Pleasant Valley Town
City Zoning Code
City Zoning Code
ARTICLE V
Nonconforming Structures and Uses
§ 98-55 Continuance.
The lawful use of any building or land existing at the time of the enactment of this chapter may be continued although such use does not conform to the provisions of this chapter.
§ 98-56 Unsafe structures.
Any structure or portion thereof declared unsafe by the Building Inspector must either be restored to a safe condition or removed by the owner, agent or person having beneficial use of the structure upon written notice to effect removal from the Zoning Administrator. Upon failure to thereafter comply with such notice within 30 days, the Zoning Administrator is hereby authorized to cause removal of such structure, and any expense incident thereto shall be paid by the owner and, in the event of nonpayment, shall become a tax lien on said real property.
§ 98-57 Expansion.
[Amended 10-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
A nonconforming use, a nonconforming structure, or a structure utilized for a nonconforming use shall not be extended, enlarged, or structurally altered except as provided below:
A lawful nonconforming use of land may only be enlarged or expanded as provided in the following two subsections:
Proposed increases of up to 15% of the current operations existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter may be permitted by a no-fee permit issued by the Zoning Administrator, provided that the proposed use complies with all bulk and area requirements for the district in which the use is situated and complies with the applicable parking requirements for the use. A special use permit issued by the Zoning Board of Appeals and site plan approval from the Planning Board pursuant to Article VI shall be required for any proposed expansion:
That would result in any new, or expansion of any existing, buildings or structures on the property; or
Exceeding 15% of the current operations existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter; or
Resulting in any nonconformity as to bulk, area and parking requirements; or
Subsequent to any prior no-fee expansion pursuant to this section.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, an existing nonconforming use housed in one or more structures may be permitted to expand up to 50% of the operations existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter, subject to the issuance of a special use permit and site plan approval in accordance with the provisions of Article VI. Any such expansion of a nonconforming use shall be subject to all supplementary and parking regulations pertaining to such use in effect at the time of such expansion; provided, however, that under no circumstances shall any use be expanded by more than 50% of the operations existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter.
Expansion of a nonconforming structure. A legal nonconforming structure may be permitted to expand to an amount not exceeding 50% of the square footage of the original structure, subject to the issuance of a special use permit in accordance with the provisions of Article VI. No such expansion shall result in more than 20% nonconformity of any required setbacks.
Expansion of a structure utilized for a nonconforming use. A legal nonconforming use may be permitted to expand the structure utilized for the use to an amount not exceeding 50% of the square footage of the original structure, subject to the issuance of a special use permit in accordance with the provisions of Article VI, except that no structure utilized for a nonconforming use shall be permitted to violate any other provisions of this chapter relative to the district in which it is situated.
§ 98-58 Construction approved prior to adoption of provisions.
Nothing herein contained shall require any change in plans, construction or designated use of a building for which a building permit has been heretofore issued and the construction of which shall have been diligently prosecuted within six months of the date of such permit, and the ground-story framework of which, including the second tier of beams, shall have been completed within 12 months of the date of the permit, and which entire building shall be completed according to such plans as filed within 18 months from the date of this chapter.
§ 98-59 Restoration.
A nonconforming building (or use) damaged or destroyed may be repaired or reconstructed with the issuance of a building permit to the original size, provided such repair or reconstruction is completed within 18 months.
Any building structurally damaged or destroyed which is not repaired or reconstructed within 18 months must be demolished and removed from the site.
Upon failure to repair or reconstruct as provided in Subsection A of this section, the owner shall, within 10 days after written notification by the Zoning Administrator, cause the building or structural remains to be demolished or removed. If the owner fails to comply, the Town is empowered to demolish or remove the building or structure, and any cost incident thereto shall be paid by the owner of the building or structure.
§ 98-60 Discontinuance.
Whenever a nonconforming use has essentially ceased for a period of one year, such use shall not thereafter be reestablished, and any future use shall be in conformity with the provisions of this chapter, with the following exception: Such lapse in nonconforming use shall not constitute a discontinuance if the sale, rental for business purpose, renovation or reconstruction of the property has been actively pursued since the date of cessation. However, under no circumstances shall such lapse in nonconforming use be permitted to continue for any longer than 36 months.
