Middletown City Zoning Code
ARTICLE I
General Provisions
§ 475-1 Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "City of Middletown, New York, Zoning Ordinance."
§ 475-2 Purposes.
This chapter is deemed necessary to achieve the following purposes:
A.
Promote orderly development. To protect the character and maintain the stability of residential, commercial and industrial areas within the City, and to promote the orderly and beneficial development of such areas so as to enhance the quality of life of all residents of the City.
B.
Regulate intensity of use. To regulate the intensity of use of lots, and to determine the area of open spaces surrounding buildings necessary to provide adequate light and air, privacy and convenience of access to property, and to protect the public health and to regulate solar access and the accommodation of solar energy systems and equipment.
C.
Regulate location of buildings. To establish building lines and the location of buildings designed for residential, commercial, industrial or other uses within such lines.
D.
Establish standards of development. To fix reasonable standards to which buildings or structures shall conform.
E.
Prohibit incompatible uses. To prohibit uses, buildings or structures that are incompatible with the character of development or the permitted uses within specified zoning districts.
F.
Regulate alterations of existing buildings. To prevent such additions to and alterations or remodeling of existing buildings or structures as would not comply with the restrictions and limitations imposed hereunder.
G.
Limit congestion in streets. To limit congestion in the public streets and so protect the public health, safety, convenience and the general welfare by providing for off-street parking of motor vehicles and for the regulation of the loading and unloading of commercial vehicles within 200 feet of a property.
H.
Protect against hazards. To provide protection against fire, explosion, noxious fumes and other hazards in the interest of the public health, safety, comfort and the general welfare and maintain health by providing suitable environment.
I.
Conserve taxable value of land. To conserve the taxable value of land and buildings throughout the City.
J.
Issue special use permits and site plan approvals. To issue special use permits and site plan approvals when in the best interest of the City.
K.
Protect residential areas. To provide for the protection of residential areas and the provision of privacy for families.
L.
Eliminate nonconforming uses. To provide for the gradual elimination of nonconforming uses.
M.
Accommodate new development. To provide for the accommodation of new development in such a way as to maintain and enhance the desirable aesthetic qualities of the City.
N.
Encourage flexibility in design. To provide for the encouragement of flexibility in the design and development of land in such a way as to produce the most appropriate use of lands and to improve the quality of life in the City of Middletown, in accordance with the Master Plan of the City of Middletown.
§ 475-3 Usage of terms.
Except where specifically defined herein, all words used in this chapter shall carry their customary meanings. Words used in the present tense include the future, and the plural includes the singular. The word "lot" includes the word "plot"; the word "building" includes the word "structure"; the word "shall" is intended to be mandatory; and "occupied" or "used" shall be considered as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged or designed to be used or occupied."
§ 475-4 Definitions.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
A use incidental to the principal use of a building. In buildings restricted to residential use, a one-, two- or three-car garage, the office of a professional, customary family and home occupations, and workshops not conducted for compensation shall be deemed accessory uses.
A family home for adults, a shelter for adults, a residence for adults, an enriched housing program or an adult home which provides temporary or long-term residential care and services to adults who though not requiring continual medical or nursing care are, by reason of physical or other limitations associated with age, physical or mental disabilities or other factors, unable or substantially unable to live independently.
A public thoroughfare not over 20 feet wide which affords only a secondary means of access to abutting property.
Any change which would tend to prolong or affect the life of the supporting members of a building or structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
A device used to transmit and/or receive radio or electromagnetic waves, including but not limited to directional antennas, such as panels and microwave dishes and omnidirectional antennas, such as whip antennas.
Accessory buildings and structures, including base stations designed and used to shelter equipment and/or to support personal wireless services (as defined herein). The term "antenna accessory structures" does not include offices, long-term storage of vehicles or other equipment storage, or broadcast studios.
Same as "dwelling unit."
A building arranged, intended or designed to be occupied by three or more families living independently of each other. See also "dwelling, multiple."
An open area, other than a street, used for the display or sale of new or used automobiles or trailers, and where no repair work is done except minor incidental repair of the automobiles or trailers displayed and sold on the premises.
The dismantling or wrecking of motor vehicles of all kinds or trailers, or the storage, sale or dumping of dismantled, partially dismantled, obsolete or wrecked vehicles or their parts.
A story partly or wholly underground. For purposes of height measurement, a basement shall be counted as a story where more than 1/2 of its height is above the average level of the adjoining ground.
A person who is housed with or without meals in a dwelling or dwelling unit and is not the owner or lessee of the dwelling or dwelling unit.
