Terms and Definitions continued: M-Z
Mass transit - Travel by a public transportation system such as bus or subway.
Mixed use - Multiple land uses in the same structure or same general area of a community
Neotraditional Planning - The pragmatic mix of traditional urban development patterns and styles with the requirements of the modern community.
New Urbanism - A movement to reexamine the basic development patterns of our communities and to rediscover the planning and design practices responsible for creating the traditional development patterns of Massachusetts.
Open space - The non-built environment.
Open Space Bond Account - An open space (or serial)
bond is a dedicated fund, approved by town meeting vote or by the city council, for land protection. The funding is derived through the issuance of municipal general obligation bonds, which can be issued incrementally over time as projects demand. The bond costs are paid for from the municipal real estate tax base. An override is typically required. Advantages of an open space bond are that costs can be spread over time, municipal borrowing rates are very low, having a reliable source of funds will make negotiations with landowners easier and other sources of funding can be leveraged (state, federal or private). Open Space Bonds can be authorized for any amount and have been passed recently on the North Shore at five (Boxford and West Newbury) to ten million dollars (Ipswich). All three towns have found the Open Space Bond to be a very effective open space protection tool.
Open Space Plan - A municipal plan, created through a public process and updated every 5 years, which outlines specific goals, objectives, and actions for acquiring and preserving open space for its multiple public benefits: ecological, recreational, economic, and aesthetic.
Open Space Residential Design – Open Space Residential Design, also known as " cluster development" or " conservation subdivision design is a process by which a significant portion of a residential subdivision is set as aside as permanently protected open space while maintaining conventional subdivision housing densities. Learn more at: www.greenneighborhoods.org
Operating Costs - Costs directly related to the operation, maintenance, repair, and management of a property and the utilities that service it.
Orthophoto - A stereoscopic aerial picture.
Overlay District - A zoning code or district that is available as an option to the underlying zoning.
Parcel - A portion of a subdivision.
Pedestrian scale - An urban development pattern where walking is safe and efficient
Plan - A method of action as text, drawing, or map.
Progressive Cluster or Planned Unit Development (PUD) - PUDs are an extremely flexible development type characterized by mixed land uses and variations within uses, such as single-family homes alongside townhouses and retail. Often parks, trails, and common spaces are integrated into the site plan. Unique approaches to roadways, circulation and parking can also be proposed. In general, when considering a PUD application the reviewing board works with the applicant to achieve a superior design outside the normal constraints of existing zoning. Many traditional New England town centers, if built today, would be classified as PUDs. While great projects often result from this process, the reviewing board must reserve enough authority to deny an ill-conceived PUD.
Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) - A town may purchase land outright or acquire only the development rights to ensure that important parcels remain in current uses (e.g., farming, forestry), or at least protect the land from irreversible development. A good beginning to a PDR program is the formation of a land trust or alignment with an existing area land trust in order to have an organization to be entrusted with development rights (held through recorded Conservation Restrictions).
Redevelopment - The redesign or rehabilitation of existing properties
Renovation - The process of bringing back a structure or landscape to its original state.
Restoration - The process of upgrading an existing building usually while attempting to keep the same general appearance of the building.
Right of Way - The easement dedicated to a municipal use on either side of a publicly owned street.
Rural/Suburban Roads Designation - This zoning bylaw establishes criteria for what is a " rural" road (narrow, steep, dirt surface, poor drainage characteristics, etc.), and what is a " suburban" road (meets town requirements for width, grades, surface, drainage, etc.). Development is allowed to proceed with the normal frontages and densities if the new lots front on, or the proposed new street connects to, a suburban road. However, the required frontage and lot size are increased if the proposal is on a rural road. As such, lower densities and a more rural character can be accomplished with the rural road option – a tradeoff between lot size and road construction. The applicant may provide upgrades to a deficient road to bring it up to suburban standards, and thereafter would be able to proceed with normal development.
Scenic Roads Designation - Individual scenic roads can be specifically designated by towns pursuant to M.G.L. c. 40, § 15C. Any work in the public road right-of-way, such as maintenance, installation of utilities or sidewalks, widening or creating driveway entrances, that involves the cutting of trees or altering of a stone wall is subject to the bylaw. Such
work, including that proposed by the local Department of Public Works, is subject to a public hearing and must receive planning board approval. If a Scenic Roads Bylaw is adopted, fines may be assessed for violations. (General or zoning bylaw)
Setback - The required distance measured from the right-of-way in which construction may not encroach.
Sewer and Water Service Controls - Town water and sewer hookups may be granted only in furtherance of the town’ s growth management objectives in the master plan, and not necessarily ad hoc to a prospective subdivider who proposes putting in a half mile of connector line. The Subdivision Control Law gives planning boards authority to regulate the provision of these services in the course of their review of a subdivision (M.G.L. c. 41, § 81-M). This should be done in consultation with the Department of Public Works and board of health, and there must be detailed language in the town’ s own subdivision regulations to this effect. A better approach is a delineated sewer/water service district on the zoning map, with a special permit available for certain extensions
outside of that limit.
Site Coverage - The percentage of a site that is covered by the built environment.
Sprawl - Low-density development on the edge of cities and towns, poorly planned, land consumptive, auto-dependent, and designed without respect to its surroundings.
Stakeholders - Those people who are or will be affected by a real estate development.
