ZONING BYLAW - Town of Charlton

Restorative Care/Skilled Nursing Facilities under this section of the bylaw must obtain all
applicable permits and licenses required by any agency of the United States of America,
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Town of Charlton.
Dwelling Unit-As used in this section 5.11, and notwithstanding the definition of
“Dwelling Unit” set forth in section 2.1 of this Zoning Bylaw, the term “Dwelling Unit”
shall mean one or more living or sleeping rooms arranged for the use of one or more
individuals living as a single housekeeping unit with individual or congregate cooking,
living, sanitary and sleeping facilities, excluding mobile homes and trailers. The intent of
this definition is to define a “home” with private sleeping rooms rather than a dormitory
arrangement of sleeping quarters.
General Requirements
An application for a Senior Living Development Special Permit must conform to the
following standards:
1. Occupancy of dwelling units shall be limited to persons fifty-five (55) years of
age or older.
2. The minimum tract size shall be 10 acres.
3. All dwelling units must be served with public water service and be connected to
the public sewerage system. Subject to all other applicable bylaws, rules and
regulations of the Town, including, without limiting the foregoing, those of the
Board of Health and the Water & Sewer Commission, an on-site waste treatment
facility (package treatment plant), approved by the Mass. Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP), may be substituted for public sewer, and an
onsite water supply system may be substituted for public water, if the Town
Water & Sewer Commission deems the connection to public water service or
public sewer service to be infeasible.
4. A minimum of 30% of the parcel shown on the development plan shall be
contiguous open space, excluding required yards and buffer areas. Not more than
25% of the open space shall be wetlands, as defined pursuant to MGL Chapter
131, Section 40. The open space shall be subject to the conditions set forth in
Section 5.7-Flexible Development provided that the term “senior living
development” shall be substituted for the term “flexible development” in said
conditions.
5. A minimum of 10% of the total units shall be affordable in perpetuity. For the
purposes of this section “Affordable Units” shall be defined as units affordable to
people or families with incomes as set by the Department of Housing and
Community Development (DHCD) for this purpose. Affordable units shall be
dispersed throughout the development and shall be indistinguishable from market
Charlton Zoning Bylaw, 09/2012 66