Upton City Zoning Code
ARTICLE 10
Definitions
§ 300-10.1 Definitions and word usage.
[Amended 11-5-2019 STM by Art. 16; 5-8-2021 ATM by Art. 16; 11-1-2022 STM by Art. 12; 11-12-2024 STM by Art. 24]
In this bylaw, the following terms and constructions shall apply unless a contrary meaning is required by the context or is specifically prescribed in the text of the bylaw. Words used in the present tense include the future. The singular includes the plural, and the plural includes the singular. The word "shall" is mandatory, and "may" is permissive or discretionary. The word "and" includes "or" unless the contrary is evident from the text. The word "includes" or "including" shall not limit a term to specified examples, but is intended to extend its meaning to all other instances, circumstances, or items of like character or kind. The word "lot" includes "plot"; the word "used" or "occupied" shall be considered as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged, or designed to be used or occupied." The word "building," "structure," "lot," or "parcel" shall be construed as being followed by the words "or any portion thereof." The word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, company, or corporation, as well as an individual. Terms and words not defined herein but defined in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Building Code shall have the meaning given therein unless a contrary intention is clearly evident in this bylaw.
A way or means of approach to provide vehicular or pedestrian entrance or exit to a property.
Any driveway, street, curb cut, turnout or other means of providing for the movement of vehicles to or from the public/private roadway network.
The distance between access connections, measured along the edge of the pavement of the public/private roadway.
A separate dwelling unit complete with its own cooking and sanitary facilities and functioning as a separate unit, and contained within a building that contains a single-family dwelling. Additions, renovations and all construction shall meet the requirements of the current edition of the State Building Code.
A subordinate building located on the same lot as the main, or principal building or principal use, the use of which is customarily incidental to that of the principal building or use of the land.
An accessory use is either a subordinate use of a building, other structure or tract of land, or subordinate building or other structure, whose use is customary in connection with the principal building, other structure or use of land, and whose use is clearly incidental to the use of the principal building, other structure or use of land, and which is located on the same lot with the principal building, other structure or use of land, or on a lot adjacent to such lot, if in the same ownership, and which does not constitute, if effect, a conversion of the principal use of the premises to one not permitted.
A social day care or adult day health facility as defined by the commonwealth's Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
A written declaration made under oath before a notary public.
Agricultural use of property not exempted by MGL c. 40A, § 3.
As applied to a building or structure, a change or rearrangement in the structural parts or in the exit facilities, or an enlargement whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location or position to another.
The surface from which wireless radio signals are sent or received by a personal wireless data transfer facility, and which is attached to a tower or other structures.
Any pole, telescoping mast, tower tripod, or any other structure which supports a device used in the transmitting or receiving of data.
Salesroom for automobiles, automobile repair garages, automobile service stations, parking lots for passenger automobiles.
A private residence that offers sleeping accommodations for rent to lodgers in eight or fewer rooms for rent in the innkeeper's (the owner or operator) principal residence and serves breakfast at no extra cost to its lodgers. For the purpose of this definition, a lodger means a person that rents a room in a bed-and-breakfast establishment for fewer than 30 consecutive days.
A dwelling or part thereof in which lodging is provided by the owner or operator to more than four boarders. Where four or more unrelated individuals rent a dwelling, it shall be considered a boardinghouse.
A structure enclosed within exterior walls or fire walls, built, erected, and framed of a combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed, having a roof, to form a structure for the shelter of persons, animals, or property. For the purposes of this definition, "roof" shall include an awning or any similar covering, whether or not permanent in nature.
That percentage of the lot or plot area covered by the roof area of a building or buildings.
The vertical distance from the grade to the highest point of the roof. When a building faces more than one street, the height shall be measured from the average of the grade at the center line of each street front. Not included are spires, cupolas, antennas, or similar parts of structures that do not enclose potentially habitable floor space.
A building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.
A building, or part thereof, for the transaction of business or the provision of services exclusive of the receipt, sale, storage, or processing of merchandise.
An area or tract of land on which accommodations for temporary occupancy are located or may be placed, including cabins, tents, and major recreational equipment, which is primarily used for recreational purposes and retains an open-air or natural character.
