Croton On Hudson City Zoning Code
ARTICLE VIII
Off-Street Parking, Driveways and Loading Facilities
§ 230-49 Permitted accessory parking.
A.
Off-street parking spaces, open or enclosed, are permitted accessory to any use. One commercial vehicle with less than three-fourths-ton capacity may be parked within a private garage or a lot in any residence district.
B.
Trailers and boats. Use of a trailer by any person or persons is hereby prohibited in all residence districts. One boat may be parked on any occupied lot not nearer than eight feet to the side or rear lot line and not farther than 20 feet from the rear lot line of such lot. No trailer shall be hooked up to any power source in any residence district.
[Amended 5-7-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
C.
Driveways.
(1)
No driveway shall provide access to a lot located in another district, which lot is used for any use prohibited in the district in which such driveway is located.
(2)
The level of a sidewalk may be raised or lowered not more than six inches for the construction of a driveway. The surface of the driveway shall be substantially level where it crosses the sidewalk, and the transitions between sidewalk and driveway levels shall be constructed with gradual and uniform grades.
D.
Sidewalks. As a condition to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, all existing sidewalks must be repaired and left in a safe and presentable condition.
§ 230-50 Permitted accessory loading berths.
Off-street loading berths, open or enclosed, are permitted accessory to any use except residences for one or two families. However, no off-street loading berth shall be located in a front yard, and within a residence district, no loading berth shall be located less than 50 feet from any adjacent residential lot.
§ 230-51 Required off-street parking spaces.
A.
Schedule of requirements. Accessory off-street parking spaces, open or enclosed, shall be provided for any lot as specified in Article VI, District Bulk and Parking Regulations, and as specified below for each use in any district. Any land which is developed as a unit under single ownership and control shall be considered a single lot for the purpose of these regulations.
[Amended 5-7-1990 by L.L. No. 2-1990]
Use | At Least 1 Parking Space for Each | |
|---|---|---|
Places of worship, libraries and other public buildings | 200 square feet of floor area, but not less than 1 space for each 5 seats where provided* | |
Schools | 12 seats or students | |
Hospitals | 2 per bed | |
Sanitariums, nursing homes and homes for the aged | Bed | |
Rooming houses | Guest room | |
Eating and drinking places | 4 seats | |
Theaters | 5 seats | |
Undertakers | 2 employees, plus 5 spaces for each chapel | |
Hotels | Guest room | |
Bowling alleys | 1/2 alley | |
Home occupations or professional offices | 3 spaces for each establishment or practitioner |
*NOTE: The Planning Board may waive these requirements in the case of the expansion of an existing use on a lot occupied by such use prior to December 14, 1961. | ||
B.
Areas computed as parking spaces. Areas which may be computed as open or enclosed off-street parking spaces include any private garage, carport or other area available for parking, other than a street or a driveway. However, a driveway within a required front yard for a one-family or two-family residence may count as one parking space, other than a driveway located on a portion of a corner lot upon which an obstruction may not be placed or maintained under § 230-40C(1).
C.
Location and ownership of required accessory parking facilities. Required accessory parking spaces, open or enclosed, may be provided upon the same lot as the use to which they are accessory or elsewhere, provided that all spaces therein are located within 500 feet walking distance of such lot. In all cases, such parking spaces shall conform to all the regulations of the district in which they are located, and in no event shall such parking spaces be located in any residence district unless the uses to which they are accessory are permitted in such districts or by special permit of the Board of Appeals. Unless otherwise approved by the Planning Board, such spaces shall be in the same ownership as the use to which they are accessory and shall be subject to deed restriction, filed with the County Clerk, binding the owner and his heirs and assigns to maintain the required number of spaces available either:
[Amended 6-4-2012 by L.L. No. 1-2012[1]]
(1)
Throughout the existence of such use to which they are accessory; or
(2)
Until such spaces are provided elsewhere.
[1]
Editor's Note: This local law also repealed L.L. No. 4-2009, adopted 11-16-2009, which was stayed by court-ordered stipulation. Section 12 of L.L. No. 1-2012 states: “The provisions of Sections 2 through 9 of this local law shall not apply to any proposed project for which a complete application has been submitted prior to the effective date hereof. The provisions of the Zoning Law in effect on November 15, 2009, shall apply to such proposed projects.”
D.
Size of spaces. Three hundred square feet shall be considered one parking space (to provide room for standing area and aisles for maneuvering). Entrance and exit roadways shall not be computed as parking space except for one-family and two-family residences as in Subsection B above.
E.
Access. Unobstructed access to and from a street shall be provided. Such access shall consist of at least one ten-foot lane for parking areas with less than 20 spaces and at least two ten-foot lanes for parking areas with 20 spaces or more.
F.
Drainage and surfacing. All open parking areas shall be properly drained, and all such areas of over 10 spaces shall be provided with a dustless surface, except for parking spaces accessory to a one-family or two-family residence.
G.
Joint facilities. Required parking spaces, open or enclosed, may be provided in spaces designed to serve jointly two or more establishments, whether or not located on the same lot, provided that the number of required spaces in such joint facilities shall be not less than the total required for all such establishments.
H.
Combined spaces. When any lot contains two or more uses having different parking requirements, the parking requirements for each use shall apply to the extent of that use. Where it can be conclusively demonstrated that one or more such uses will be generating a demand for parking spaces primarily during periods when the other use or uses is not or are not in operation, the Board of Appeals may reduce the total parking spaces required for that use with the least requirement.
