DRAFT
Zoning Amendment For Carver Planning Board

July 6, 2001

3900. TOWNHOUSE DEVELOPMENT

3910. Purpose:
The purpose of this section is to encourage the preservation of open land for its scenic beauty particularly frontage along public ways, ponds, rivers, wetlands (NEW) and to enhance open space, forestry, and recreational use; to preserve existing agricultural, historical and archeological resources; to protect the natural environment; to protect the value of real property; to promote more sensitive sitting of buildings and better overall site planning; to perpetuate the appearance of Carver's traditional New England landscape; to facilitate the construction and maintenance of streets, utilities, and public services in a more economical and efficient manner; and to promote the development of varied housing opportunities, including housing affordable to low and moderate income families and provide accompanying conveniences, recreational areas and community center facilities.

3920. Applicability:
The tract of single or consolidated ownership at the time of application shall be at least twenty (20) acres in size in the RA and/or HC districts, or at least three (3) acres in the GB and/or V districts. The tract of land seeking the special permit shall be located entirely within one of the districts mentioned above. The application is subject to approval by the Planning Board pursuant to the issuance of a special permit as indicated in Section 2230, the Use Regulation Schedule and also pursuant to the granting of a Site Plan Approval by the Planning Board as indicated in Section 3100. Such special permits shall be acted upon in accordance with the following provisions.

3930. Procedures.
Applicants for Townhouse Development shall file with the Planning Board six (6) copies of a Development Plan conforming to the requirements as indicated in the Rules and Regulations for Townhouse Development.

3940. Number of Dwelling Units.
The number of dwelling units shall be established by having a Net Useable Land Area (NULA) site plan for the overall property submitted to the SPGA. The NULA acreage is established by subtracting all water bodies, wetlands, marshes, bogs and land within a seventy-five (75) foot wetland buffer area to these regulated lands. The remaining upland area is the NULA for the purposes of establishing the number of dwelling units allowed in a townhouse development. In the RA and HC districts, the total number of proposed dwelling units within the development should not exceed one and a half (1.5) units per NULA acre.

In the GB and V districts, the total number of proposed dwelling units within the development shall not exceed two (2) units per NULA acre.

3941. No individual structure within a Townhouse Development shall contain more than four (4) dwelling units.

3942. Ten percent of the total number of dwelling units shall meet the State's affordable housing requirements for low to moderate income. These affordable units shall be marketed through the Carver Housing Authority with resale restrictions to assure continued affordability. Dwelling units reserved for occupancy by persons or families of low to moderate income, or for occupancy by a single individual, shall not be segregated from market rate or larger dwelling units in the Townhouse Development.

3943. Dwelling units shall be varied as to the number of bedrooms. The maximum number of bedrooms allow in a dwelling unit shall be three (3). No more than twenty percent (20%) of the total number of dwelling units shall have 3 bedrooms.

3944. Maximum building height shall not exceed two and one (2 ½) half stories.

 

3950. Open Space Requirements.
In the RA and HC districts a minimum of fifty (50)percent of the of the parcel shown on the Development Plan shall be contiguous open space.
In the GB and V districts a minimum of thirty (30) percent of the parcel shown on the Development Plan shall be contiguous open space. Such open space shall exclude required buffer areas (except where buffer areas are contiguous to said open space area). Such open space may be separated by road(s) and/or railroads constructed within the Townhouse Development.

3951. The required open space shall be used for conservation, historic preservation and education, outdoor education, park purposes, existing agriculture, existing horticulture, forestry, or for a combination of these uses, and shall be served by suitable access for such purposes.

3952. The required open space shall remain unbuilt upon, provided that five percent (5%) of such open space may be paved or built upon for structures accessory to the dedicated use or uses of such open space, community center, pedestrian walks, bike paths, and existing agriculture.

3953. A Contiguous Open Space Area shall be provided. Said contiguous open space area is a large upland open space area(s) at least one -third (1/3) of the minimum required open space. Said contiguous open space shall have at any point the minimum width of 125 ft. This contiguous open space shall not include any land required for building envelopes.

3954. The required open space shall be conveyed in conformance to the requirements provided in the Rules and Regulations.

