Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 974 CMR - DEVENS ENTERPRISE COMMISSION › Title 974 CMR 1.00 - Administration › Section 1.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
For the purposes of 974 CMR, the following words shall have the
				following meanings. Unless the context clearly indicates the contrary, words
				used in the plural include the singular.
Abandonment
. To cease or discontinue a
				use or activity without intent to resume, but excluding temporary or short term
				interruptions to a use or activity during periods of remodeling, maintaining,
				or otherwise improving or rearranging a facility, or during normal periods of
				vacation or seasonal closure.
Access
. The means of egress and
				ingress for a lot or structure.
Accessory Use
. A use incidental to,
				meaning less than 50% (unless another percentage is specified in the By-laws or
				974 CMR) of the area of, and on the same lot as, a principal use.
Applicant
. The owner of land proposed
				to be developed or its representative who shall have express written authority
				to act on behalf of the owner.
Bikeway
. Way designed to be used
				principally or exclusively by a bicycle or similar non-motorized vehicle. May
				also include designated bicycle routes within paved street shoulders abutting
				vehicular travelways.
Bordering Vegetated Wetlands
. As
				defined in M.G.L. c. 131, the Wetlands Act and (
				310 CMR
				10.00.
Buffer Zone (Wetlands)
. This zone is
				the area of land extending 100 feet radially landward from the boundary of any
				Resource.
Building Official
. The professionally
				credentialed person (under 780 CMR R7:
Certification of Inspectors of
				Buildings, Building Commissioners and Local Inspectors
) appointed by
				the DEC to act as either the Building Inspector or, if qualified by the
				licensing authority of the Commonwealth, the Building Commissioner.
By-laws
. The Devens By-laws enacted
				November 18, 1994.
Collector Street
. A Major Collector
				will serve as a principal boulevard for all types of traffic and will connect
				to a general access gate, which in turn connects to a State Highway or arterial
				roadway outside Devens. A Minor Collector is a street that connects to a Major
				Collector, serving primarily local traffic generated by the developed sites
				with frontage on that collector.
Critical Edge
. The portions of a lot
				visible from a public road, or a Residential or Open Space & Recreation
				Zoning District. Critical edges require the highest level of screening.
Dead End Streets/Cul-de-sacs
. A street
				or portion of a street that joins another street at only one end, usually
				terminating in a radius of sufficient dimension to accommodate the maneuvering
				of fire protection vehicles .
DEP
: Massachusetts Department of
				Environmental Protection.
Determination of Completeness (DOC)
. A
				determination by the Director that the Submission conforms with the Plan Form
				and Contents and the Submission Requirements of the applicable 974 CMR and
				includes a Statement of Consistency with the Reuse Plan and By-laws.
Developer
. See Applicant.
Development Permit
.
				(
See
Unified Permits)
Development Plan
. The set of plans
				submitted for Unified Permitting, consisting of detailed plans, lotting or
				subdivision, wetlands notice of intent or any of the components delineated in
				974 CMR
				1.00. Building plans and architectural drawings are
				separate from development plans.
Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC)
.
				The Commission established by St. 1993, c. 498, § 11 and authorized to
				review and approve Submissions for Unified Permits, other approvals and certain
				licensing responsibilities at Devens.
Devens Enterprise Zone (Devens)
. The
				zone created by St. 1993, c. 498 and designated for redevelopment of the Main
				and North Posts of the former Fort Devens.
Director
. The Land Use Administrator
				or any person or company that s/he designates to assist him/her.
Drain
. A channel or pipe that carries
				drainage water.
Easement
. A right in land acquired by
				public authority or other entity or person to use or control property for a
				utility or other purpose.
Engineer
. A person registered to
				practice engineering in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Erosion
. Removal and loss of soil by
				wind and water due to the scarification and devegetation of the land .
Front
. Any side of a building facing a
				public way. There may be more than one front whena building is located on more
				than one public way.
Gross Floor Area
. The total floor area
				contained within the outer most walls, roof and lowest floor level of any
				building.
Home Business
. A business which is
				carried on entirely within a dwelling unit by the occupants and with no more
				than one full-time equivalent non-resident employee, which is incidental and
				subordinate to the dwelling use, does not alter the exterior of the property,
				or affect the residential character of or have unreasonable impacts on the
				surrounding neighborhood.
Home Occupation
. An occupation,
				profession, activity, or use which is carried on entirely within and only by
				the occupants of a dwelling unit, which is incidental and subordinate to the
				dwelling use, does not have customers and/or clients regularly coming to the
				premises, and does not alter the exterior of the property or affect the
				residential character of the neighborhood.
Improvements
. Public and
				privately-owned facilities that can exist on their own or in conjunction with
				utilities or services. Includes any drainage facility, street, sidewalk, tree,
				landscaping, parking and loading areas, or other facility and the public
				infrastructure. (
See
Public Infrastructure)
Institutional Controls
. Engineering
				and non-engineering measures - usually, but not always legal controls -
				intended to affect human activities in such a way as to prevent or reduce
				exposure to hazardous substances. Examples include; land and resource
				(
e.g
. water) use and deed restrictions, well-drilling
				prohibitions, building permits and well use advisories and deed notices.
