Conformity required. No building shall be erected, constructed, moved, altered, rebuilt or enlarged nor shall any land, water or building be used, designed or arranged to be used for any purpose except in conformity with this chapter.

Minimum requirements. In interpreting and applying this chapter, the requirements contained herein are declared to be the minimum requirements necessary for the protection and promotion of the public health, safety, morals, comfort, convenience and general welfare.

Other applicable codes, standards and regulations. There are many other applicable codes, standards and regulations of the Village of New Hempstead in addition to this chapter. These include Chapter 154, Flood Damage Prevention, Chapter 255, Subdivision of Land, and the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.

Conflicting standards. This chapter shall not be deemed to affect in any manner whatsoever any easements, covenants or other agreements between parties; provided, however, that where this chapter imposes a greater or lesser restriction upon the use of buildings or land or upon the erection, construction, establishment, movement, alteration or enlargement of buildings than is imposed by other local laws, rules, regulations, licenses, certificates or other authorizations or by easements, covenants or agreements, the more-restrictive requirements shall prevail.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the lawfully permitted use of lands or buildings and the lawfully permitted existence of buildings or structures at the time of the adoption of this chapter, or an amendment to this chapter, may be continued although such uses, buildings or structures do not conform to the standards specified in this chapter for the district in which such lands, buildings or structures are located. Similarly, whenever a zoning classification or the restrictions affecting property within a district shall be changed hereafter so as to render nonconforming a use, building or structure then presently or theretofore lawfully existing, such use, building or structure may nevertheless continue subject to the conditions set forth below. Said uses shall be deemed nonconforming uses, and said buildings and structures shall be deemed dimensionally nonconforming.

Any use in existence as of the effective date of this chapter which is by this chapter made a special permit use in the district in which it is located shall be presumed to have a special permit to the extent that such use is legally conforming as of the date immediately prior to the effective date of this chapter.

The nonconforming use of land may be continued; provided, however, that no such nonconforming use shall be physically enlarged or intensified, nor shall it be extended to occupy a greater area of land than that occupied by such use at the time of the adoption of this chapter, unless specifically allowed by other provisions in this chapter, nor shall any such nonconforming use be moved in whole or in part to any other portion of the lot or parcel of land occupied by such nonconforming use at the time of the adoption of this chapter.

A building or structure, the use of which does not conform to the use regulations for the district in which it is situated, shall not be enlarged, extended or altered structurally unless the use therein is changed to a conforming use or to conform to an order of the Building Inspector to either correct an unsafe condition or to conform to the requirements of applicable laws or ordinances.

No nonconforming use of a building or structure shall be enlarged or extended, except that any such nonconforming use may be extended throughout any parts of the building or structure which were obviously or manifestly arranged or designed only for such use at the time of the adoption or amendment of this chapter.

No nonconforming use shall be changed to another nonconforming use, except as provided in § 290-15.

If a nonconforming use ceases for any reason for a total of six months during any twelve-month period or is changed to a conforming use, any future use of land, building or structure shall be in conformity with the provisions of this chapter. Substantial cessation of activities consistent with or required for the operation of such nonconforming use or substantial vacancy of the building or structure in which the nonconforming use was conducted, together with substantial cessation of activities consistent with or required for the operation of such nonconforming use, shall be deemed to constitute a discontinuance thereof within the meaning of this chapter, irrespective of whether an intention to abandon the nonconforming use may exist. On application however, the Board of Appeals may extend the period upon a finding that it is not reasonable in its application to the particular premises, taking into consideration the characteristics of the use, the investment which has been made in it the circumstances of the discontinuance and the suitability of the structure for a permitted or special use permit.

If any building or structure in which any nonconforming use is conducted or maintained is hereafter removed, the subsequent use of the land on which such building or structure was located and the subsequent use of any building or structure thereon shall be in conformity with the standards specified by this chapter for the district in which such land is located.

Should a building or structure, the use of which or the use of a portion of which is nonconforming or which is dimensionally nonconforming, be destroyed or damaged by any means to an extent of more than 75% of the replacement cost of the building or structure as determined by the Building Inspector at the time of the reconstruction, it shall not thereafter be reconstructed or used except in conformity with the provisions of this chapter.

Should a building or structure, the use of which or the use of a portion of which is nonconforming or which is dimensionally nonconforming, be destroyed or damaged by any means to an extent of 75% or less of the replacement cost of the building or structure as determined by the Building Inspector at the time of the reconstruction, it may be reconstructed and any accompanying nonconforming use continued, provided that the reconstruction is commenced within one year of the date of such damage and completed within two years of said date, and further provided that it shall be reconstructed in accordance with a plan approved by the Planning Board so as to result, where possible, in greater conformity with this chapter.

Yard for every building. No yard or other open space provided about any building for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this chapter shall be included as any part of the yard or open space for any other building. No yard or any other open space on one lot shall be considered as a yard or open space for a building on any other lot.

Use of yards. No accessory building or structure shall be permitted within any minimum required yard except as regulated by §§ 290-23 and 290-28 of this chapter. No parking shall be permitted within any yard except as provided in Article VI of this chapter.

No reduction of required yards. No lot shall be so reduced in area as to make any yard smaller than the minimum required under this chapter.

Yards on corner lots. On a corner lot, each lot line which abuts a street shall be deemed to be a front lot line, and the required yard along both lot frontages shall be a required front yard. The owner shall elect and so designate on the building permit which of the remaining two required yards shall be the required side yard and which shall be the required rear yard. Where a corner lot has frontage on three streets, the remaining yard shall be a side yard.

