Carmel City Zoning Code
ARTICLE II
General Use and District Requirements
§ 156-9 Schedule.
No building, structure or lot shall be erected, altered or used in any zoning district except in accordance with the "Schedule of District Regulations" which schedule is hereby adopted and made a part of this zoning chapter.[1] Said schedule may be amended in the same manner as any other part of this zoning chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: Said schedule is included as an attachment to this chapter.
§ 156-10 Compliance required.
In addition to uses specifically prohibited by this chapter and the schedule referred to herein, no building, structure or land shall be used, nor shall any building, structure or part thereof be constructed or altered, nor shall any use of land be changed, where said use, construction or alteration of land, structure or building is intended, arranged or designed to be used in whole or in part for any use or purpose except the uses specifically allowed as a permitted, special use or accessory use for each district in the Schedule of District Regulations. The omission of any use or type of use from said schedule shall be deemed to be an exclusion thereof from all districts. Refer also to § 156-6D, Prohibited uses, of this zoning chapter.
§ 156-11 Buildings, uses and lots; additional standards and exceptions.
Lot for every building. Every building shall be located on a lot and, except for nonresidential buildings in districts where such uses are permitted and where otherwise set forth herein, there shall be not more than one principal building and its accessory buildings on one lot.
Yard and open space for every building. No yard or other open space required for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this zoning chapter shall be considered as providing a required open space or yard for any other building on the same or any other lot.
Subdivision of a lot. No lot shall be formed from part of a lot already occupied by a building unless such building and all yards and open spaces connected therewith and the remaining lot comply with all requirements prescribed by this chapter for the zoning district in which said lot is located. No permit shall be issued for the construction of a building on any new lot thus created, unless such building and lot comply with all the provisions of this chapter, the Subdivision Regulations and all other applicable rules, regulations and codes of the Town of Carmel and the State of New York.
Irregularly shaped lots. Where a question exists as to the proper application of any of the requirements of this chapter to a particular lot or parcel because of the peculiar or irregular shape of the lot or parcel, the Board of Appeals shall determine how the requirements of this chapter shall be applied.
Net lot area.
Whenever the phrase lot area, minimum lot area, or minimum lot size or similar term appears in this zoning chapter, such phrase shall be deemed to be based upon net acreage or net square footage following the exclusion of the lands set forth below. The net lot area, after exclusion of the features set forth above, shall be calculated, and any permissible residential density or nonresidential development of land shall be calculated utilizing the net lot area. Any fractional dwelling unit shall be rounded down to the nearest whole number:
The area of special flood hazard as illustrated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Hazard Boundary maps as those maps now exist or as they may be amended from time to time.
Wetlands, including those regulated by the Town of Carmel, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and/or New York State designated wetlands but excluding the 100-foot regulated adjacent area, as those wetlands now exist or may be found to exist.
Lands under water, such as ponds, lakes, and similar permanent waterbodies.
For slopes equal to or greater than 25% but less than 35%, 50% of said acreage shall be excluded.
For slopes equal to or greater than 35%, 100% of said acreage shall be excluded.
Land encumbered by easements that prohibit any development from occurring within the easement, except where it is determined that said areas can still be used as part of a yard or as part of common open space.
Exceptions. These regulations shall not apply to:
Any new subdivision for single-family lots within the in the LDR zone which conforms to the minimum three-acre lot area requirement, including any cluster subdivision where the density was established using the minimum three-acre lot area requirement.
Any lot occupied by a single-family detached dwelling for which a building permit or certificate of occupancy was issued prior to the effective date of this chapter and which complies with § 156-12, except that these provisions shall apply to any new proposed subdivision of a lot already containing a single-family detached dwelling(s).
Required street frontage. No building permit shall be issued for any structure unless the lot upon which that structure is to be built has frontage of at least 100 feet on a Town, county or state street or highway, which street or highway shall provide safe access, as provided in Town Law, § 280-a. At a cul-de-sac, turnarounds or similar case, a 50-foot frontage is permissible.