3955. Any proposed open space, unless conveyed to the Town or its Conservation Commission, shall be subject to a recorded restriction enforceable by the Town, providing that such land shall be perpetually kept in an open state, that it shall be preserved for exclusively existing agricultural, horticultural, educational or recreational purposes, and that it shall be maintained in a manner which will ensure its suitability for its intended purposes.

3960. Design Standards.
The following design standards are required:

3961. Buffer Areas.
All dwellings and structures shall be located a minimum of sixty (60) feet from adjacent properties, and eighty (80) feet from adjacent surface waters or wetlands. Buffer areas shall be retained in their natural vegetative state to the maximum extent feasible, where the 60 foot buffer of natural vegetation is not adequate (in the Planning Board's opinion) to screen the development from adjacent properties the Board may require additional plantings, earthberms and/or fencing.

3962. Building Envelope: All site plans shall located a building envelope radius of forty (40) feet from the outside edge of a townhouse building. Building envelopes shall be clearly shown on all sheets of the development plans. Contiguous open space, ways, lanes and collectors may not be located within the building envelope. Parking, sidewalks, individual unit gardens/lawns etc. may be developed within the building envelope. For the minimum setback between buildings see the following section number 3963.

3963. Architectural style.
Architectural style shall be in harmony with the prevailing character and scale of buildings in the neighborhood and the Town through the use of appropriate building materials, screening, breaks in roof and wall lines, setbacks and other architectural techniques. Variation in detail, style, form and location shall be used (for both the residential units and accessory garages if employed) to provide visual interest and avoid monotony. Proposed buildings shall relate harmoniously to each other with adequate light, air, circulation, and separation between buildings. Adequate separation shall mean a minimum distance of 1.2 times the height of the proposed buildings.

3964. Parking.
The development shall provide two (2) spaces per each unit, plus one (1) visitor parking space for every five (5) units, plus one (1) space for every two hundred (200) square feet of non-residential building area. In cases where the units are provided with a garage and two spaces for each unit on a driveway, the visitor spaces shall not be required. Parking areas shall be screened from public ways and adjacent or abutting properties by building location, fencing and/or dense plantings. Parking areas, including maneuvering space for parking and loading areas, shall not be located within the required buffer areas. No parking shall be allowed on interior roadways.

3965. Internal Roadways.
Roadways within the Townhouse Development shall meet the following classification:

 Classification

 Number of Units

 Pavement Width

 Way

 1-10

 20 Feet

 Lane

 11-40

 22 Feet

 Collector

 41 or greater

 24 Feet

Roadway length and construction details are provided in the Rules and Regulation. The Board may require that existing problems on/or adjacent to the site be mitigated as a condition of approval of the special permit under this section.

3966. Drainage.
Drainage shall be designed so that the rate of run-off shall not be increased, groundwater recharge is maximized, surface and ground water quality is maintained or improved, and neighboring properties will not be adversely affected. The Board may require that existing problems on/or adjacent to the site be mitigated as a condition of approval of the special permit under this section. Drainage facilities are not allowed in the required open space areas and should conform to requirements provided in the Rules and Regulations.

3967. Walkways.
Connecting tree-lined walkways shall be provided between structures, parking areas and abutting public ways (See Rules and Regulations for details). A mixture of different types of shade trees shall be provided along the walkways spaced a minimum of forty (40) feet apart in areas where existing trees cannot be used.

3968. Services.
Exposed storage areas, machinery, service areas, truck loading areas, adequate solid waste disposal facilities, utility buildings and structures and other unsightly uses shall be set back and/or screened to protect neighbors and future residents from said features. Electric, telephone, cable TV, and other such utilities shall be underground.

3969. Lighting.
No building/structure shall be floodlit. Drives, walkways, entryways, and parking areas shall not be illuminated by lights higher than fifteen (15) feet, which shall be shielded to have a total cutoff of all light at less than ninety (90) degrees and a beam cutoff less than seventy-five (75) degrees. The total cutoff of all light shall occur within the property lines of the parcel to be developed.

3970. Decision.
The Planning Board may approve, approve with conditions, or deny an application for a Townhouse Development, after assessing whether the Townhouse Development better promotes the objectives of Section 3710, herein, than would conventional development.

3980. Relation to Other Requirements.
The submittals and permits of this section shall be in addition to any other requirements of the Subdivision Control Law or any other provisions of this Zoning By-law.