[Massplanners] Private Roads and Waivers

[Nipun Jain]

The Rules and Regulations should apply equally to private or public ways. The form of ownership should not be the reasoning for grant of waivers alone. Our planning board considers waivers for relief from required finished materials, say bituminous vs concrete sidewalks. We typically request an engineering and/or safety analysis before granting a waiver from design and construction standards, e.g. width of roadway.

Alternatively, the Board could adopt a set of design standards that would apply to private ways only, in certain situations. Example - sidewalks on one side (rural character, protect environmental/natural resources areas, etc); No grass strip, LID stormwater management systems vs traditional drainage systems. Curbing. The point is, the alternative design standards should be spelled in the regulations to the greatest extent possible.

NIPUN JAIN
Director of Planning
T (978) 388-8110
C (978) 270-9873


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From: MassPlanners <massplanners-bounces at masscptc.org> On Behalf Of Richard Clark via MassPlanners
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2023 12:22 PM
To: massplanners at masscptc.org
Subject: [Massplanners] Private Roads and Waivers

Hello All,

When an applicant proposes a Private Way (Road) our Planning Board is all too willing to grant any number of waivers for things that our Rules and Regulations would not allow for a Public Way.

A case in point being road width. The Rules and Regulations call for minimum 26 feet, but we are likely to consider just about anything when it comes to a Private Road. The justification I hear again and again is that it's a Private Road and oh, yes, we allowed this or a similar width for this or that Private Road in the past.

What good are Rules and Regulations if they don't apply to Private Roads? Worse yet, these Private Road waivers are seen as precedents or justification for granting waivers when it comes to Public Ways.

Does anyone know of any case law or any statute that would apply?

Thank you,
Richard Clark, Town of Dudley, Planning Board




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