Lane
. A street designed to access 12
				or fewer residential dwellings units and accommodates traffic generated by
				those units only.
Levels of Review
. The level or
				threshold that is applicable to a specific land use action or endorsement, as
				prescribed within the Devens By-laws. Level One reviews are conducted by the
				Director or designated and qualified staff.
Limit of Work
. Boundary beyond which
				no development work may take place.
Local Street
. A street that provides
				direct access to abutting properties only; includes cul-de-sacs and loop
				streets.
Lot
. A parcel of land intended to be a
				unit for development created by lease, conveyance, option or for transfer of
				ownership, whether immediate or future, and capable of being shown on a Plan
				that can be recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
Lot, Corner
. A parcel of land at the
				junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting streets.
Major Collector Street
. Principal
				boulevard or other primary street, designed to carry the highest levels of
				traffic.
MassDevelopment
. The State agency that
				is the designated owner, marketer, developer and overseer of the public
				infrastructure and the provider of municipal-type services within the Devens
				Enterprise Zone, under St. 1993, c. 498.
Minor Collector Street
. A secondary
				street often connecting to a major collector street.
Non Critical Edges
. Those lot edges
				which are not visible from a public way or a Residential or Open Space &
				Recreation Zoning District and contain no parking, loading or open
				storage.
Nonsignificance
. Resource Areas and
				Bordering Vegetated Wetlands are presumed to be significant (for example, play
				a role to protect) to the interests of St. 1993, c. 498, the By-laws, and
				974 CMR
				3.00. Owner: The record owner, including any person,
				firm, corporation or any other legal entity having legal title to or sufficient
				proprietary interest in the land for which permitting is sought from the
				DEC.
Public Infrastructure
. Publicly owned
				facilities, utilities and services maintained and operated by MassDevelopment,
				including structures necessary to provide water, gas or electric power service,
				lighting, wastewater disposal, stormwater runoff, and fire protection.
Record of Decision (ROD)
. The written
				decision of the DEC or the Director regarding a permit Submission.
Resource Areas
. Areas Subject to
				Protection under the wetlands provisions of the By-laws and 974 CMR.
				Definitions of specific Resource Areas are contained in
				974 CMR
				3.00, M.G.L. c. 131 and
				310 CMR
				10.00.
Right-of-way
. The total area of a
				street in public ownership; may encompass the travelway, shoulder, sidewalks,
				planting strips and unimproved areas beyond.
Screening
. A visually impermeable
				year-round barrier.
Setback
. The required minimum
				horizontal distance between the building line and the related front, side, or
				rear property line measured from the property line to the nearest edge of the
				structure.
Subdivision
. The division of a tract
				of land into two or more lots for the purpose of sale or development (whether
				immediate or future) and including all divisions of land involving the
				dedication of a new street or a change in existing streets.
Subdivision Control Law
. M.G.L. c. 41,
				§§ 81K through 81GG.
Submission
. The application to the DEC
				for a permit.
Surveyor
. A person registered to
				practice land surveying in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Towns
. The Selectmen and Planning
				Boards of Ayer, Harvard and Shirley.
Travelway
. The portion of a
				right-of-way that carries vehicular traffic and is constructed and paved to
				accommodate such vehicular flow.
Unified Development Permit (Unified
				Permit/Permit)
. The Unified Permit is the mechanism by which the
				DEC may authorize development to proceed and is a consolidation of components
				(site plan approval, wetlands protection, zoning variances, subdivision with a
				new road, and so forth).
Utilities
. Private and Municipal
				services, which include sanitary sewers, storm water drainage systems, water
				supply piping, fire alarm conduits, natural gas, electric, telephone and cable
				television lines and all appurtenances to these systems.
Vote
. A majority of a quorum of the
				DEC, unless otherwise stipulated in the By-laws.
Waiver
. A modification to a Submission
				Requirement or a Design Standard.
Way, Public
. Any street that has been
				accepted or declared to be a public way by MassDevelopment or is accepted as a
				public way pursuant to St. 1993, c. 498 or any way established by Court Decree
				to be a public way by dedication, prescription or otherwise.
Yard, Front
. A space extending the
				full width of the lot between any building and the front lot line, and measured
				perpendicular to the building at the closest point to the front lot line. Such
				front yard is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward except as may
				be permitted elsewhere in the By-laws or 974 CMR.
Yard, Rear
. A space extending the full
				width of the lot between the principal building and the rear lot line, and
				measured perpendicular to the building at the closest point to the rear lot
				line. Such rear yard is unoccupied and unobstructed from the ground upward
				except as may be permitted elsewhere in the By-laws or 974 CMR.
Yard, Side
. A space extending from the
				front yard to the rear yard between the principal buildingand the side lot line
				measured perpendicular from the side lot to the closest point to the rear lot
				line of the principal building. Such side yard is unoccupied and unobstructed
				from the ground upward except as may be permitted elsewhere in the By-laws or
				974 CMR.