A company that provides wireless services.
A child care center or school-aged child care program, as those terms are defined in MGL c. 15D, § 1A.
Buildings, structures and premises used by a nonprofit social or civic organization, or by an organization catering exclusively to members and their guests for social, civic, recreational, or athletic purposes which are not conducted primarily for gain and provided there are no vending stands, merchandising, or commercial activities except as may be required generally for the membership and purposes of such organization.
The use of a single mount on the ground by more than one carrier (vertical co-location) and/or several mounts on an existing building or structure by more than one carrier.
A "common driveway" is any road to be used for vehicular access to two or more dwellings or places of business.
Premises used by a building contractor or subcontractor for storage of equipment and supplies, fabrication of subassemblies, and parking of wheeled equipment.
A club organized and operated primarily for social and outdoor recreation purposes, including incidental accessory uses and structures such as clubhouses, restaurant and/or banquet facilities, locker rooms and pro shops.
Defined as depicting on a map, by graphical (colors, shading, or symbols) means to show actual or predicted values of signal coverage parameters in order to establish adequacy of service.
A commercial facility which provides a service directly to a motor vehicle or where the customer drives a motor vehicle onto the premises and to a window or mechanical device through or by which the customer is serviced without exiting the vehicle. This shall not include the selling of fuel at a gasoline filling station or the accessory functions of a car wash facility such as vacuum cleaning stations.
A building designed and occupied as the living quarters of one or more families. Single- and two-family dwellings shall be designed for and occupied by not more than one or two families, respectively. A multifamily dwelling shall be one designed for and occupied by three or more families.
Extraction of sand, gravel, topsoil, or other earth for sale or for use at a site removed from the place of extraction exclusive of the grading of a lot preparatory to the construction of a building for which a building permit has been issued, or the grading of streets in accordance with an approved definitive plan, and exclusive of granite operations.
Educational facilities not exempted from regulation by MGL c. 40A, § 3.
To build, construct, reconstruct, move upon, or conduct any physical development of the premises required for a building; to excavate, fill, drain, and the like preparation for building shall also be considered to erect.
Any number of individuals living and cooking together on the premises as a single housekeeping unit.
Any private residence operating a facility as defined in MGL c. 15D, § 1A.
Facility for the sale of produce, wine and dairy products on property not exempted by MGL c. 40A, § 3.
The government agency responsible for regulating telecommunications in the United States. FCC 96-326: A report and order that sets new national standards for emissions from FCC-regulated transmitters. This report and order is now contained within 47 CFR 1.1307.
The total square feet of floor space within the outside dimensions of a building including each floor level, without deduction for hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of walls, columns, or other features.
Facility for the conducting of funerals and related activities such as embalming.
A structure of more than one story but not more than three stories containing garden apartment dwellings grouped around a central stairwell.
The General Laws of Massachusetts. In case of rearrangement of the General Laws, any citation of particular sections of the General Laws shall be applicable to the corresponding citations in the new codification.
Any substance that is listed in, but not limited to, the EPA priority pollutants as described in Section 307(a) of the Clean Water Act, as amended.[1]
An occupations, business, trade, service or profession which is incidental to and conducted in a dwelling unit or in a building or other structure accessory thereto, by a resident thereof.
A detached dwelling designed for and occupied by one family.
Any area impenetrable by surface water.
"Infectious waste" shall mean infectious waste or physically dangerous medical or biological waste as defined in 105 CMR 480.00, Department of Public Health, State Sanitary Code, and includes: blood and blood products; pathological waste; cultures and stocks of infectious agents and associated biologicals; contaminated animal carcasses, body parts and bedding; sharps; and biotechnological by-product effluents.
Any article or material or collection thereof that is worn out, cast off or discarded and which is ready for destruction or has been collected or stored for salvage or conversion. 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.
See § 300-6.6C.
The process or fabrication of materials and products where the process(es) involved will not produce noise, odor, vibration, air pollution, fire hazard, or noxious emission that will disturb or endanger neighboring properties.
