Focus on the importance of building types and the relationship of one building to another.

Allow flexibility and variety with respect to uses within buildings and within a zoning district.

Help ensure new development is compatible with the existing urban fabric of downtown Newburgh.

Provide guidelines for the redevelopment of the waterfront.

Provide clarity to developers about what is desired and allowed.

Speed the application and approval process for projects meeting the requirements of this article.

This form-based code (FBC) is a fully binding and enforceable component of the City's Zoning Code. It is also designed as a stand-alone resource for the development regulations for Newburgh's downtown.

The form-based code is organized as follows.

The purpose and intent of the Broadway Corridor is to:

Within this district, the preferred form for new development is the shopfront form, also known as the "Main Street form." This form generally features ground-floor retail with residential or commercial uses on the upper floors. Buildings with residential use only are allowed, but must follow the design guidelines for the district.

A transit-oriented development is planned for the western end of the district. The area is bound by Broadway to the north and West Street and Lake Street to the west and east. This subdistrict will feature the same general form as the rest of the corridor, but will allow slightly higher and more dense new development that will capitalize on transit investments made by the City and county.

Lot standards. Buildings within the Broadway Corridor District shall comply with the following lot, building height, and building frontage requirements.

Building placement examples.

Building height diagrams.

Building and sign types. Buildings within the Broadway Corridor District must be of the shopfront or civic building type as defined in § 300-151. Midrise buildings are also allowed in certain areas of the district. The table below illustrates the allowable sign types, as defined and regulated in § 300-153, for each building type.

The primary intent of this zone is to protect and promote the quality of the downtown residential neighborhoods immediately north and south of Broadway and the smaller scale mixed-use shopfront buildings located primarily on Liberty Street and Grand Street. This zone also includes the Liberty/Grand Street Heritage Corridor and contains a number of historically significant properties.

Several building forms are in this district. New infill development shall respect the pattern and scale of the existing urban development. Compact detached houses with small side yards are allowed except on lots fronting Liberty Street or Grand Street. Within the more commercial areas of the district, such as Liberty Street or Grand Street, the shopfront and midrise are the preferred building types. These commercial, mixed-use, and higher-density residential structures will reflect the historic development pattern of the area and capitalize on the cultural assets within the district.

Lot standards. Buildings within the Downtown Neighborhood District shall comply with the following lot, building height, and building frontage requirements.

Building placement examples.

Building height diagrams.

Building and sign types.

The primary intent of the Waterfront Gateway District is to maximize the residential and commercial density of new development. New projects in this zone should capitalize on the dramatic views of the Hudson River Valley, while protecting the views of the river from upland as defined in Article XI. It is anticipated that flagship buildings will anchor this district along Broadway and a mix of uses north and south of Broadway will create a center of activity within the City.

This district forms a transition between the Waterfront, the Broadway Corridor, and the Downtown Neighborhood Districts. Development should provide inviting public spaces that encourage pedestrian activity. The physical form of buildings is intended to vary within the district. Mid- to high-rise buildings are encouraged along Broadway and its surrounding blocks, with shopfronts on the first floor to encourage pedestrian activity. Higher-density residential, mixed-use, and commercial buildings are encouraged in the rest of the district. Creative responses to the opportunities presented by the district's vacant and underutilized blocks are strongly encouraged.

Lot standards. Buildings within the Waterfront Gateway District shall comply with the following lot, building height, and building frontage requirements.

Building placement examples.

Building height diagrams.

Building and sign types.

The PWD is established with the goal of revitalizing the waterfront and establishing the City as a regional destination along the Hudson River. Within this district, water-dependent and water-enhanced uses are encouraged. A broad mix of uses, including housing, commercial, cultural, and open space uses are allowed.

Because of the importance of this district to the overall development of the City and because of the large number of vacant and underutilized parcels within the district, all new construction must obtain site plan approval from the Planning Board in accordance with Article XI. Development must also meet open space standards as well as provide public access to the waterfront.

The physical form and orientation of the buildings within the PWD should reflect the importance of the Hudson River to the successful redevelopment of the waterfront and should encourage activation of the waterfront through increased pedestrian utilization. Shopfront buildings and rowhouses, along with civic buildings, are permitted within this district. Parking lots, both structured and surface, should be primarily located adjacent to the railroad tracks. This will allow the parking to be screened from vantage points to the east and west.

Lot standards. Buildings within the Planned Waterfront District shall comply with the following lot, building height, and building frontage requirements.

Building placement examples.

Building height diagrams.

Building and sign types.

Massing. In order to protect the view corridors to the Hudson River and to reduce the scale of waterfront buildings, an individual building may occupy no more than 100 feet of the dimension of the lot measured parallel to Front Street. Buildings to the north of Broadway and west of Front Street are exempted from this supplementary massing requirement.

Parking. Whenever possible, parking (both surface and structured) should be placed adjacent to the railroad tracks. In this manner, the visibility of the parking can be minimized both from points to the east (downtown) and from pedestrians within the waterfront. Limited on-street parking may be allowed at the discretion of the Planning Board and in consultation with the Department of Public Works. In addition, no parking shall be allowed within the Hudson River setback.

