Purpose. The use regulations in this article are intended to allow flexibility of land use to encourage business development that is consistent with the character and scale of Amenia's hamlets, neighborhoods, and rural areas. In reviewing applications for special permits and site plan approval, the Planning Board shall impose any conditions that may be necessary to ensure that a proposed use will be compatible with its surroundings. The Planning Board shall deny any proposed use which does not satisfy the criteria in this chapter.

Use restrictions and use table. No structure or land shall be used except as provided in the Use Table below.[1] See § 121-74 for definitions of the use categories. In the event that a particular proposed use does not fit into one of the categories shown on the Use Table and is not prohibited by § 121-10C below, it may be allowed by special permit issued by the Town Board. The meaning of the symbols on the table is as follows.[2]

Prohibited uses. Any use, whether or not listed in the Use Table, is prohibited if it does not satisfy the standards and criteria in §§ 121-40 and 121-63. The following uses are prohibited under all circumstances (existing uses may be continued pursuant to the nonconforming use provisions of Article VI): heavy industry, asphalt plants, facilities for disposal of hazardous or radioactive material, and, except as provided in § 121-50, solid waste management facilities as defined in Article XII, including but not limited to the use of solid waste or material that has previously been part of the solid waste stream (whether or not it has a "beneficial use designation" from DEC) as fill. Any such specifically prohibited use which when initiated was not listed as a permitted or special permit use in the Town of Amenia Zoning Law (and was therefore initiated in violation of the Zoning Law) shall not be protected as a nonconforming use by the provisions of Article VI.

Accessory uses. Uses customarily incidental and subordinate to principal uses shown on the Use Table shall be allowed on the same terms as the principal uses, whether or not on the same lot, unless otherwise indicated on the Use Table. Noncommercial recreational use shall be permitted as an accessory use in all districts.

Mixed use. The Town of Amenia encourages the mixing of uses where such mixing does not create land use conflicts. Accordingly, all special permit and/or site plan reviews for the same project shall be consolidated into one proceeding before the Planning Board (except where the Town Board or Zoning Board of Appeals has jurisdiction over a special permit).

Change of use or structure. A change of use is the initiation of a use that is in a different use category, as listed on the Use Table, from the existing use of the site or structure. A change of ownership, tenancy, or occupancy, or a change from one use to another within the same category, shall not be considered a change of use, unless the change would result in the enlargement or addition of a sign or an increase of more than 20% in vehicle trip generation as indicated in current trip generation rates contained in the publications Trip Generation or Trip Generation Handbook published by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE).

Rebuilding, replacement, and expansion of structures. The rebuilding or replacement on the same footprint of any structure for a use which requires site plan review (PS) and/or a special permit (S) shall require site plan review, even if it is a continuation of the same use.

Special site design and operational considerations in the OC District.

Small-scale business uses in the RA and RR districts. Residential structures in the RA and RR Districts that were in existence as of the date of adoption of this chapter (July 19, 2007) may be used for office, restaurant, retail, and service business uses by special permit, provided that their exterior appearance is not significantly modified and that the business use does not occupy more than 5,000 square feet of floor space. New structures not exceeding 5,000 square feet in floor space may be built that comply with this section, provided that they maintain a residential appearance and that all parking areas are screened from view from adjoining properties and public roads. Any changes to an existing structure or construction of a new structure shall take into consideration the design guidelines referred to in § 121-5. The uses allowed by this Subsection I may only be permitted if they have frontage on and access to a state or county highway, except that if such a use previously existed in a location with frontage on and access to a Town road, and its nonconforming use status has lapsed, such use may be reestablished in conformance with this Subsection I.

Purpose. The regulations in this section are intended to encourage the preservation of Amenia's open space, while providing opportunities for needed housing and business uses. This is accomplished by clustering development in nodes surrounded by open space and, where practical, in the traditional compact pattern found in the Town's hamlets. This chapter contains flexible regulations for density and lot dimensions and encourages the use of open space development (including conservation subdivision) as an alternative to conventional subdivision to preserve significant amounts of open space. See Article V for standards for open space development.

Dimensional table. The following table is hereby adopted and will be referred to as the "Dimensional Table."[1]

Minimum floor area. The minimum floor area of a dwelling unit shall be the minimum required by the Building Codes of the State of New York.