A continuous parcel of land with legally definable boundaries.
A line dividing one lot from another, or from a street or any public place.
A lot with two adjacent sides abutting upon streets or other public spaces.
The mean distance from the street line of the lot to its opposite rear line measured in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.
A lot line coinciding with the side line of a street which provides both legal rights of vehicular access and physical vehicular access to the lot, said line to be measured continuously along a single street or along two intersecting streets if their angle of intersection is greater than 120°. When measuring the frontage of lots along a curved way, the Planning Board shall measure the distance along a straight chord running between lot line intersections. For corner lots, or lots fronting on two streets, only one street shall be considered "frontage." Frontage along cul-de-sacs shall be considered 70% of the frontage measured along the curve. Vehicular access to a building site on the lot shall be exclusively through the frontage of the lot.
The horizontal distance between side lot lines, measured parallel to the lot frontage at the front yard setback line.
A use engaged in the basic processing and manufacturing of materials, or the manufacture from previously prepared materials, of finished products or parts, including processing, fabrication, assembly, treatment, packaging, incidental storage, sales and distribution of such products.
Refers to a deliberate combination of two or more uses, including a residential component and a nonresidential component. A mixed-use facility shall contain at least one of the nonresidential UCBD principal uses listed in the Table of Principal Uses (§ 300-3.1). Principal uses in a mixed-use facility shall be limited to the UCBD uses listed in the Table of Principal Uses (§ 300-3.1).
A dwelling built upon a chassis, containing complete electrical, plumbing and sanitary facilities, and designed without necessity of a permanent foundation for year-round living, irrespective of whether actually attached to a foundation or otherwise permanently located.
A building or buildings intended and designed for transient, overnight or extended occupancy, divided into separate units within the same building with or without a public dining facility. If such hotel or motel has independent cooking facilities, such unit shall not be occupied by any guest for more than four continuous months, nor may the guest reoccupy any unit within 30 days of a continuous four-month stay, nor may the guest stay more than six months in any calendar year. No occupant of such hotel or motel may claim residency at such location.
An establishment, garage or work area enclosed within a building where repairs are made or caused to be made to motor vehicle bodies, including fenders, bumpers and similar components of motor vehicle bodies, but does not include the storage of vehicles for the cannibalization of parts.
Facilities owned or operated by the Town of Upton.
A structure which is accessory to a commercial or industrial establishment and is primarily for the parking and storage of vehicles operated by the customers, visitors and employees of such an establishment.
A facility providing only those personal services listed in the Table of Use Regulations.[2]
A facility as defined in 47 CFR 1.6002(i), such as may from time to time be amended. This definition covers antennas of all sizes, and their attendant structures, used for the purpose of providing personal wireless services.
A development proposed for a single tract of land, authorized by special permit in a Commercial & Industrial District, specifying a mixture of land uses, including residential uses such as single family, multifamily, townhouses and other uses such as commercial, municipal, civic or other uses permitted in Single Residential SRA, SRB, SRC and SRD Districts, Agricultural Residential Districts, General Business Districts and Municipal Government Facilities Districts.
Any plant facilities and equipment for the purposes of producing, generating, transmitting, delivering, or furnishing electricity for the production of power.
Establishments primarily engaged in providing repair services generally to individuals, on items such as bicycles, shoes, typewriters, computers, home appliances, and televisions.
A receiver/relay transmitter designed to provide service to areas that are not able to receive adequate coverage directly from a base.
A building, or portion thereof, containing tables and/or booths for at least 2/3 of its legal capacity, which is designed, intended and used for the indoor sales and consumption of food prepared on the premises, except that food may be consumed outdoors in landscaped terraces, designed for dining purposes, which are adjuncts to the main indoor restaurant facility.
A physical barrier in the roadway that separates traffic traveling in opposite directions, such as a concrete barrier or landscaped island.
