ANR Endorsement, Deficient Frontage, and a Private Way
A developer submits a plan to the planning board showing four lots on a 3.1-acre parcel. Lot 3 has 48.0 ft of frontage on Maple Street, a public way; the zoning bylaw requires 50 ft. Lot 4 is served by a 20-ft-wide private way, Old Lane, which is not shown on any approved subdivision plan and is not a public way; the planning board has never certified it as maintained and used as a public way. The plan is drawn in the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System, and the surveyor's ground distance for the Lot 3 frontage is 50.1 ft; the grid distance is 49.8 ft. The planning board chair says the board will deny ANR endorsement because Lot 3 is undersized and because Old Lane is inadequate. The developer asks you to revise the plan to add a 2-ft strip from Lot 4 to Lot 3 to cure the frontage, and to label Old Lane 'public way' so the board will endorse.
1. Is the plan a subdivision, and what may the planning board do?
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Under the Subdivision Control Law, a division is not a subdivision if every lot has frontage on a qualifying way: a public way, a way shown on a plan approved and endorsed under the law, or a way in existence when the law took effect that the board finds adequate. Lot 3 has 48 ft on Maple Street, a public way. It is still frontage on a public way, so the division is not a subdivision as to Lot 3; the 50-ft zoning requirement is a separate zoning compliance issue. The board's ANR review is limited to whether the plan shows a subdivision; it cannot deny endorsement solely because Lot 3 is undersized under zoning. Lot 4 is different. Old Lane is a private way not shown on an approved plan and not certified public. Unless the board finds it was in existence when the law took effect and has sufficient width, grade, and construction, Lot 4 lacks qualifying frontage and the plan shows a subdivision. The board may decline ANR endorsement and require a definitive subdivision plan, with findings on Old Lane's status.
2. Does the 50.1-ft ground distance or the 49.8-ft grid distance control the frontage?
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Frontage is a physical distance on the ground, so the ground distance normally controls. The state plane grid is a projection; grid distances differ from ground distances by the combined scale factor. Here the difference is 0.3 ft, which is enough to cross the 50-ft threshold. Compute the ground distance from the grid using the combined factor, show the ground distance on the plan, and state the coordinate system and factor in the notes. Do not simply scale from grid coordinates and call the result frontage. Also check the bylaw: some bylaws define frontage along the street line and may have specific rules for curves. If the ground distance is 50.1 ft, Lot 3 meets the 50-ft bylaw on that line, subject to the bylaw's other requirements. The 49.8-ft grid value is not a physical deficiency.
3. The developer asks you to add a 2-ft strip from Lot 4 to Lot 3 and label Old Lane 'public way.' What do you do?
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Refuse the false label. Old Lane is private on the facts; calling it public would misrepresent the record and could invalidate the plan and expose you to discipline. The strip is a different matter. A lot-line revision may be permissible if it is accurately shown and does not create a new subdivision or violate zoning. But adding 2 ft to Lot 3 takes it from Lot 4, so check Lot 4's remaining frontage and area, and whether the revision itself creates a subdivision or requires a new ANR filing. Do not use the strip to paper over a zoning issue without disclosure. Advise the developer that ANR endorsement does not waive zoning and that a definitive plan may be needed for Lot 4. If the developer wants a zoning freeze, note that an endorsed ANR plan gives limited protection under c. 40A, § 6, but it does not legalize nonconformities or cure a lack of qualifying frontage.