmitting devices, cabinets, equipment rooms, accessory equipment. A wireless telecommunications facility shall not include Small Wireless Facilities as defined herein.

Yard, Front:

An open space extending across the full width of the lot and the nearest line of the building. The depth of a front yard shall be the minimum distance between the building and front lot line measured at right angles to the front line of the lot.

Yard, Rear:

An open space extending across the full width of the lot and lying between the rear lot line of the lot and the nearest line of the building. The depth of the rear yard shall be at the minimum distance between the building and rear lot line measured at right angles to the rear line of the lot.

Yard, Side:

An open space between the side lot line of the lot and the nearest line of the building, and extending from the front yard to the rear yard, or, in the absence of either of such yards, to the front or the rear lot lines as the case may be. The width of a side yard shall be the minimum distance between the building and the side lot line measured at right angles to the side line of the lot.

Zone I: (added 10/22/2018)

Means the protective radius required around a public water supply well or wellfield. For public water system wells with approved yields of 100,000 gpd or greater, the protective radius is 400 feet.

Zone II: (added 10/22/2018)

Means that area of an aquifer which contributes water to a well under the most severe pumping and recharge conditions that can be realistically anticipated (180 days of pumping at approved yield, with no recharge from precipitation). It is bounded by the groundwater divides which result from pumping the well and by the contact of the aquifer with less permeable materials such as till or bedrock. In some cases, streams or lakes may act as recharge boundaries. In all cases, Zone II shall extend upgradient to its point of intersection with prevailing hydrogeologic boundaries (a groundwater flow divide, a contact with till or bedrock, or a recharge boundary).

Zone III: (added 10/22/2018)

Means that land area beyond the area of Zone II from which surface water and groundwater drain into Zone II. The surface drainage area as determined by topography is commonly coincident with the groundwater drainage area and will be used to delineate Zone III. In some locations, where surface and groundwater drainage are not coincident, Zone III shall consist of both the surface drainage and the groundwater drainage areas.

Zoning:

As defined in the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40A, Section 1.

The numbering of sections, subsections, paragraphs and subparagraphs in this Zoning Bylaw is deemed non-substantive and ministerial in nature, and the Town Clerk, after consultation with Town Counsel, may make appropriate revisions to the same solely for the purpose of ensuring consistent and appropriate sequencing of such numbering; provided, however, that the Town Clerk shall keep a record of all such revisions, which record shall include the date and substance of all such revisions. (added 5/21/2022)