A facility selling only those goods specifically listed in the Table of Use Regulations.[3]
A multifamily residential land use consisting of a multiple dwelling unit(s) on one single contiguous parcel, with the intent that at least one resident of each dwelling unit be 55 years of age or older. For the purpose of this bylaw, housing units are intended for occupancy by persons 55 years of age or older within the meaning of MGL c. 151B, §§ 4 to 6, and shall comply with the provisions set forth in 42 U.S.C. § 3601. This shall include assisted living facilities, congregate senior housing and/or independent senior housing as further defined and provided for in § 300-7.4 of this bylaw.
Any device designed to advertise, promote, call attention to or provide directional instruction to a product, profession, commercial event, organization, service, or business/commercial/industrial establishment including exterior signs and signs visible from the exterior by way of being placed in or on a window or outside door. Political signs are exempt from this bylaw (reference Chapter 229, Signs, Article I, of this Code for political sign regulations).
The area of the smallest horizontally or vertically oriented rectangle that could enclose all the display area of the sign, together with any backing different in color or material from the finish material of the building face, without deduction for open space or other irregularities. Structural members not bearing advertising matter shall not be included unless internally or decoratively lighted. Only one side of flat, back-to-back signs need be included in calculating sign area.
A facility as defined in 47 CFR 1.6002(l), such as may from time to time be amended. A small wireless facility may without limitation be secured to a pole or suspended on a line that connects two poles.
Refuse transfer station, composting plant, solid waste recycling operation and any other works or use approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Board of Health of the Town of Upton for processing, handling, treating, and disposing of solid or liquid waste materials, including garbage, rubbish, junk, discarded bulk items, and sludges but not raw sewage, and similar waste items.
An area of stacking spaces and driving lane provided for vehicles waiting for drive-through service that is physically separated from other traffic and pedestrian circulation on the site.
An area within a stacking lane for vehicles waiting to order and/or finish a drive-through transaction.
Storage in bulk of, or warehouse for, lumber and other building supplies, contractor's equipment, cotton or wool, livestock feed, fertilizer, food, furniture, hardware, heating fuel with aboveground storage limited to 100,000 gallons, paint and paint supplies, pipe, rubber, shop supplies, tobacco, tools, wood or any products of manufacturing activities.
An accepted Town way, or a way established by or maintained under county, state, or federal authority, or a way established by a subdivision plan approved in accordance with the Subdivision Control Law,[4] or a way determined by the Planning Board to have sufficient width, suitable grades, and adequate construction to provide for the needs of vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed use of the land, and for the installation of municipal services to serve such land and the buildings erected or to be erected thereon.
A combination of materials assembled at a fixed location to give support or shelter, such as a building, framework, retaining wall, tent, reviewing stand, platform, bin, fence, sign, flagpole, recreational tramway, mast for radio antenna or the like.
Commercial and/or noncommercial mobile services, licensed and/or unlicensed wireless services, and personal wireless service. Said services to include but are not limited to cellular services, personal communications services (PCS), specialized mobile radio services, paging and broadcasting services, and include conventional wired communication lines. The FCC regulates these services.
An entity, licensed by the FCC, to provide telecommunications services to individuals and/or institutions.
A structure without any foundation or footings to be removed within a twelve-month time period. Said structure shall conform to the requirements of the Table of Dimensional Requirements[5] and shall receive a permit from the Building Commissioner.
Any self-supporting or guyed structure that is designed and constructed primarily for the purpose of supporting one or more antennas, and associated equipment, and includes but is not limited to lattice and monopole-type towers.
A building used primarily for the storage of goods and materials, for distribution, but not for sale on the premises.
A term describing radio-based systems that allow transmission of data through the air without a physical connection.
Transmission, monitoring or receiving antennas systems, their support structure and any peripheral attached thereto, that allow transfer of data through the air without a physical connection, other than a small wireless facility. It does not refer to the structures housing the electronic systems necessary to operate the antennas.
A space open to the sky, located between a building or structure and a lot line, unoccupied except by fences, walls, poles, paving, and other customary yard accessories.
A yard extending the full width of the lot and situated between the street line and the nearest point of the building.
A yard the full width of the lot and situated between the rear line of the lot and the nearest part of the main building projected to the side line of the lot.
A yard situated between the nearest point of the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a rear line or a front line shall be deemed a side line.