DEFINITION
of FAMILY SUITE
An accessory dwelling unit located
within a single family dwelling subordinate in size to the principle
unit and separated from it in a manner that maintains the appearance
of a single family dwelling. The family suite may only be occupied
by brothers, sisters, maternal parents and grandparents, paternal
parents and grandparents, in-laws and or children of the residing
owners of the principle dwelling unit.
A
FAMILY SUITE is allowed
as an accessory use, attached to a single family dwelling in
residential zones including Cluster Developments, in accordance with
the following required findings:
1.)
The family suite shall contain a maximum floor area of 800
square feet and shall not contain more than one bedroom. Common
entry’s and open decks shall not be included in the 800 SF
calculation.
2.)
The family suite shall be contiguous with the single family
dwelling with direct access or connected with a common enclosed
entry.
3.)
The family suite shall not have its own front door, however
may have a side or rear exit with an open deck and egress.
4.)
Any structural addition of a family suite meets all front,
side and rear setbacks and lot coverage requirements for the zone.
5.)
There are no more than two (3) related persons as occupants.
6.)
A minimum of one additional off-street parking space shall be
provided, however, a separate driveway is not permitted.
7.)
Annual Certification by notarized affidavit shall be provided
to the Building Commissioner that one of the two dwelling units
shall be occupied by the owner of the property, except for bona fide
temporary absence.
8.)
The Family Suite shall be subject to review and approval by
the Board of Health as to sanitary wastewater disposal in full
conformance with the provisions of 310 CMR 15.00 (Title V of the
State Environmental Code).
9.)
Only one Family Suite may be constructed onto any dwelling.
10.)
Subordination Agreements (as required) and Restriction
Agreements shall be completed by the applicant, submitted to the
Building Commissioner, then approved and recorded at the North
Middlesex Registry of Deeds by Town Counsel.
11.) Nothwithstanding
anything else contained herein to the contrary, nothing herein shall
be constructed as to require a family suite to be under its own
roof.
FURTHER REQUIREMENTS
1.) A Building Permit
Application to be completely filled out by owner or owner's agent.
2.) A certified plot plan
shall be submitted showing all buildings existing and proposed with
all measurements, setbacks and driveways.
3.) Three (3) complete sets
of drawings shall be submitted and approved first by the Fire
Department.
4.) IF APPLICABLE, approval
form the Board of Health on the septic system.
5.) Two documents, one marked
Restriction and the other marked Subordination Agreement shall be
made out by your attorney (typed or written legibly) and returned to
the Building Department. The Tewksbury Town Counsel shall
review the information thereon and if correct, will record same in
the Registry of Deeds. NO BUILDING PERMIT SHALL BE ISSUED
UNTIL THIS IS COMPLETED.
6.) A CHECK FOR $500.00 MADE
PAYABLE TO THE TOWN OF TEWKSBURY IS DUE FOR THE FILING FEE, ALONG
WITH THE CHECK FOR THE BUILDING PERMIT, AT THE TIME THE PERMIT IS
ISSUED.
Non-variable- The
forgoing required findings shall not be varied.
The following pages contain
information regarding the restriction agreements and subordination
agreements that must be included in your “FAMILY SUITE’ package.
These sample documents are available on disk at the Building
Department or we can E-mail them to you.
ATTENTION APPLICANTS FOR
FAMILY SUITE PERMIT
The enclosed
restriction document and subordination agreement are forms that must
be completed prior to a building permit being issued to construct a
family suite. The forms are SAMPLE legal documents, which may
have to be modified for your individual use. The documents will be
recorded at the Registry of Deeds and affect your legal rights. We
strongly urge you to obtain independent legal counsel to obtain the
information and prepare the forms, to assure that the proper
information is obtained and provided. Incomplete or incorrect
information (names/dates, etc.) will cause forms to be returned and
the process will extend the time and cost. Please do not expect
Building Department personnel, or Town Counsel, to help you complete
these forms.
The forms must be typed and
should not contain cross outs or arrows.
The names of individuals and/or
banks or other financial institutions should remain consistent on
the forms.
RESTRICTION AGREEMENT
SUBORDINATION AGREEMENT
Return the completed forms to
the Building Department, we will forward them to Town Counsel for
review and HE will record the documents at the
Registry of Deeds. Please allow at least two weeks for this
process.
A Subordination Agreement must
be executed for all outstanding mortgages on the property. If a
mortgage has been paid, a discharge for the mortgage must be
recorded at the Registry of Deeds.
Applications submitted by realty
trusts or other entities, must contain written representations
signed by all of the trustees of the realty trust, stating that all
trustees of the realty trust reside on the subject premises and that
the realty trust is established merely for ownership purposes and is
not conducted as a business or has business purposes.
If your land is registered land,
the Certificate of Title must be made available for the recording of
the restriction and subordination agreement.
Subordination agreements should
be submitted with a copy of the authorization which grants authority
to the person signing the subordination agreements. Also the
mortgagee should provide the family suite applicant with the
recording information (i.e. book/page) of the recorded authorization
specifying authority to execute subordination agreements.
Any communication concerning
family suite permits should be directed to the Building Department.
(Revised 05/25/01)