Building setbacks. No building erected on any lot need be set back farther from the street line than the average alignment of existing buildings within 250 feet of either side lot line. However, regardless of the alignment of the neighboring buildings, no building erected between two existing buildings on immediately adjacent lots need be set back farther from the street right-of-way lines than said two buildings.
Corner lots. In the case of corner lots, all yards along street lines shall meet the minimum setback required for a front yard. The yards not opposite the front door shall be deemed the side yard, and the yard opposite the front door shall be the rear yard. Lot width and lot depth shall be measured based on the front yard being established as the yard to which the front door faces.
Encroachments.
No porch, deck or balcony may project into any required yard. A terrace attached to a building shall not be considered in the determination of yard requirements or lot coverage; provided, however, that such terrace is unroofed and without walls, parapets or other form of enclosure and shall at no point exceed a height of 12 inches above the ground. A terrace may have a guardrail or fence, not greater than four feet in height, measured from the surface of the terrace.
Projecting horizontal architectural features. Architectural features, such as windowsills, belt courses, chimneys, cornices, eaves or bay windows, shall not project more than three feet into any required yard.
Awnings. No awning or similar weather-shielding features projecting beyond the property line of any lot into the sidewalk shall be erected or maintained on any building unless such awning or feature is at all points in its lowered position at least seven feet above the level of said sidewalk area. No awning or other similar feature may project beyond said property line a distance greater than six feet and shall be firmly affixed to the building.
Sight triangle. At all street intersections, no obstructions to vision exceeding 30 inches in height shall be erected, installed or maintained on any lot within the triangle formed by the street lines on such lot and a line drawn between points along such street lines 30 feet distant from their point of intersection.
Height exceptions.
Chimneys (other than chimneys for central heating plants), flues, ventilators, skylights, towers, bulkheads, water tanks, cooling towers and all other decorative features and necessary mechanical appurtenances and similar features usually carried above the roof level, but excluding telegraph, radio and television transmission or broadcasting antennas, shall be exempt from the height provisions of this chapter, provided that:
The aggregate area covered by all such features, but excluding solar-heating features, shall not exceed 20% of the area of the roof of the building of which they are a part.
The height of each such feature shall not exceed 15 feet above the level of such roof measured at the highest point of such roof.
All such features shall be constructed or enclosed within walls of a material and design deemed by the Planning Board or Building Inspector to be in harmony with that of the main walls of the building of which they are a part.
Where the height of a building conforms to the requirements of this chapter on that side or sides thereof which face(s) the street, but where, due to the topography of the lot, said height is in excess of said requirements along one or more sides of such building other than the side or sides which face(s) the street, the Building Inspector may issue a building permit, provided that at no point along the periphery of the building does the height thereof exceed by 10 feet and/or by one story, the maximum height prescribed by this chapter for the district in which such building is located. (See definition of "height of building" in § 156-8.)
A cable television receiving antenna owned and operated by a public utility franchised by the Town of Carmel shall be exempt from the height provisions of this chapter, provided that it does not exceed a height of 125 feet.
§ 156-12 Pre-existing lots/dwellings.
Any owner of a lot in existence on the effective date of this zoning chapter, which lot is developed with an existing dwelling and held in separate ownership from any adjoining lot, that seeks a building permit to construct an addition or permitted accessory structures regulated herein, shall meet the following minimum requirements. The Building Department shall determine the status of any pre-existing lots/dwellings based on the records on file with the Building Department. The below shall not apply to land which was vacant, or only contained accessory structures and no principal use, on the effective date of this zoning chapter.
Principal Use | Accessory Use | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lot Area (acres) | Min. Front Yard (feet) | Min. Side Yard (feet) | Min. Rear Yd. (feet) | Min. Front Yard (feet) | Min. Side Yard (feet) | Min. Rear Yd. (feet) |
Up to but less than 1/4 | 25 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 10 | 10 |
1/4 to less than 1/2 | 25 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 10 | 10 |
1/2 to less than 1 | 40 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 15 | 15 |
1 or larger | 40 | 25 | 40 | 40 | 20 | 20 |