Montour Town City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IV
General Supplementary Regulations
§ 175-14 Parking, loading, access and traffic standards.
A.
Off-street parking, loading and unloading facilities shall be provided as necessary in connection with every use. One-family and two-family residential uses shall be provided with two off-street parking spaces per dwelling unit. Parking needs with respect to all other uses shall be determined in conjunction with special use and site plan review. The amount of parking required shall be based on the following factors:
(1)
Industry studies of parking needs for the type of use proposed or actual case-study comparisons for projects of similar character. The Planning Board may require the developer or applicant to gather and submit such data in support of its proposed parking provisions. The National Parking Association and the Urban Land Institute are examples of such industry sources.
(2)
The characteristics of the proposed customers, employees, residents, occupants or visitors to a given facility and the availability of municipal parking to satisfy the needs of the business. Housing for the elderly would, for example, require fewer spaces per dwelling unit than time-shared recreational units, though the number of dwelling units might be the same.
(3)
The expected occupancy rates, traffic levels and numbers of employees in connection with any enterprise and the degree to which these directly relate to parking requirements.
(4)
Recommendations, if any, from other public agencies or information sources which suggest, based on experience, the appropriate amount of parking in connection with a given use.
(5)
The likelihood that parking will be shared with adjoining facilities, the impact of daily peak visitation or use periods on demand and the hours of operation as compared to other neighborhood activities.
(6)
Where industry standards are inadequate for the particular use or site involved or such standards are unavailable, the following standards shall be applied by the Planning Board or the Building Inspector III, as the case may be:
(a)
Hotels/motels: one space per rental room.
(b)
Industrial uses: one space per 400 square feet floor area.
(c)
Commercial uses: one space per 250 square feet floor area.
(d)
Places of public assembly: one space per five seats.
(e)
Offices: one space per 300 square feet floor area.
(f)
Restaurants: one space per 50 square feet floor area.
(g)
Senior housing: one space per dwelling unit.
(h)
Vehicle service establishments: four spaces, plus one per employee.
(7)
If the Planning Board approves fewer than the number of spaces set forth in Subsection A(6) above, an alternative plan shall be prepared by the applicant and an area on the site set aside or reserved for future parking. The set aside area shall be landscaped.
B.
Each parking space shall consist of not less than an average of 300 square feet of usable area for each motor vehicle, including interior driveways, driveways connecting the garage, or parking space, with a street or alley. Garages, carports, and driveways not in the public right-of-way may be considered parking spaces. The minimum parking space size shall be 10 feet by 20 feet.
C.
Any lighting used to illuminate any off-street parking shall be so arranged as to reflect the light away from adjoining premises and public rights-of-way.
D.
All parking areas which are designed to accommodate 12 or more vehicles shall be landscaped using materials of sufficient growth and height to aesthetically balance the impact of the open paved area and provide effective stormwater control. The following are guideline standards the Planning Board may apply:
(1)
No more than 12 parking spaces should be allowed in a continuous row uninterrupted by landscaping. This requirement may be waived at the discretion of the Planning Board to achieve a superior design.
(2)
No parking areas should be designed such that a vehicle might directly back out onto a public highway or through road within the development. Traffic flows through a parking area should be minimized and limited to connections from one lot to another and to the public highway or through road.
(3)
Parking areas should generally be located in the rear or side yard of any use, with the principal building situated near the front lot line as permitted by Schedule of District Regulations.[1] This is for the purpose of maintaining the continuity of the building line along any highway and avoiding the effective merger of parking areas along a highway into one mass of pavement where entrances and exits become difficult to identify.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of District Regulations is included as an attachment to this chapter.
E.
Any building erected, converted or enlarged for commercial, office, manufacturing, wholesale, institutional or similar use shall, in addition to the off-street parking required above, provide adequate off-street areas for loading and unloading of vehicles. The minimum size loading space shall be 60 feet in depth and 12 feet in width, with an overhead clearance of 14 feet.
F.
Access to and from all nonresidential off-street parking, loading and vehicle service areas along public rights-of-way shall consist of well defined separate or common entrances and exits and shall comply with the following provisions:
(1)
Access drives shall not open upon any public right-of-way within 80 feet of the nearest right-of-way line of any intersecting public street or highway or where the sight distance in either direction would be less than 200 feet. Access drives onto state highways shall be subject to New York Department of Transportation standards.
(2)
There shall be no more than one entrance and one exit to any business or commercial use parking area on any one highway unless safety considerations should demand it. Each entrance and exit shall be clearly defined with curbing, fencing or vegetative screening so as to prevent access to the area from other than the defined entrance and exits. In no case shall one entrance and exit be located within 80 feet of any other on the same property or adjoining property along the same public right-of-way. Previously developed nonconforming lots, however, may be exempted from this requirement.