Limited walls and fences may be allowed in required yards, subject to the requirements of § 290-25.

An arbor, open trellis, flagpole, unroofed steps or unroofed terrace shall be permitted in any required yard.

An awning or movable canopy may project not more than 10 feet into any required yard.

Cornices or eaves may project not more than 18 inches into a required yard.

Windowsills or belt courses may project not more than six inches into a required yard.

Driveways and parking areas shall be permitted in any yard except a front yard, provided they comply with the maximum impervious surface requirements of the Table of Dimensional Regulations, included as an attachment to this chapter (see § 290-37).

Church spires, belfries, cupolas, domes, monuments, observation towers, chimneys, smokestacks, derricks, flagpoles, radio towers, masts and aerials where not used for human occupancy and where such structures do not extend more than 15 feet above the roof.

Rooftop bulkheads, elevator penthouses, water towers, water tanks, monitors, fire towers, hose towers, cooling towers or solar energy collectors, provided that such features shall be erected only to the height necessary to accomplish the purpose they are intended to serve. The total area covered by such features shall not exceed 20% of the horizontal area of the roof on which they are located. Where such structures do not extend more than 15 feet above the roof and where the lot on which they are locate is in or adjacent to a residence district, such features shall be set back from the edge of the roof at least one foot for each one foot by which such features exceed the maximum height otherwise specified for the district in which they are located.

Fences and walls, including retaining walls, are permitted within required yards, provided that:

Barbed wire is permitted as a part of a fence in a nonresidential district, provided that such barbed wire is located at least six feet above the ground. A barbed-wire or electrically charged fence is permitted in any district only upon approval of the Planning Board.

Solar energy collectors and microwave receiving dishes are permitted as a part of and may be attached to any building.

Installation of solar energy collectors and microwave receiving dishes shall require the issuance of a building permit and the approval of the Architectural Review Board.

Not more than three accessory buildings and structures shall be permitted on a lot in a residential district, except that not more than one of such buildings or structures shall be a shed.

The gross floor area of all principal and accessory buildings, regardless of size, located on a lot shall comply with the maximum floor area ratio requirements in § 290-37 of this chapter.[1]

The following shall be considered accessory buildings and structures for the purposes of this section: tennis courts, paddle courts, swimming pools, garages for passenger vehicles or not more than one vehicle with commercial registration, provided such vehicle is less than 5,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, greenhouses, playhouses, garden houses, stables, barns, sheds, solar energy collectors.

Accessory buildings and structures not greater than 160 square feet in floor area and not more than 10 feet in height measured to the highest point of the building or structure may be located not closer to a side or rear lot line than 1/3 of the side yard and rear yard dimensions specified in the Table of Dimensional Requirements included as an attachment to this chapter (see § 290-37). Accessory buildings and structures shall comply with front yard setbacks specified in such table.

Individual accessory buildings and structures greater than 160 square feet in floor area and greater than 10 feet in height shall meet the following requirements:

Signs advertising the garage sale shall comply with the requirements of § 290-113I.

The number of garage sales shall be limited to two per year, each to be limited to a maximum duration of three days.

General regulations. The following regulations apply to the maintenance of animals in all districts:

Regulations for specific animals.

In all residential districts, the storage of not more than one unoccupied recreational vehicle or boat, or one unregistered vehicle or boat, or one unregistered vehicle shall be permitted so long as such vehicle or boat is stored only within a rear yard. No stored vehicle or boat shall exceed 35 feet in length.

It is specifically prohibited to park, idle or store buses and commercial vehicles on premises within the Village within any residential zoning district, except as expressly otherwise provided in the Code.

Conformance required. No special permit use or nonresidential use shall hereafter be established, altered, moved or expanded unless it complies with the performance standards set forth in this section. Continued performance with such standards shall be a requirement for the continuance of any certificate of occupancy. Central utility systems serving three or more dwelling units, including but not limited to systems providing heat, water, air-conditioning, sewage treatment, garbage collection and electrical power, shall be deemed to be nonresidential uses for the purposes of this section.

Purposes. Consistent with the general purposes of this chapter, performance standards shall set specific controls on potentially objectionable external aspects of nonresidential uses so as to:

Standards for noise. No land use shall be permitted which will produce a volume of noise which would violate the provisions of any law regulating noise in the Village of New Hempstead.[1]

Standards for vibration.

Standards for smoke, dust and other atmospheric pollutants.

Standards for odorous matter. No land use shall be permitted which emits any discernible odor outside the building in which the use is conducted.

Standards for toxic or noxious matter. No use shall be permitted which will cause any dissemination whatsoever of toxic or noxious matter outside the building in which the use is conducted.

Standards for radiation and electromagnetic interference.

Standards for fire, explosive hazard and heat.

Standards for liquid or solid wastes. The discharge of any or all wastes shall be permitted only if in complete accordance with all standards, laws and regulations of the Rockland County Health Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or any other regulatory agency having jurisdiction. Facilities for the storage of solid waste shall be so located and designed as to be screened from the street or from any adjoining property and so as to discourage the breeding of rodents or insects.

Standards for vehicular traffic. No business or industrial use, home occupation or special permit shall be permitted where it is determined by the Planning Board that the type and number of vehicle trips it is estimated to generate would be expected to produce unusual traffic hazards or congestion or cause or induce emissions which may be expected to interfere with the maintenance of air quality standards established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation or other regulatory agency having jurisdiction due to the design or capacity of the highway system, the relationship of such proposed use to surrounding or nearby industrial, commercial or residential uses or other factors affecting air pollution arising from mobile source activity.

Procedure.