East Syracuse City Zoning Code
ARTICLE I
General Rules for Zoning
§ 340-1 Purposes and rights.
This chapter is intended to protect people's peaceful use of their homes and yards, give our community an orderly means to develop and provide business owners and employees with a fair livelihood and to help ensure that no property loses reasonable use or value. Pursuant to state law, this chapter promotes the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community by regulating and restricting the height, number of stories and size of buildings and other structures, the percentage of a lot that may be occupied, the size of yards, courts and other open spaces, the density of population, and the location and use of buildings, structures and land for trade, industry, residence or other purposes.
§ 340-2 Establishment of zones.
B.
Zone boundaries. Zone boundaries are lot lines except where a portion of a lot is zoned Land Conservation.
C.
Lots in more than one zone. Where part of a lot is zoned Land Conservation, the Land Conservation requirements apply only to that portion of the lot, and nothing herein shall be construed to permit the separate use or development of that portion of the lot.
§ 340-3 General zoning definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Any use conducted as an essential part of a primary use, as governed by § 340-6.
Any nonresidential use, except biological sanctuaries, public parks, vacant land or water storage.
A single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
One or more people sharing the same dwelling unit, not more than one of whom separately rents or subleases his portion of the quarters from another member. Dependents contributing to the cost of maintaining the household are not renters.
The average existing or proposed, as applicable within context, elevation of the ground or fill along that face of the building most nearly parallel to the street line, or, in the case of corner lots, the line of the street which provides the principal access to the lot.
The average existing or proposed, as applicable within context, elevation of the ground or fill at the base of a structure or at a site feature.
Any part of a lot covered by lawn, gardens, shrubbery, mulch attendant to plantings, outdoor eating areas, natural or artificial bodies of water, or similar uses, but specifically excludes any part of the lot covered by a structure, driveway, parking area, loading area or area paved with any aggregate, bonded (i.e. concrete or tarvia) or not (i.e. crushed stone).
The story of any building whose floor is within two feet of the finished front grade at any point, or, if no story meets this description, the first story above the finished front grade.
Any parcel of land identified as a lot on the Tax Map, except where subsequently joined or further subdivided by action of the Planning Board.
Anyone currently residing at any residence or operating any business.
Anyone listed as the property owner on the most recent tax rolls, or whose ownership has subsequently been communicated to the Village by notice of real estate tax stamps or other authoritative notification.
Any lot or group of adjacent lots, owned or occupied by the same person, with the same primary use or secondary uses in support of the primary use.
The principal use conducted on the premises and must be a legal use under this chapter.
Any residence, row house, apartment building, or boardinghouse.
Any which is licensed, registered, insured, inspected and operable.
Any use which is not primary or accessory, and must separately qualify as a legal use under this chapter.
Any physical construction covered by Article IV of this chapter.
Any activity regularly or frequently conducted on any lot.
The area between a lot line and the nearest part of any structure (including projections) on the lot other than fences, and includes:
Front yards, of which there may be one or two on each lot, are any yard running along a street or right-of-way on which a street is likely to be built, and include the entire width of the lot along the street.
Rear yards, of which there is only one on any lot, are the yards opposite the front yard which provides principal street access to the lot, and includes the entire width of the lot, except in the case of triangular lots with an angle opposite the front yard, in which case, the rear setback shall be measured from the vertex of that angle.
Side yards, of which there may be one or two on each lot, are any yard between a front yard and back yard.
§ 340-4 Work definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
The physical expansion of any structure, other than marginal expansions such as the addition of a facade or a minor change in roof height or shape in the course or repairs or replacement.
Work beyond repairs, but which does not rise to the level of reconstruction, including the reconfiguration of any space, the addition or elimination of any door or window, the reconfiguration or extension of any system, or the installation of any additional equipment, or, for compliance with energy efficiency, "alteration" shall mean the replacement, modification or renovation of a subsystem.
The erection of any new structure.
The removal of any structure or a portion thereof for purposes other than repairs.
The reconfiguration of a space that effects an exit, a renovation and/or alteration when the work area is not permitted to be occupied because existing means of egress and fire protection systems, or their equivalent, are not in place or continuously maintained and/or there are extensive alterations.
The physical decrease in size of any structure, excluding marginal decreases such as the removal of a facade or a minor change in roof height or shape in the course or repairs or replacement.