(3)
All access drives shall be subject to the requirement of obtaining a road occupancy or street encroachment permit from the Town of Montour, the Schuyler County Department of Public Works or the New York State Department of Transportation, as the case may be, and approval of any permits hereunder may be conditioned upon the application for and/or receipt of such permits from these authorities.
(4)
No use shall be permitted which requires year-round access from a Town highway which has been designated by the Town of Montour Town Board as a low-volume or minimum maintenance seasonal highway pursuant to§ 205-a of the New York State Highway Law.
G.
All nonresidential parking and loading areas and parallel circulation and service lanes shall be separated from the paving edge of a public thoroughfare or adjoining property lines by a planting strip at least 20 feet in depth landscaped according to standards provided herein for such landscaping.
§ 175-15 Floodplain development standards.
There is hereby created a special zoning district, the boundaries of which shall be congruent with those areas identified as special flood hazard areas on the Flood Hazard Boundary Maps for the Town of Montour, as issued by the Federal Insurance Administration or its successor. This district shall be an overlay zone, within which the normal provisions of the zoning districts as mapped on the Official Zoning Map shall apply, except that no development shall be permitted which does not comply with the provisions of Chapter 100, Flood Damage Prevention, of the Code of the Town of Montour, as amended.
§ 175-16 Home business and occupation regulations.
A.
Home occupations, as defined herein, shall be permitted in all zoning districts as accessory uses, provided:
(1)
There are no employees working on the premises other than family members;
(2)
There is no outside storage of equipment, vehicles or materials used in the business other than an automobile for personal transportation; and
(3)
There is no regular traffic to the site for other than mail service and occasional (e.g., semi-weekly) deliveries and client/customer visits.
B.
Home businesses shall be permitted as special uses within B-1 and RD Districts, provided they do not detract from the residential character, appearance, or make-up of the neighborhood in which the business is located. The following review criteria shall be used to determine if this standard is met:
(1)
Extent of the business. Whether or not the residential use will be the primary use of the property. Factors that shall be used to determine the primary use of the property shall include, but are not limited to, the area of the home or property used for the business (limited to a maximum of 35%), the number of nonresident employees (limited to three) and the amount of time the business will be open to the public on a daily basis (limited to 10 hours).
(2)
Appearance from an adjacent street. Whether or not the use of the property as a business is distinguishable from an adjacent street. In cases where the principle structure is obscured from the street, or the structure is setback more than 50 feet from the property line, a nonilluminated ground sign not to exceed four square feet may be used. Factors for evaluating this standard shall be that the residential dwelling not be altered to change its residential appearance. No activity related to the conduct of the home-based business shall be permitted to occur in such a manner as to be obtrusive to the neighborhood, attract undue attention to the business or adversely impact the residential character of the neighborhood.
(3)
Impact on the neighborhood. Whether or not the business activity will cause a nuisance to surrounding property owners; adversely impact the peace, health, or safety of neighborhood residents; and/or create a deviation from the residential character of the neighborhood. Factors for evaluating this standard shall be:
(a)
Traffic. Whether or not the business will generate traffic that is excessive and/or detrimental to the neighborhood. A business will be allowed to generate a maximum of 24 vehicle trips per average weekday, Saturday and Sunday. However, based on the characteristics of a specific neighborhood, these amounts may be lowered or raised. The factors to be used for such a determination shall include, but are not limited to, pertinent characteristics of the neighborhood, such as width of properties, width of the streets, hills, curves, the number of children present and existing traffic levels on the adjacent street.
(b)
Nuisance. Whether or not the business activity would cause a nuisance to surrounding property owners. Existing property maintenance codes, fire codes, building codes, environmental and safety codes and other related local laws shall be the primary basis for evaluating the potential for creating such a nuisance.
C.
No home business or occupation, having once been permitted or established, shall be added to, expanded, enlarged or otherwise increased or changed substantially in character without complying with this chapter, and such permission or establishment shall not be a basis for a later application to establish a principal commercial use. Moreover, the conversion of a residence with a home business or occupation to a commercial use by the abandonment of the residence or sale, rent or transfer of the business to a party which does not reside on site is strictly prohibited unless the business is then moved off site.
§ 175-17 General commercial and industrial standards.
Wherever commercial, manufacturing or other nonresidential uses or improvements and changes to such uses, with the exception of agricultural activities and home occupations, are proposed, the following performance standards shall apply. The Building Inspector III shall ensure these standards are met prior to issuing certificates of occupancy for such uses and may require the applicant(s) to provide documentation of compliance.
A.
Where a commercial or manufacturing use is contiguous to an existing residential use in any district (including those situated on the opposite side of a highway) or any approved residential lot in a residential district, the Planning Board may require that the minimum front, side and rear yards be increased by up to 50%. The Board may also require, for purposes of separating incompatible activities or shielding the residence from negative impacts, that a buffer consisting of a solid fence of wood and/or a twenty-foot wide dense evergreen planting not less than six feet high be maintained, unless the properties are in the same ownership or the full width of the yard is already wooded.
B.
All activities involving the manufacturing, production, storage, transfer or disposal of inflammable and explosive materials shall be provided with safety devices against the hazard of fire and explosion. Fire-fighting and fire-suppression equipment and devices shall be provided pursuant to National Fire Protection Association guidelines. Burning of waste materials in open fires is prohibited. Details of the potential hazards and planned safety and accident response actions shall be provided by the applicant, and the Planning Board may require greater front, side and rear yards and/or fencing.
C.
No activities shall be permitted which emit dangerous radioactivity or electrical disturbance adversely affecting the operation of any equipment other than that of the creator of such disturbance.
D.
No vibration shall be permitted on a regular or continuing basis which is detectable without instruments at the property line.
E.
Lighting.
(1)
All lighting and use of mirrors shall be designed so as to avoid unnecessary or unsafe spillover of light and glare onto operators of motor vehicles, pedestrians and land uses in proximity to the light source. Light sources connected with any proposed new nonresidential land use requiring a permit hereunder shall comply with the following standards:
Type of Light Source | Maximum Illumination Permitted at Property Line (footcandles) | Maximum Permitted Height of Light (feet) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Globe light | 0.20 | 15 | |
>90% cutoff | 0.75 | 25 | |
<90% cutoff | 2.00 | 30 |
(2)
No direct or sky-reflected glare, whether from floodlights or from high-temperature processes such as combustion or welding or other sources, so as to be visible at the property line on a regular or continuing basis, shall be permitted.
F.
No emission of fly ash, dust, fumes, vapors, gases and other forms of air pollution shall be permitted on a regular or continuing basis which can cause any damage to health, to animals, vegetation, or other forms of property, or which can cause any excessive soiling.
G.
All activities involving the possible contamination of surface water or groundwater shall be provided with adequate safety devices to prevent such contamination. Details of the potential hazards (including the groundwater characteristics of the area in which the use is proposed) and planned safety devices and contamination response actions shall be provided by the developer.
H.
Whenever a vehicle and equipment sales, mechanical and body repair use is proposed as a special use, or as an expansion of an existing nonconforming use, the following additional performance standards shall apply:
(1)
All mechanical and body repair work shall be performed within buildings.
(2)
All automobile or vehicle parts, new or used, shall be stored within buildings.
(3)
Vehicles which are temporarily on the property awaiting to be repaired shall be stored in an area which meets the minimum yard and buffer requirements applicable for the district and the use.
I.
All industrial uses, processing and storage shall be within fully enclosed structures, and no tanks, cupolas, vents or other apparatus peculiar to the processing shall be visible outside the approved buildings, except as approved by the Planning Board. The facade of buildings and structures in industrial uses shall be compatible with adjacent development and shall be fully landscaped in accordance with the requirements therefore that are contained herein.
§ 175-18 Landscaping, screening and buffer regulations.
The Planning Board may require a landscape plan be prepared as part of any special use or site plan review application. Such a plan may also be required whenever any nonresidential use is proposed in any district so as to buffer parking areas and buildings from the highway, each other and other uses. Where it is determined that a proposed use would not have a significant impact on the natural environment, adjoining landowners or the view from a public highway, these requirements may be appropriately modified or waived by the Planning Board. The landscape plan, if required, shall specify locations of all mature shade trees or other species of six-inch caliper or greater and indicate existing vegetation to be removed or preserved. It shall demonstrate how building materials, colors, and textures will be blended with the natural and man-made landscape. It shall also include visual depictions of the proposed landscape from the perspective of persons who will view the site from the highway or adjoining properties. Specific locations, varieties, sizes, winter hardiness, and schedules for all proposed plantings shall, too, be provided as part of the plan. The Planning Board, in reviewing a landscape plan, may employ the assistance of design professionals. The Planning Board shall also specifically consider the following before approving, approving with modifications or disapproving the special use:
A.
The plan should promote attractive development, preserve existing vegetation to the maximum extent possible, enhance the appearance of the property and complement the character of the surrounding area.
B.
The plant material selected should be of complementary character to buildings, structures and native plant species and be of sufficient size and quality to accomplish its intended purposes. Ornamental and shade trees should have a caliper of no less than three inches, evergreen trees should be a minimum of five feet in height and other shrubs a minimum of 24 inches in height or two gallon size, when planted.
C.
The plan should effectively buffer the activity from adjoining land uses as may be necessary and soften the impact of other site development as contrasted with the natural environment.
D.
The plan should be realistic in terms of maintenance and use materials which, as a minimum, are winter hardy to Zone 4.