Any dwelling in which more than three persons, either individually or as families, are housed or lodged for hire, and used for single room occupancy, or any dwelling that provides sleeping accommodations in three or more individual rooms on either a transient or permanent basis, without cooking and toilet facilities, as defined below, for each individual occupant of family; however, excepting those locations as defined in the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code as an adult residential care facility.
Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or property of any kind.
A supplemental building, the use of which is incidental to that of a main or principal building and located on the same lot therewith.
A building surrounded by open space on the same lot.
The line of that face of the building nearest the front line of the lot. This face includes sun parlors and covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, but does not include steps.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the highest point of the roof for flat roofs, to the deckline of mansard roofs, and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip and gambrel roofs.
A building in which is conducted the principal use of the lot on which it is located.
A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its clear height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A cellar shall not be considered in determining the permissible number of stories and is not a habitable space.
An organization catering exclusively to members and their guests, or premises and buildings for recreational or athletic purposes which are not conducted primarily for gain, providing there are not conducted any vending stands, merchandising or commercial activities except as required generally for the membership and purposes of such club. A membership club does not include an adult use, as hereinafter defined,[1] or a theater, as hereinafter defined.
Any mobile service that is provided for profit and makes interconnected service available to the public or to such classes of eligible users as to be effectively available to a substantial portion of the public, as specified by regulation by the FCC. Personal communications services, cellular services and paging services are examples of commercial mobile services.
Services that intend to compete with providers of traditional wireline local telephone service.
A building, or buildings, the dwelling units of which are individually owned, each owner receiving a deed enabling him to sell, mortgage or exchange his unit independent of the owners of the other units in the building or buildings.
A retail place of business which sells sundries (such as dry goods, sandwiches, and limited groceries) and other products to the general public and which may or may not also sell gasoline and other motor fuels to the general public for automobile use.
A kitchen sink, stove/oven combination and refrigerator.
A court extending to a street line or opening upon any front, side or rear yard.
That percentage of the plot or lot area covered by the building area.
The officially established grade of the curb in front of the midpoint of the lot.
A structure used for the harboring of more than four dogs that are more than six months old.
A building having two side yards and accommodating only two families, with one family living independently on the side of the other.
A building designed or used as the living quarters for one or more families.
A dwelling or building or group of dwellings or buildings on one plot used or designed as a residence and containing separate living units for three or more families living independently of each other and doing their own cooking therein, but which may have joint services or facilities, or both. "Multiple dwelling" does not include condominium complexes but it includes boardinghouses.
A detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family.
A dwelling, the walls on two sides of which are in common with the walls of adjoining dwellings and are party or lot line walls, except for the end dwelling which would have a party wall/wall in common on one side.
A detached building designed for or occupied exclusively by two families living independently of each other.
A dwelling or portion thereof providing complete living facilities for one family. A motel, hotel, adult residential care facility (as defined by New York law), family day-care home (as defined by New York law), nursing home or other similar structures shall not be deemed to constitute a dwelling unit.
One person occupying a dwelling unit, or two or three persons occupying a dwelling unit who pay a single shared amount for rental or mortgage purposes, or four or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and living together as a traditional family or the functional equivalent of a traditional family.
It shall be presumptive evidence that four or more persons living in a single dwelling unit who are not related by blood, marriage or legal adoption do not constitute the functional equivalent of a traditional family. Relation by blood or marriage is limited to the following relationships upon appropriate documentary proof: spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, stepparent and stepchild.
[Amended 4-16-2013; 6-4-2013]
In determining whether individuals are living together as the functional equivalent of a traditional family, the following criteria must be present:
The group is one which in theory, size, appearance, structure and function resembles a traditional family unit.
The occupants must share the entire dwelling unit and live and cook together as a single housekeeping unit. A unit in which the various occupants act as separate roomers may not be deemed to be occupied by the functional equivalent of a traditional family.
The group shares expenses for food, rent or ownership costs, utilities and other household expenses.
The group is permanent and stable. Evidence of such permanency and stability may include:
The presence of minor dependent children regularly residing in the household who are enrolled in local schools;
Members of the household have the same address for purposes of voter registration, driver's license, motor vehicle registration and filing of taxes;
Members of the household are employed in the area;
The household has been living together as a unit for a year or more whether in the current dwelling unit or other dwelling units;
Common ownership of furniture and appliances among the members of the household; and
The group is not transitory or temporary in nature.
Any other factor reasonably related to whether or not the group is the functional equivalent of a family.