The change, strengthening or addition of load-bearing elements and/or the refinishing, replacement, bracing, strengthening, upgrading or extensive repair of existing materials, elements, components, equipment and/or fixtures. Renovation involves no reconfiguration of spaces. Interior and exterior painting are not considered refinishing.
The replacement of any component, other than one requiring structural modification, in a structure with an essentially equivalent one.
Any work performed on a lot, but not on a structure, which physically changes the lot, including but not limited to paving, filling, grading, excavating, piping, landscaping, seeding and clearing.
§ 340-5 Zoning use definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
Theaters, bookstores, clubs or any facility with live entertainment featuring public nudity, or which sells or provides any material or form of entertainment which includes explicit and clearly visible sex acts, other than where wholly incidental to a primary use, such as pay-per-view movies in motel rooms, or strictly for educational purposes, such as public libraries, or as part of a treatment regimen administered by a professional licensed by the State Education Department.
The growing of any plant or animal primarily for sale or commercial processing.
Any facility for the playing of indoor games, other than athletic sports, for competition or entertainment, or for wagering on any game or contest, including but not limited to midways and video arcades with three or more games, bowling alleys, miniature vehicle racing, bingo parlors, betting parlors and casinos.
Any building wholly occupied by more than two dwelling units.
Any facility that sells alcoholic beverages for immediate consumption.
A type of boardinghouse which is owner-occupied, has no more than eight rooms for rent, and may prepare and serve on-site meals to boarders and occasional guests of those boarders.
Billboards advertise a business or product not offered on the lot on which the billboard is located or an adjacent lot with the same owner or occupant.
Any facility operated by a government or nonprofit organization for the preservation or study of plants and animals in a wild or simulated wild state.
Facilities to treat or process human or animal remains or human or infectious wastes.
Buildings wholly occupied by two or more living quarters, with communal kitchens and/or lavatories.
Any facility for the interment of human or animal remains.
Any facility used for religious congregation or instruction and social activities incidental thereto.
Any facility for the congregation of people for any social or fraternal purposes, other than religious services, except those in which alcoholic beverages are sold or served.
Any facilities for the boarding and care of the infirm, including senior and handicapped living facilities featuring daily medical care.
Any facility for the storage and maintenance of heavy equipment, materials and supplies used for construction work.
Any library, museum or other facility for the viewing, reading or hearing of educational, cultural or scientific materials, or the lending of such materials for use elsewhere, excluding schools and theaters.
Any facility used principally for the nonresidential care of adults, preschool children, or school-age children outside of school hours.
Any facility for the preparation and/or sale of food, without dining facilities on the premises.
Any outlets for any combustible fuel.
Any facility for the preparation and/or showing of the deceased, excluding facilities for conducting autopsies and cremations.
Any facility used for indoor athletic pursuits, excluding those contained within a school, including but not limited to weight and physical fitness training, basketball courts, tennis courts, swimming pools, volleyball courts, racquetball courts, handball courts, hockey arenas, roller- and ice-skating rinks, driving ranges and miniature golf courses.
Any in-home business carried on in a residence or accessory structure, including but not limited to day care, food shops, offices and service providers, provided that it:
Does not violate any other provision of this chapter.
Does not materially alter the character of the residence, the premises or neighborhood or unduly expand or hinder traffic flow.
Is clearly secondary to the residence, is conducted in an existing building, and occupies not more than 30% of the total floor space.
Is conducted principally by a person(s) living in the home and employs not more than one person on site who does not live in the home.
Provides parking equal to the number of nonresident employees and foreseeable maximum patrons, in addition to the parking required for the residence, and has no more than three vehicles on site at any time, excluding personal autos driven by residents of the home.
Is not serviced by and does not include overnight outside parking of vehicles over the weight load for the street on which located.
Does not operate between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in residential zones and between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in all other zones.
Does not include exterior storage of equipment or materials.
Does not involve any hazardous materials or operations.
Any facilities offering medical or physiological treatment of humans.
Buildings wholly occupied by three or more living quarters leased on a less than monthly basis.
A one-bedroom dwelling unit attached to an otherwise single-family dwelling, used by or let only to a relative of someone in the primary dwelling unit, which does not alter the character of the existing structure and has no more than one access/egress which does not pass through the living space of the main dwelling unit.