Minimum lot sizes in HM and HR Districts and conservation subdivisions. Minimum lot sizes in the HM and HR Districts and in conservation subdivisions shall be as shown below, provided that such lots comply with all applicable public health requirements and that all common water and sewage disposal facilities are managed by entities which the Planning Board deems adequate to protect public health on a long-term basis. Minimum lot sizes for such lots shall be:

Impervious surface flexibility. In the course of site plan, special permit, area variance, or subdivision approval, an applicant may request permission to exceed the maximum impervious surface requirements through the use of partially permeable materials that allow for some infiltration of water into the ground. Such permission may be granted by the reviewing board only if the applicant demonstrates that the use of such materials will result in at least as much groundwater infiltration and no more stormwater runoff from the site than would occur if the applicant complied with the limitations in the Dimensional Table using impervious materials.

Two-family dwellings.

Multifamily and age-restricted.

Accessory apartments and accessory residential structures. One accessory apartment per attached or detached single-family dwelling may be located in an accessory structure or a principal building as provided in the Use Table.[2] The accessory apartment shall not be counted as a residential unit for purposes of determining density. A building permit shall not be granted for an accessory apartment without approval or certification from the Dutchess County Department of Health of the adequacy of the septic system to accommodate both the primary and accessory structures.

Multiple residences on a lot. A lot may contain more than one principal residential structure and accessory apartment, provided that the lot has sufficient acreage to comply with applicable density requirements. Such a lot may not be later subdivided unless the subdivided lots conform to the dimensional regulations in effect when the subdivision is proposed. If a lot is proposed to have more than two principal residential structures, site plan approval shall be required from the Planning Board.

Open space requirement. Applicants for residential development in an HR or HM District shall provide a payment in lieu of providing recreational land (recreation fee) unless the development parcel is at least 10 acres and the applicant provides at least 15% of the land as publicly accessible open space in the form of squares, greens, parks, playgrounds, and/or trails. Open space requirements for the MCO and RDO districts are contained in §§ 121-16 and 121-18. Recreation fees shall also be charged for single-family and multifamily dwelling units in these districts, unless the applicant can demonstrate that all of the recreational needs of residents of the development will be provided on site. Recreation fees shall not be charged for any units designated as workforce housing.

Multifamily dwellings. Multifamily dwellings shall have their front entrances on an existing or new street, with parking behind the buildings. Multifamily dwellings may take the form of rowhouses, townhouses, apartment buildings, hotel-condominiums, mixed-use buildings containing apartments, or any other form, such as three-family and four-family houses, provided that they fit into the traditional architectural character of Amenia, as determined by the Planning Board.

Apartments in mixed-use buildings. Apartments are encouraged to be located in the upper stories of buildings that have retail or service commercial on the ground floor, in the manner of traditional hamlet main streets.

Design guidelines. TND development shall, to the extent practical, follow the "Hamlet Design Guidelines" and Greenway Connections referred to § 121-5. The Town Board may adopt additional design standards or guidelines to assist in the administration of this § 121-12.1. An applicant may substitute proposed architectural covenants or a form-based code with design standards in lieu of following these guidelines. Such covenants or code may also substitute for the requirements in Subsections E and F of this section.

Setbacks and build-to lines. Maximum setbacks and build-to lines may be established at the time of site plan approval, in conformance with the practices found in traditional hamlets, and shall supersede otherwise applicable setbacks in the Dimensional Table.[1]

Streets and blocks. Streets shall generally be interconnected, and permanent culs-de-sac shall only be permitted where wetlands, watercourses, or steep slopes make street interconnections impractical. In such cases, pedestrian paths and public stairways shall be provided where possible. The average area of a block shall not exceed 2.5 acres. Applicants shall show street cross sections demonstrating compliance with TND principles. All streets shall be offered for dedication to the Town, and no street shall be gated. The requirements for streets in the Town's road specifications shall be waived if such waivers are necessary to permit street designs in traditional hamlet character.

Consultants. For all development under the regulations in this § 121.12.1, the Town shall retain design experts with specific expertise in TND development as necessary to review the application and ensure that it complies with the principles contained in the Charter of the New Urbanism.

Applicability to the MCO and RDO Districts. Development in the MCO and RDO Districts shall conform to the requirements of this § 121-12.1 with the following exceptions: