Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of Medway, Massachusetts

Town of Medway’s own rules

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside Medway town limits; Medway's own Zoning Bylaw (as amended November 10, 2025) governs uses and dimensional standards.

  • Text read from a Planning Board Final Bylaw PDF on the town's file host; current official copy and May 2026 Town Meeting amendments not confirmed.

  “each use, building, or structure shall comply with the standards described in table 2, schedule of dimensional and density regulations, except where otherwise provided in this zoning bylaw.”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Land inside Medway town limits: zoning districts AR-I, AR-II, AR-III, VR, CB, VC, NC, BI, EI, ER, WI appear in Table 2.

  • Table 2 text extraction is garbled; per-district numbers not mapped here (see followups).

  “table 2. dimensional and density regulations requirement minimum lot area (sq. ft.) minimum lot frontage (ft.) (amended 5-10-21) minimum setbacks (ft) c front ar-i 44,000 ar-ii ar-iii vr cb* vc nc bi ei er wi”

• Minimum lot sizeDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Lots inside Medway town limits, by zoning district under Table 2 (single-family districts AR-I and AR-II to be confirmed).

  • Numeric minimum lot areas per district are not reliably extracted; see followups.

  “table 2. dimensional and density regulations requirement minimum lot area (sq. ft.) minimum lot frontage (ft.) (amended 5-10-21) minimum setbacks (ft) c front”

• SetbacksDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Structures inside Medway town limits, by zoning district under Table 2.

  • Front, side and rear setback numbers per district are not reliably mapped from the extracted text; see followups.

  “each use, building, or structure shall comply with the standards described in table 2, schedule of dimensional and density regulations, except where otherwise provided in this zoning bylaw.”

• Lot coverageDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Lots inside Medway town limits, by zoning district under Table 2.

  • Maximum lot coverage percentages are in Table 2 but were not reliably mapped; see followups.

  “each use, building, or structure shall comply with the standards described in table 2, schedule of dimensional and density regulations, except where otherwise provided in this zoning bylaw.”

• Building heightDistrict specific (with conditions)

  Buildings inside Medway town limits, by zoning district under Table 2.

  • Maximum building height figures are in Table 2 but were not reliably mapped; see followups.

  “each use, building, or structure shall comply with the standards described in table 2, schedule of dimensional and density regulations, except where otherwise provided in this zoning bylaw.”

• Accessory dwellingsLimited

  Accessory dwelling units on the same lot as a principal dwelling inside Medway town limits.

  • Separate entrance meeting state building code egress; gross floor area no larger than one-half the principal dwelling or 900 sq ft, whichever is smaller; subject to Section 8.2 and dimensional and parking requirements.

  maximum gross floor area: <= 900 sq ft (or one-half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling, whichever is smaller)

  “(ii) is not larger in gross floor area than one-half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling or 900 square feet, whichever is smaller. (added 5-12-2025)”

• Who permits septicLocal (with conditions)

  Septic systems inside Medway town limits: the Medway Board of Health administers disposal system installer permits and abandonment.

  • Statewide Title 5 (310 CMR 15.000) is the underlying standard; the Board of Health applies it locally.

  “if you would like to disconnect septic systems, you must have a valid disposal system installer's permit from the board of health per 310 cmr 15.019.”

• Septic permitLimited

  Septic system abandonment in Medway town only; permits for installing new systems were not confirmed.

  • Abandonment requires a Board of Health septic abandonment permit with a $75 fee and a valid disposal system installer's permit.

  septic abandonment permit fee: 75 USD

  “septic abandonment permit fee: $75.00 property information property street address”

• Septic inspectionLimited

  Septic system abandonment only; inspection requirements for new systems not confirmed.

  • Board of Health office-use block records an inspection for abandonment.

  “for office use only inspection conducted for abandonment of system on”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Residential subdivisions inside Medway town limits.

  • Subdivisions are approved by the Planning and Economic Development Board under the Medway subdivision rules and regulations.

  “residential subdivisions approved by the board under the medway subdivision rules and regulations.”

• Driveway accessLimited

  Curb cut or vehicular access changes for multi-family, commercial, industrial, institutional or municipal sites; single-family homes are exempt from site plan review.

  • Site plan review exempts single-family and two-family homes, including additions and accessory structures (Section 3.5.3.b).

  “e. a change in curb cuts or vehicular access to a site from a public way”

• Building in a floodplainLimited

  Lots partly within the Medway flood plain district.

  • Flood plain district overlay applies; the lot-area allowance and drainage requirements are conditions of development in the overlay.

  “if any portion of a lot in a single-family residence district (ar-1 and ar-ii) is overlaid by the flood plain district, said portion may be used to meet the minimum lot area regulations of the single-family district.”

• Permit feesPublished (with conditions)

  Septic abandonment permit only; building permit fees not located.

  • Fee applies to the Board of Health septic abandonment permit.

  septic abandonment permit fee: 75 USD

  “septic abandonment permit fee: $75.00 property information property street address”

• Permit processPartial

  Site plan projects in Medway town; the Building Commissioner's permit issuance is conditioned on site plan approval or elapsed review time.

  • Single-family and two-family homes are exempt from site plan review; the general building permit process for them was not located.

  “the building commissioner shall not issue a building permit for any project subject to this section 3.5 unless:”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of Medway or Norfolk County directly.

• Building permit — New single-family home construction inside Medway town limits.
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-builder permit exemption inside Medway town limits.
• Building code adopted — Building code applied to construction inside Medway town limits.
• Inspections — Inspections for new homes inside Medway town limits.
• Certificate of occupancy — Certificate of occupancy for new homes inside Medway town limits.

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.