Any facilities for the outdoor storage of garbage, trash, refuse or waste.
Any production or processing of any material other than food for sale, shipment or internal use, including:
Light manufacturing, which is any that does not emit measurable quantities of smoke, vapor or dust beyond the lot boundaries or produce noise levels above 85 decibels more than 60 aggregate minutes per day measured at any lot boundary.
Heavy manufacturing, which is any other type of manufacturing.
The extraction of any material from the ground, excluding water or materials removed in the course of construction or pollution remediation.
Traditional clerical or professional places of work or the on-premises sale or provision of any service not specifically defined elsewhere in this section, without any heavy manufacturing or outdoor storage of materials and equipment, including:
Advisory, clerical, consulting, data processing, financial, insurance, Internet, legal, planning, promotional, scientific study and evaluation, and telemarketing businesses.
Medical doctors, other health care providers, and psychological and spiritual counselors and evaluators.
Real property agents and offices involved in the measurement or evaluation thereof, or the planning and execution of, improvements or abatements thereto.
Personal appearance enhancers and advisors.
Public and private instruction, except those defined as schools.
Public service and family agencies.
Artist studios, publishers, illustrators and similar offices.
Evaluators and restorers of physical possessions.
Entertainment and travel agents and ticket sellers.
Any commercial lot or garage for the parking or detention of passenger vehicles, other than those used solely for patrons of a business on the lot.
Any facility for the medical treatment or boarding of animals.
Any lot of at least 1/2 acre, owned by other than a governmental entity, used principally for outdoor congregation or recreation, including but not limited to baseball and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, golf courses, driving ranges, miniature golf courses, swimming facilities or picnic areas.
Any lot, owned by a government or subsidiary thereof, used for congregation, recreation or commemoration, such as monuments, war memorials, concert facilities, baseball and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, golf courses, driving ranges, miniature golf courses, swimming facilities, picnic areas or gardens.
Any facility for public service or protection not specifically defined by another definition in this section, including but not limited to firehouses, police stations, reservoirs, transmission lines, utility substations and utility subways.
Includes railroad tracks, shipping facilities, terminals and other customary appurtenances.
Any facility for the outdoor storage of any material for dismantling and/or recycling.
Any lot within a residential zone or any lot in any other zone which is legally in use as a home, including any specially permitted in-law apartment or home occupation, further subdivided as:
Any facility that prepares and serves food, excluding alcoholic beverages, with included dining facilities on the premises.
Any outlet not specifically defined by another definition in this section for the on-premises sale or servicing of goods at retail or non-gross wholesale, including the gross storage of goods solely for sale or use on the premises.
Any single-family dwelling unit with no more than one or two exterior walls in common with one or two other dwelling units.
Any facilities, other than churches or cultural institutions, for the education or instruction of 10 or more people at any one time, and athletic or recreational purposes incidental thereto.
Businesses, not specifically defined by another definition in this section, for the principally off-premises retail sale of goods and their installation and servicing. Such businesses may include offices, dispatch of vehicles and technicians, warehousing, sale of parts and fabrication and modification of materials for installation, and include, but are not limited to, air conditioning, appliances, builders, cabinet makers, carpenters, data processing, doors and windows, electronics, heating, plumbing, roofers, siders and ventilation.
Any facility with seating for more than 50 persons for the paid viewing of live or reproduced performances, excluding adult entertainment.
Any facility which receives or dispenses shipments more than 10 times per day by trucks with a gross vehicle weight of five tons or more.
Has no structures and is not being put to any other use defined by this chapter.
Any outlets, other than parking lots, for the sale, repair, servicing, cleaning or storage of heavy equipment or any conveyance which is motorized or longer than five feet, including but not limited to autos, backhoes, boats, bulldozers, cranes, jet-skis, motorcycles, snowmobiles and trucks.
Facilities for the storage and reshipment of goods.
Land specifically set aside to hold excess surface runoff for flood prevention.
Any facility for the storage and gross wholesaling of goods.
Any exhibition of live animals for which a fee is charged or a donation accepted.
§ 340-6 Accessory uses.
Note: Section 340-3 defines "accessory use" as any use conducted as an essential part of a primary use, as governed by § 340-6.
A.