Open space.

Public access. This public access section summarizes the detailed requirements in Part 3.

The facade of the shopfront building type is placed at or close to the front lot line with an entrance generally at sidewalk grade. Pedestrian-oriented retail or office uses are generally located on the ground floor with upper floor typically designed for residential, hospitality, or employment uses. The shopfront building type is characterized by:

Standards.

The midrise building is a key characteristic of an urban downtown providing higher-density buildings where the building line generally meets the lot line. Midrise buildings may include a vertical mix of uses (such as ground-floor retail or service with upper floors residential, service, or offices), or single-use building (such as residential or office).

Standards.

Description.

Standards.

Windows.

Entrances.

Massing.

Preserve and enhance the architectural character of the City.

Promote pedestrian access and activity.

Maintain the role of streets as civic and social spaces.

The creation of retaining walls or blank walls taller than four feet in height along any street frontage.

Mass grading of a site that results in buildings not reflecting the topography of the site.

Architectural building elements, such as balconies, bay windows, open porches, and cornices may encroach up to three feet beyond the front lot line if the bottom of the encroaching element is at least 10 feet above the grade of the sidewalk.

Window or projected air conditioners are not permitted on the front facade.

Flags attached to a building facade are permitted to encroach up to three feet beyond the front lot line if the base of the pole is at least six feet above the grade of the sidewalk and is angled upward.

Windows may not be placed on a building facade that is within two feet of an adjacent lot.

Architectural features, such as balconies and bay windows, are encouraged for all building types.

All building types should include a top floor cornice or comparable architectural feature. If the top floor is required to be set back from the front facade of the floor immediately below, the penultimate floor shall also have a cornice or similar architectural feature.

Architectural features and windows should be continued on all sides of the building that are visible from a street or public parking area. Blank walls should be avoided.

Mechanical equipment and refuse containers shall be concealed from public view either by being placed to the rear of the building or screened with appropriate landscaping or walls or architecturally compatible rooftop masking.

Building materials for finishes include wood, brick, stucco, stone, or fiber-cement siding and trim.

Vinyl, aluminum, or sheet metal siding or trim and concrete blocks or walls are not allowed as finish material in any district.

If a building is on the corner, the primary facade of a building is that which faces the primary street.

The primary street is the one on which the primary use of the building is concentrated.

For shopfront building types, the primary street will usually be either Broadway, Liberty Street, Grand Street, or Front Street.

The purpose of these requirements is to promote high-quality, well-designed signs that:

All new signs erected in the Form-Based Districts shall comply with the regulations in this section. The regulations in this section are in addition to the signage regulations found in Part 2 of this article and Chapter 250 of the City Code. Where the regulations in this chapter conflict with any other signage regulation, the regulations of this article shall prevail.

Historical markers and tablets, memorial signs and plaques, dates of building erection, and emblems installed by governmental agencies are all exempt from these regulations if they are 12 square feet or less.

Changeable copy signs are permitted on civic buildings, schools, houses of worship, and buildings occupied by not-for-profi organizations. [Changeable copy signs are those designed to hold copy (letters, numbers, graphics) that can be readily and periodically modified.]

Signs shall be compatible with building design in terms of relative scale, overall size, materials and colors. Signs shall not dominate a building facade or streetscape.

Signs shall avoid hard-to-read intricate type-faces, and limit the number of letter styles.

The area of the sign devoted to text shall be limited. Lettering and logos shall not occupy more than 75% of the sign face.

Signs may use symbols and logos.

Signs shall avoid large contiguous areas of blank space.

Signs shall be designed to relate to the architectural features of the building and to create visual continuity with other shopfronts in the same or adjacent buildings.

When possible, signs shall be placed at or near the public building entrance to indicate accesses.

For the purposes of this sign regulation section only, "facade" shall mean either a building facade, or that portion of a building facade that is occupied by a single tenant space having a public entrance on the building facade ("business facade"). For spaces located interior to a building that do not have direct access to the building facade, the elevation at which public access is provided shall be considered the business facade.

Utilization of a direct source of light (e.g., spotlight) is permitted. The light shall be focused on the sign and shielded to prevent glare.

Back-lit, solid letters are encouraged.

Individually illuminated letters, either internally illuminated or back-lit (reverse channel), are permitted.

Signs using internally illuminated cabinet with translucent panels ("box signs") are not permitted,

Signs that use blinking or flashing lights shall be prohibited.

Neon signs and electronic reader board signs are prohibited.

Sign materials shall be selected with consideration for the architectural design of the building's facade. Permitted materials include wood or PVC that is carved, sandblasted, etched, properly sealed and painted, or stained or metal that is formed, etched, cast, engraved, and properly primed and painted or factory coated to protect against corrosion. Acrylic is also permitted.

Band.

Blade.

Shingle.

Awning.

Marquee.

Yard.