Stormwater Regulations - Storm water regulations are intended to protect the public and environmental health by providing adequate protection against pollutants, flooding, siltation, and other drainage problems. Both Massachusetts DEP and US EPA regulate stormwater in Massachusetts. In addition, municipalities may have local drainage, wetland, or other ordinances that regulate stormwater, as granted by home-rule legislation.
Subdivision - The division of land into individual parcels.
Subdivision Control Law - The Subdivision Control Law is a comprehensive statutory scheme designed for the safety, convenience, and welfare of the inhabitants of the cities and towns. It accomplishes this purpose by, among other things, regulating the laying out and construction of ways in subdivisions.
Sustainability - Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. As defined by the Brundtland Commission, 1987.
Topography - The physical features, including the configuration, of a landscape.
Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) - A basic unit of the New Urbanism which contains a center that includes a public space and commercial enterprise an identifiable edge, ideally a five minute walk from the center a mix of activities and variety of housing types an interconnected network of streets usually in a grid pattern, high priority of public space, with prominently located civic buildings and open space that includes parks, plazas, squares.
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) - A mixed-use community within walking distance of a transit stop that mixes residential, retail, office, open space, and public uses in a way that makes it convenient to travel on foot or by public transportation instead of by car.
Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) TDR is similar to Open Space Residential Design, except it operates on a town-wide or regional scale instead of a parcel scale. Development rights (to build houses, for example) are " transferred" from land in areas deemed worthy of protection (best agricultural soils, scenic, historic, environmentally sensitive, etc.) and applied to lands better suited for development (access to public sewer/water, near town center, etc.). The " sending" zones then remain undeveloped while the " receiving" zones are developed more intensely. Like Open Space Design, this technique works best if the underlying density in the sending zones is low. However, problems can arise from routing too much density into the receiving areas (infrastructure overload, objections from existing residents), or from the lack of administrative staff to run the program. A community should have at least a town planner in order to implement a TDR program.
Upland Requirement for Building Lots - In addition to the basic area requirement for building lots in the zoning, an upland requirement stipulates that a certain percentage of the lot’ s minimum area must be dry land (e.g., not a wetland). This measure prevents development of " islands in the
swamp" and reduces the likelihood of human encroachment into wetland areas and their buffer zones. Municipalities should think about what there wetlands and dry land are and make sure that there definition is comprehensive.
Up-Zoning - Up-Zoning, the opposite of Down-Zoning, permits more intensive land uses and/or requires less land area to support a given development type or use. More housing types and mixes of uses can be accommodated, and significant economies of scale are realized. The opportunity for increased density is an incentive to encourage development in appropriate areas for growth (e.g., public sewer/water service, near town centers, on land free from environmental or cultural constraints), thereby lessening development pressures elsewhere. Up-Zoning can be used hand in hand with Down-Zoning in a community to focus development in appropriate areas while limiting the intensity of growth in sensitive areas. Even this comprehensive approach can be challenging, as wholesale zoning changes will affect the rights of many property owners.
Urban Growth Boundary - A planning tool used to set the maximum extent of an area to be developed.
Variance - A special permission to vary a physical structure or use a property in a way normally prohibited by existing zoning.
Vernacular - The traditional architecture of a region, frequently developed in response to the climate, land conditions, or culture of a region.
Viewshed - Everything visible from a particular vantage point.
Visual Preference Survey - Photographic images of various planning and design elements, accompanied by questionnaires and other analysis techniques. Developed by Anton Nelessen.
Village Center Zoning - Village Center Zoning is a defined zoning district for the purpose of creating or perpetuating the characteristics of a small-scale mixed use town center or in the case of West Gloucester, more intense residential development without amenities. The standards of the district with respect to allowed uses, dimensions and setbacks, parking, signs, lighting and landscaping should be modeled after either the existing downtown or other, successful village centers. The goal is to create a dynamic mix of commercial, residential, governmental and civic uses that will make the downtown an attractive place to live, work and visit.
Village Incentive – a district created to perpetuate and encourage a mixed-use village center.
Watershed - The land area drained by a stream or river.
Water Supply or Aquifer Protection Zoning - In order to protect surface drinking water supplies and/or public wells, towns may create protective zoning districts aligned with the land areas that contribute water to these supplies. The density of development allowed in the district is often set lower than in other areas of town and Open Space Residential Design may be the required form of residential development. In addition, impervious land cover, such as parking lots and buildings, is limited (e.g., ten percent or less of any lot’ s area), and certain land uses, such as auto repair, salvage yards, and commercial petroleum storage, are prohibited. A plan may also be put in place to acquire land within the district.
Wetland - Land that is transitional between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Wetland Protection - The Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (M.G.L. c. 131, § 40) provides basic protection to certain wetland resources across the Commonwealth, causing many towns to augment it by adopting a local wetlands bylaw. If they are reasonable and implemented properly by the conservation commission, these bylaws can shield the town from superseding orders from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and will allow for more extensive protection of resource areas, especially isolated wetlands, vernal pools, and associated buffer zones. (Adopted as a general bylaw by simple majority vote at town meeting)
Zoning Enabling Act – see Chapter 40A
Zoning - A legal mechanism for local governments to prevent conflict land use and promote orderly development by regulating the use of privately owned land through enforcement
Note: These definitions were taken in part from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Community Preservation Initiative Glossary. For additional information go to:
Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Community Preservation Initiative Glossary
Massachusetts Department of Community Housing and Development
American Planning Association
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