§ 98-61 Displacement.
No nonconforming use shall be extended to displace a conforming use.
§ 98-62 Changes in district boundaries; reversion.
Should the boundaries of a district be modified so as to transfer an area from one district to another district of a different classification, the foregoing provisions shall also apply to any nonconforming uses existing therein.
Once changed to a conforming use, no building or land shall be permitted to revert to a nonconforming use.
§ 98-63 Cessation of certain uses.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, any automobile wrecking yard, salvage yard or junkyard operating in conformity with any existing Town ordinance at the date of enactment of this chapter shall be allowed to continue as an operating business under a special use permit granted by the Board of Appeals at the date of this chapter's adoption. Such use shall not be allowed to expand beyond the metes and bounds of the wrecking yard or junkyard in existence at the time of this chapter's adoption.
The issuance of such special use permit shall be predicated on:
Compliance with any existing Town ordinance.
Compliance with any special screening, planting or other individual requirements jointly established by the Town Planning Board and Board of Appeals. Contents within the yard shall not exceed the height of the screening requirements as established.
In the event of future ordinance adoption by the Town Board pertaining to automobile wrecking yards or junkyards, providing additional regulation and establishing a time limit for compliance, failure to comply with such regulations within the specified time limit shall cause immediate revocation of any special use permit under this chapter.
Request for permission to operate any automobile wrecking yard or junkyard not in existence at the time of adoption of this chapter shall be denied.
With the loss of any special use permit as described above, a notice of removal shall be issued to the owner that requires removal of that activity from the Town within 12 months.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, animal husbandry on substandard lots, which use was in existence prior to adoption of this section, may continue until such time as the substandard real property is sold or otherwise transferred or conveyed to a new owner. Following any such conveyance, there shall be no right to conduct animal husbandry on the real property without first obtaining a special permit pursuant to § 98-19.
Upon failure to comply with the removal notice, the owner shall, within 10 days after written notice from the Zoning Administrator, cause the activity or remaining portion of the activity to be removed.
If the owner fails to comply, the Town is empowered to remove the activity, and any cost incident thereto shall be paid by the owner of the activity.
§ 98-64 Change to another nonconforming use.
A nonconforming use may be changed to another nonconforming use by special use permit upon proper application and upon determination by the Zoning Board of Appeals that the proposed new use will be less detrimental to its neighborhood and surroundings than the use it is to replace. In determining relative detriment, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall take into consideration, among other things, community character, traffic generated; nuisance characteristics, such as emission of noise, dust and smoke; fire hazards; and hours and manner of operation. The issuance of such special use permit shall be predicated on:
§ 98-65 Exemption of substandard lots.
[Amended 10-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
Lots existing prior to this enactment having an area less than the recommended lot size for the district in which they are located shall be considered to be conforming with regard to lot area, provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
The following minimum area and dimensions are maintained, unless smaller dimensions are permitted in the district:
Front setback: 15% of lot depth, but not less than 30 feet from the center line of the road.
Side setback: 20% of lot width, but not less than eight feet per side.
Rear setback: 15% of lot depth, but not less than 25 feet.
All minimum yard requirements for a lot must be satisfied by measurement on dry land.
Merging with other lots.
Until October 1, 2014: When a nonconforming lot is below the recommended lot size for the zoning district in which it is situated, such nonconforming lot must be merged with contiguous lots in common ownership to reduce the nonconformity of said nonconforming lots, unless all such contiguous lots independently conform to the 1974 Zoning Code or have the minimum road frontage on an existing local, county or state road required as of the date of the adoption of this chapter.
After October 1, 2014: When a nonconforming lot is below the recommended lot size for the zoning district in which it is situated, such nonconforming lot must be merged with contiguous lots in common ownership to reduce the nonconformity of said nonconforming lots.
All Health Department regulations are satisfied.
Any residential use of such a nonconforming lot shall be limited to one single-family dwelling or two-family dwelling.
Any allowed nonresidential use of such a nonconforming lot shall be limited to one structure and one use.
A nonconforming lot may be subdivided only if the subdivision plat shows that every subdivided portion of such lot will be merged with adjoining properties to increase the area of such properties, thereby eliminating the nonconforming lot.