All space within the exterior walls of a dwelling unit exclusive of garages, breezeways, unheated porches, cellars, heater rooms and basements having a window area less than 10% of the square foot area of the room. Usable floor area shall include all spaces not otherwise excluded above, such as principal rooms, utility rooms, bathrooms, all closets and hallways opening directly into any rooms within the dwelling unit and all attic space having a clear height of six feet from finished floor level to the pitch of the roof rafter, with a clear height of seven feet six inches from finished floor level to ceiling level over 50% of the area of such attic space.
The sum of the gross horizontal area of the several floors of a building and its accessory buildings on the same lot, excluding cellar and basement floor areas not devoted to residential use, but including the area of roofed porches and roofed terraces. All dimensions shall be measured between exterior faces of walls.
The quotient of the floor area of a building divided by its lot area.
The street length of a parcel of property fronting on one side of a street between the two nearest intersecting streets or other natural barriers.
A garage used for storage purposes only and having a capacity of not more than three automobiles, housed in a building separate from the building to which such garage is accessory. Space therein may be used for not more than one commercial vehicle, and space may be rented for not more than two vehicles of others who are not occupants of the building to which such garage is accessory.
Any building or garage, other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain, and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles.
A retail place of business engaged in the sale of motor fuels (including gasoline) but also in supplying goods and services generally required in the operation and maintenance of automotive vehicles and the fulfilling of motorist needs. These may include sale of petroleum products; sale and servicing of tires, batteries, automotive accessories and replacement items; washing and lubrication services; the performance of minor automotive maintenance and repair, and the supplying of other incidental customer services and products. A public garage can include a gasoline station. Major automotive repairs, such as painting and body and fender work, are excluded except where such uses are otherwise permitted.
An occupation or profession which:
Is customarily carried on in a dwelling unit; and
Is carried on by a member of the family residing in the dwelling unit; and
Is clearly incidental and secondary to the use of the dwelling unit for residential purposes; and
Conforms to the following additional conditions:
The occupation or profession shall be carried on wholly within or from the principal building, except that the occupation or profession may be carried on in an existing accessory building with the permission of the Planning Board and with such stipulations as the Planning Board may set.
Not more than one person outside the family shall be employed in the home occupation.
There shall be no exterior display, no exterior sign (except as permitted under § 475-37), no exterior storage of materials, no exterior parking of trucks or other commercial vehicles used in such occupation, and no other exterior indication of the home occupation or variation from the residential character of the principal building.
No offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust, odors, heat or glare shall be produced or allowed on the premises.
In particular, "home occupation" includes, but is not limited to, the following: dressmaking, professional office of an author, clergy, lawyer, engineer, accountant, architect, or real estate broker, and teaching, with musical instruction limited to a single pupil at a time. However, "home occupation" shall not be interpreted to include any of the following: professional office of a physician, dentist, osteopath, chiropractor, optometrist, acupuncturist, medical or healing arts practitioner or insurance broker or adjuster, clinics, hospitals, barbershops and beauty parlors, commercial stables and commercial kennels, retail business sales, restaurants, tearooms, day nurseries, tourist homes, animal hospitals, or any similar uses.
[Amended 2-16-2021]
Unless otherwise specified, shall be deemed to include sanitarium, sanatorium, preventorium, clinic, outpatient clinic, offices for group therapy or counseling, rest home, nursing home, convalescent home and any other place for the diagnosis, treatment or other care of ailments, including but not limited to individual and/or group treatment and/or therapy, and shall be deemed to be limited to places for the diagnosis, treatment or other care of human ailments, both mental and/or physical.
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests and where meals and other services are provided within the building or in an accessory building. Ingress and egress to and from all rooms are made through an inside lobby or office, supervised by a person in charge at all hours.
A lot, land or structure or part thereof used primarily for the collecting, storage and/or sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap metal or discarded material, or for the collecting, dismantling, storage and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition, which may include the sale of parts thereof.
A business premises equipped with individual clothes washing or dry-cleaning machines for the use of retail customers, exclusive of laundry facilities provided as an accessory use in an apartment house or a hotel.
See "boardinghouse."
A parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by one building and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incident to it, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter. The term "lot" also means "plot."
A parcel of land at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting streets.
That percentage of the plot or lot area covered by the building area.
A mean linear distance between the front and rear lot lines, measured in the general direction of its side lot lines.
The perpendicular distance between the two lot side lines, measured no further back than the front yard setback line. If the lot side lines are not parallel to each other, then the lot width shall be measured perpendicular to a line which bisects the angle formed by the two lot side lines, and no further back than the front yard setback line and its intersection point to the said bisecting line. The lot side lines shall intersect the street lines as close to 90° as possible, but in no event less than 75°. In no event, however, shall this definition be utilized to result in a lot whose frontage is less than 50 feet.