§ 230-52 Supplementary regulations for parking and loading facilities.
A.
Access near street corners. No entrance or exit for any accessory off-street parking area with over 10 parking spaces nor any loading berth shall be located within 50 feet of the intersection of any two street lines.
B.
On lots divided by district boundaries. When a lot is located partly in one district and partly in another district, the regulations for the district requiring the greater number of parking spaces or loading berths shall apply to all of the lot. Parking spaces or loading berths on such a lot may be located without regard to district lines, provided that no such parking spaces or loading berths shall be located in any residence district, unless the use to which they are accessory is permitted in such district or by special permit of the Board of Appeals.
C.
Supplementary parking regulations in the Multiple Residence RC District. In the RC District, wherever space is provided for the parking of 10 or more vehicles in the open, such spaces shall be individually identified by means of pavement markings and shall be screened by a substantial solid wall or fence or thick hedge 6 1/2 feet in height above the average finished grade of the parking area. No parking space shall be located in any front yard or within 10 feet of any lot line in side or rear years. The parking of motor vehicles within 15 feet of any wall or portion thereof of a two- or more family dwelling, which wall contains legal windows, other than legal bathroom or kitchen windows, with a sill height of less than eight feet above the level of said parking space is prohibited. No service of any kind shall be permitted to be extended to users of the lot, including automobile service, repair or refueling, and no gasoline, oil, grease or other supplies shall be stored or sold in any such lot or in any garage on such lot.
D.
Supplementary regulations for any parking spaces adjacent to residence districts.
(1)
Wherever a parking lot abuts the side or rear lot line of a lot in a residence district, said parking lot shall be screened from such adjoining lot by a substantial wall or fence or thick hedge with a height of not less than 6 1/2 feet.
(2)
Wherever a parking lot is located across the street from other land in any residence district, it shall be screened from the view of such land by a thick hedge located along a line drawn parallel to the street and a distance of 20 feet therefrom, such hedge to be interrupted only at points of ingress and egress. The open area between such hedge and the street shall be landscaped in harmony with the landscaping prevailing on neighboring properties fronting on the same street.
(3)
Identification and directional signs shall not exceed an area of three square feet each and shall be limited to such as are essential for the particular use.
E.
Landscape standards.
[Added 6-18-2001 by L.L. No. 10-2001]
(1)
Parking lots.
(a)
Off-street parking and loading areas shall be curbed and landscaped with appropriate trees, shrubs and other plant materials and ground cover, as approved by the Planning Board; such approval shall be based upon consideration of the adequacy of the proposed landscaping, to assure the establishment of a safe, convenient and attractive parking facility needing a minimum amount of maintenance, including plant care, snowplowing and the removal of leaves and other debris. These standards shall apply to all proposed parking areas in proposed site plans, except for the following:
(b)
At least one tree not less than 2 1/2 inches caliper, measured three feet above ground level at time of planting, shall be provided within such parking areas for every 10 parking spaces. In all off-street parking areas containing 25 or more parking spaces, at least 10% of the interior of the parking area shall be curbed and landscaped with trees, shrubs and other material.
(c)
Raised planting islands at least six feet in width shall be provided to guide vehicle movement and to separate opposing rows of parking spaces so as to provide adequate space for plant growth, pedestrian circulation and vehicle overhang. Such raised planting islands and the landscaping within them shall be designed and arranged in such a way as to provide vertical definition to major traffic circulation aisles, entrances and exits, to channel internal traffic flow and prevent indiscriminate diagonal movement of vehicles and to provide relief from the visual monotony and shadeless expanse of a large parking area. Curbs of such islands shall be designed so as to facilitate surface drainage and prevent vehicles from overlapping sidewalks and damaging landscaping materials. The Planning Board may accept an alternative to the interior landscape requirements if it finds that an applicant has submitted a superior landscape plan.
(d)
All maintenance equipment, including accessories, shall be stored in enclosed structures only, which shall conform to the architectural theme of the development.
(2)
Screening and buffer areas.
(a)
Landscaped areas. All portions of multifamily and nonresidential properties which are not used for buildings, structures, off-street parking and loading areas, sidewalks or similar purposes shall be suitably landscaped and permanently maintained with the planting of trees and shrubbery, as approved by the Planning Board as part of the site plan, so as to minimize erosion and stormwater runoff and harmoniously blend such uses with the residential character of the Village as a whole.
(b)
Buffer areas.
[1]
On all multifamily and nonresidential developed properties, a landscaped buffer area shall be required to screen and protect neighboring properties from the view of uses and parking areas on the site.
[a]
This buffer shall be at least 10 feet in depth along any lot line and along any street.
[b]
It shall be of evergreen planting of such type, density and height, which in the judgment of the Planning Board, will effectively screen the activities on the lot from view of persons standing on adjoining properties. The plan and specifications for such planting shall be filed with the approval plan for the use of the lot.
[2]
A wall or fence, of location, height and design approved by the Planning Board, may be substituted for the required planting.
[a]
Modifications. Where the existing topography and/or landscaping provides adequate screening, the Planning Board may modify the planting and/or buffer area requirements.
[b]
Maintenance and responsibility. All planting shown on an approved site plan or special permit plan, including planting within a street right-of-way, shall be maintained by the property owner in a vigorous condition throughout the duration of the use, and plants not so maintained shall be replaced with new plants at the beginning of the next immediately following growing season.
[3]
All new plant materials shall be consistent with the existing vegetation of the site and the surrounding areas. Plant materials judged to be inappropriate by the Planning Board will not be approved.