What is an "Approval Not Required" plan?

Most subdivisions involve multiple lots on a larger parcel of land with the construction of a roadway. In some cases, single lots can be carved out of a larger lot or there can be a land swap between neighbors that does not require a full subdivision plan because the lots will meet all of the dimensional requirements of the current zoning as it applied to frontage requirements. In that case the term "approval not required" actually means "approval not required under the Subdivision Control Law." In that instance the Planning Board reviews the plan to insure that the plan meets three standards:

• The lots shown on the plan must front on one of three types of ways as specified in Chapter 41, Section 81L, MGL;
• The lots shown on the plan must meet the minimum frontage requirements as specified in Chapter 41, Section 81L, MGL; and
• The Planning Board’s determination that the vital access to the lots as comtemplated by Chapter 41, Section 81L, MGL., otherwise exist.