Pedestrian walkway. The pedestrian walkway is that portion of the streetscape zone that is devoted to pedestrian movement. The pedestrian walkway is clear of all temporary or permanent obstructions which may impede the flow or circulation of pedestrians. The minimum width and relative location of the pedestrian walkway within the streetscape zone varies throughout the form-based districts with the absolute minimum width being five feet.

Street tree and utility zone.

Amenity zone.

Commercial/mixed-use streets.

Residential streets.

All plant species must be native to the region or regionally appropriate as determined by the Conservation Advisory Council.

All invasive species, as identified by the United States Forest Service, Cornell Cooperative Extension, or the NYSDEC are prohibited from being planted in the form-based districts.

Replacement of invasive species with desirable hardwood species is encouraged.

All tree and other landscape materials shall meet the American Standard for Nursery Stock standards as published by the American Association of Nurserymen.

Tree and other landscape material selected for planting must be free from injury, pests, disease, nutritional disorders or root defects, and must be of good vigor in order to assure a reasonable expectation of survivability.

Large and medium canopy tree species shall be a minimum of 12 feet in height and have a caliper of at least 2.5 inches at time of planting.

Small canopy tree species should be a minimum of four feet in height and have a caliper of at least 9/16 inch and five or more branches at time of planting.

Shrubs shall be a minimum of 18 inches in height and width at time of planting.

Tree and landscape materials shall be installed according to standards established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

Structural soil shall be installed in and around all tree wells to provide adequate underground volume for root growth. The structural soil should tie into adjacent landscaped areas to provide tree roots access to open soil.

Large and medium trees shall not be planted underneath or directly adjacent to overhead powerlines.

All plant material shall be maintained in good condition at all times in accordance with standards established by ANSI.

All plantings that die or are destroyed must be replaced during the next suitable planting season.

Attaching lights, signage, fence rails, and any other items to trees that may result in damage to the tree is prohibited.

Street trees shall help define the boundary between automobile zones and the streetscape zone.

All street trees planted in the streetscape zone are to be limbed up to a minimum of six feet.

Selection of tree species shall be based upon height, canopy diameter, disease resistance and transparency.

Large canopy street trees should be planted approximately every 30 feet.

A minimum soil volume of 400 cubic feet per tree is required.

To provide adequate underground volume for root growth, structural soil shall be installed under the paved areas around all tree pits of a dimension no less than five feet by 10 feet.

Wherever possible, trees shall be planted in continuous tree pits or planting beds to provide optimal environment for root growth.

Where continuous open-surface planting beds are not possible, structural soil should be used to provide a subsurface connection between tree pits to provide optimal conditions for tree root growth.

All parking and loading areas that are visible from the public right-of-way shall be screened with vegetation to minimize the visual impact of parked vehicles.

Shrubs and trees shall be installed in all parking lot medians to provide for semicontinuous plantings.

Within a surface parking lot each landscape island shall contain a minimum of one large canopy tree.

All permeable ground surfaces of lots in environments altered from their natural, predevelopment state and not provided for circulation of vehicles, bicycles or pedestrians shall be planted with vegetation or otherwise landscaped.

Except when a build-to line or minimum setback makes the provision of foundation plantings impractical, a foundation planting area shall be maintained around all structures. The foundation planting shall incorporate a mixture of trees, shrubs, and ground covers in order to soften the building facade. Foundation plantings shall not be required along any building elevation or portion thereof that contains only service and/or delivery areas that are not visible from any roadway.

Promote and maintain the physical and visual public access to and along the waterfront;

Create a desirable relationship between waterfront development, public access areas, and the upland communities;

Protect the natural resources within this environmentally sensitive area.

Physical public access.

Visual access and scenic viewshed protection.

Off-street parking that is required pursuant to this section shall be the sum total of the parking required for each use on the lot.

Applicants that wish to provide fewer off-street parking spaces than required by this section may apply to the Planning Board for a special parking permit as described in Article IX.

Nothing in this section prohibits providing more off-street parking than is required by this section. It is recognized that adequate off-street parking will likely require creative and collaborative solutions.

Required off-street parking does not need to be provided on the same lot as the use. However, if the parking is not on the same lot, the applicant must demonstrate that the required parking spaces are available for a period of not less than 10 years for the exclusive use of the applicant and that the allocated spaces are within 500 feet of the use.

The size, dimension, and accessibility, including space for maneuvers, of all off-street parking areas shall be approved by the Building Inspector.

All off-street parking shall be located behind, or to the side, of the principal building or be screened totally from the street.

The shared use of off-street parking is encouraged by multiple uses, especially when those uses have differing times of peak demand.

Residential and commercial uses in the BC District. No off-street parking shall be required within the BC District with the exception of civic buildings or new uses which are parking-dependent, such as theaters and supermarkets, which during the special permit application process may be required to provide off-street parking in accordance with the Bulk and Area Table.

Residential uses in other districts.

Nonresidential uses in the DN, WG, PWD Districts.

Off-street loading berths shall be provided according to the schedule and regulations in Article IX.