[Added 7-10-2006; amended 5-14-2007]
A lot other than a corner lot.
Any line dividing one lot from another.
An interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.
The mean width measured at right angles to its depth.
A transportable one-family dwelling equipped for year-round occupancy and containing the same type of water supply, waste disposal, heating and electrical conveniences as immobile housing. The term "mobile home" shall include vehicles mounted on temporary or permanent foundations with or without wheels, collars or skids in place.
A building containing rooms intended or designed to be used or which are occupied for sleeping purposes by guests or transients and where meals may be served and which caters to the motoring public and which is not over two stories in height and in which the exit from each dwelling unit or sleeping room is directly to the exterior.
A building or portion of a building arranged, intended or designed to be used for making repairs to motor vehicles. See also "garage, public" and "gasoline station."
A building, structure, sign or use of land legally existing just prior to the time of enactment of this chapter and which does not conform under this chapter to the regulations contained in this chapter for the district or zone in which it is situated.
An unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with the building
An unenclosed portion of the ground of a lot which is not devoted to driveways or parking spaces, which is free of structures of any kind, of which not more than 25% is roofed for shelter purposes only, the minimum dimension of which is 40 feet, and which is available and accessible to all occupants of the building or buildings on said lot for purposes of active or passive outdoor recreation. This area of the site would not include any ponds or lakes on the parcel.
An off-street space available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having an area of not less than 162 square feet, exclusive of passageways and driveways appurtenant thereto and giving access thereto, and having direct access to a street or alley.
[Amended 9-28-2009]
Commercial mobile services, unlicensed wireless services, cellular or digital telephone services and other common carrier wireless exchange access services as defined by the Federal Telecommunications Act.
See "boardinghouse."
Those structures, whether enclosed or open, in which individuals or entities have access and control over separate storage units.
[Added 6-13-2005]
Any structure or part thereof attached thereto or painted or represented thereon which shall display or include any letter, word, model, banner, flag, pennant, insignia, device or representation used as or which is in the nature of an announcement, direction or advertisement. The word "sign" includes the word "billboard" but does not include the flag, pennant or insignia of any nation, state, city or other political unit, or of any political, educational, charitable, philanthropic, civic, professional, religious or like campaign, drive, movement or event.
A sign which directs attention to a business, commodity, service or entertainment conducted, sold or offered elsewhere than on the premises and only incidentally on the premises if at all.
That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or if there is no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it.
A story under a gable, hip or gambrel roof, the wall plates of which, on at least two opposite exterior walls, are not more than two feet above the floor of such story.
The vertical distance from the top surface of the floor to the top surface of the floor next above. The height of the topmost story is the distance from the top surface of the floor to the top surface of the ceiling joists.
A public or private way which affords the principal means of access to abutting properties.
The officially established grade of the street upon which a lot fronts. If there is no officially established grade, the existing grade of the street shall be taken as the street grade.
Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on or into the ground or attachment to something having location on or into the ground.
A man-made body of water at least two feet deep and having a total area of more than 200 square feet, to be used for swimming and bathing, in or above the ground outside any building.
A building or a part of building devoted to the showing of motion pictures and/or plays and/or live performances of any type, and/or which provides for poetry or dramatic readings, and/or which provides or showcases other types of entertainment on a paid or nonpaid admission basis, or where patrons must pay or make some financial donation or payment to observe the entertainment.
A lavatory, water closet and tub and/or shower.
Any ground- or roof-mounted pole, spire, structure or combination thereof taller than 15 feet, including supporting lines, cables, wires, braces and masts, built for the purpose of mounting an antenna, meteorological device, or similar apparatus anywhere above grade.
A vehicle:
A tract of land where two or more trailers are parked and attached
The offering of telecommunications services using duly authorized devices which do not require individual licenses, but does not mean the provision of direct-to-home satellite services.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged, or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained. The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to include any nonconforming use
See "accessory use."
A street or alley or other thoroughfare or easement permanently established for passage of persons or vehicles.
An unoccupied space open to the sky on the same lot with a building or structure.
An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a main building, extending the full width of the lot and situated between the street line and the front line of the building projected to the side lines of the lot. The depth of the front yard shall be measured between the front line of the building (see "building, front line of") and the street line. Covered porches, whether enclosed or unenclosed, shall be considered as part of the main building and shall not project into a required front yard.
An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the building, between the rear line of the building and the rear line of the lot and extending the full width of the lot.
An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with the building, situated between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front building line to the rear building line. Any lot line not a rear line or a front line shall be deemed a side line.