Permissibility of accessory use. Accessory uses are part of the primary use and need not be permitted, conditionally permitted or specially permitted themselves; however, attributes of the accessory use can disqualify it as detrimental to the intentions of any section of this Municipal Code during site plan permit review.
B.
On adjacent lots. Accessory uses conducted on adjacent lots, any lots within a group of adjacent lots owned by the same entity, or on lots at some point opposite each other on a street right-of-way, may be authorized as part of the site plan permit.
C.
On non-adjacent lots. Accessory uses on any other lots other than those specified in Subsection B shall require a special permit.
D.
Limits on accessory use. Any accessory use which would require a special permit or variance if it were the primary use must be specifically authorized as part of the site plan permit. Such specification should include, where practicable, the portion of the site occupied by the accessory use and any limitations on noise, light or other potentially objectionable emissions emanating from the site.
E.
Alteration of accessory use. Where any change in operations will place the accessory use beyond any of the limits specified in the site plan permit, the owner shall file an amended site plan permit, which shall be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board. The Planning Board Chair shall require such material and information with the submission as he or she deems necessary to adequately consider the proposed changes.
§ 340-7 Nonconformances.
A.
Nonconformance defined. A nonconformance is a legally preexisting use or condition which now is prohibited by, or requires a special permit or compliance with conditional requirements under, this chapter.
B.
Expanding nonconformances. Note: This subsection operates with the clear understanding that only primary and secondary uses can be nonconforming. Accessory uses which would be specially permitted or prohibited as primary or secondary uses, and changes thereto, are governed by § 340-6.
(1)
Expansion defined. Expanding a legal nonconformance includes:
(a)
Increasing the footprint or number of stories of any structure in which the nonconforming use is conducted.
(b)
Extending the nonconforming use into portions of the lot not previously so used or to additional lots.
(c)
Increasing the scope of the nonconforming use, such as adding nonconforming offices or warehousing to a nonconforming retail business, or increasing the height of a fence which is nonconforming due to its existing height.
(d)
Adding equipment in support of the nonconforming use, such as increasing the number of fuel-dispensing pumps.
(e)
Increasing the degree of any area nonconformance, such as increasing the percentage of the lot occupied by structures where these already exceed the limits or decreasing an already nonconforming setback.
(f)
Changing any other area requirement which is already nonconforming, such as reducing the number of parking spaces, the width of a driveway or the dimensions of a loading area.
(g)
Changing the nonconformance to a different business within the same use definition where doing so will increase the level of nuisance to nearby lots.
(2)
Permissible expansion. No expansion of any nonconformance shall be allowed except where the Planning Board, in the process of reviewing a site plan permit application for that purpose, finds that such expansion:
C.
Duration of nonconformances. The following applies to all nonconformances, whether preexisting or permitted by resolution of the Zoning Board of Appeals:
(1)
Use variances. Any use variance granted shall attach to the lot for which granted and only for the specific use for which granted and shall continue indefinitely unless an expiration date is set by the Zoning Board of Appeals in the resolution granting the variance. However, any use abandoned for 180 consecutive days, except where caused by damage or destruction beyond the owner's control, shall expire on the 180th day and shall not be reestablished without the granting of a new use variance subject to such conditions and limitations as the Zoning Board of Appeals deems appropriate.
(2)
Other variances. Any area, erosion remediation or flood control variance granted shall attach to the lot on which located and shall continue until such time as any structure or feature attendant to such variance is removed or rebuilt, at which time the lot shall require a new site plan permit and shall be brought into compliance with this chapter to the maximum extent possible. The Planning Board shall have sole authority to determine the degree of compliance possible, and the property owner must apply for and secure a variance for any noncompliance with the Planning Board's determination.
(3)
Special permits. Any deviation from this chapter granted by a special permit shall attach to the owner to which granted and shall expire effective with the first transfer of ownership, unless the Zoning Board of Appeals sets an earlier expiration date as part of the resolution granting the special permit. Such specially permitted use or other feature shall not be reestablished without the granting of a new special permit subject to such conditions and limitations as the Zoning Board of Appeals deems appropriate.
(4)
Remediation of specific features. Where a variance or special permit expires, and some specific feature of the lot or structures thereon is functional only for a use authorized by the variance or special permit, the property owner shall have 60 days in which to apply for a new variance or special permit, or for a building permit and site plan permit, where appropriate, to perform the work necessary to remove such feature.