Red Hook Town City Zoning Code

The Waterfront Conservation (WC) District is intended to protect scenic quality and to conserve the most ecologically significant and developmentally restricted lands within the Town of Red Hook within their natural state and for land extensive and water-dependent open space uses. This district encompasses the Tivoli Bays State Nature Preserve and Wildlife Management Area, Cruger Island, the South Bay and North Bay tidal wetlands and other lands to include sloping and escarpment lands lying within 1000 feet of the high-water mark of the Hudson River and its coves and tributaries to the limits of tidal action, except for the established hamlet of Barrytown, and encompasses additionally those lands within 100 feet of the principal stream corridors within the Town (i.e., the Lakes Kill, Stony Creek, Saw Kill, White Clay Creek and Mudder Kill).

The Limited Development (LD) District includes environmentally significant estate and other noninstitutional open space lands within the Town's coastal zone management area. Continuing estate, open space and passive recreational uses and adaptive reuse are encouraged. Reliance on cluster development, conservation easements and other innovative land use mechanisms is proposed to mitigate any development impact on the rural, scenic and historic character of these lands.

The Rural Development 5 (RD5) District encompasses land on the west side of New York State Route 9G which, while similar in character to the RD3 District lands, both lie within one of the Town's primary scenic corridors and are located within the Town's coastal management area. A mix of agricultural use and compatible low-density rural residential development and other conservation, recreation and open space uses are encouraged in a manner consistent with established land use patterns.

The Rural Development 3 (RD3) District is intended to allow a mix of agricultural use and compatible moderate-density rural residential development and other conservation, recreation and open space uses consistent with established land use patterns. In order to conserve prime agricultural and other environmentally sensitive lands throughout the RD3 District, as well to maintain the overall rural and scenic character of the district, use of the residential cluster subdivision technique, encouragement of conservation density subdivisions and limitations on the scale of development that may be authorized are provided.

The Residential 1.5 (R1.5) District is intended to allow low-density suburban residential use in proximity to the Village of Red Hook and established community and business services. Continuing agricultural use and a range of housing types are encouraged, including single-family detached and attached dwellings, accessory dwelling units and multifamily construction. Use of the cluster subdivision technique is encouraged, in tandem with the Environmental Protection, Flood-Fringe and Scenic Corridor Overlays, to preserve valuable open space, including farmlands, recreational opportunities and other natural resources within the R1.5 District.

The Residential (R1) District is intended to allow more concentrated, moderate-density suburban development adjacent to the Village of Red Hook and where potentially served by municipal water supply facilities. A broad range of housing types is encouraged, including single-family detached, semidetached and attached dwellings, two-family dwellings, accessory dwelling units, multifamily construction and elderly housing, and strong linkages are envisioned between these denser residential neighborhoods and the community's established business, service and institutional uses in the village center. Increased density is authorized for senior citizen housing and related occupancies. An alternative density measure, i.e., bedroom count, is employed in the consideration of maximum permissible number of units for multifamily dwellings, whether by conversion or new construction. As in the R1.5 District, use of the cluster subdivision technique is encouraged, in combination with other controls established under this chapter, to preserve valuable open space, including farmlands, recreational opportunities and other natural resources.

The Hamlet (H) District is intended to sustain and encourage the traditional mix of residential uses and community facilities in the historic settlements of Upper Red Hook, Annandale-on-Hudson and Barrytown. Architectural design review of proposed modifications to existing structures and new construction is provided to protect both the vernacular character and scale of buildings and their unique settings within these hamlet areas so as to preserve tangible linkages to the Town's historic, architectural and cultural heritage.

The Institutional (I) District is intended to accommodate the comprehensively planned, land-extensive, campus-type environments of educational, health-related and other not-for-profit institutional facilities and compatible residential, agricultural, conservation and open space uses.

The Business 1 (B1) District is intended to accommodate retail, office, personal service and business service uses in the immediate vicinity of the Town's established business center, the Village of Red Hook. The Town seeks to ensure that the scale of retail business uses and their building and site design characteristics are compatible with the Town's overall rural character and with neighboring properties and land uses. Through careful site plan review, the Town will encourage the use of traditional building form and materials, introduction of suitably landscaped and maintained buffer areas, appropriate signage and lighting and safe and functional access controls, pedestrian and vehicular linkages and parking layout.

The Business 2 (B2) District is intended to complement the B1 District by providing a less pedestrian-oriented business environment for highway-oriented retail and auto-related uses, service commercial, light industrial uses and wholesale activities within the Town's principal highway corridors and adjacent to similar development within the village center. To the extent that land is available, the establishment of a planned office or light industrial park or similar multitenant facilities within the Business 2 (B2) District is also encouraged.

[1]The intent of the Agricultural Business (AB) District is set forth in § 143-39.1A of this chapter.

The intent of the Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) District is set forth in § 143-49.1A of this chapter.

The Hamlet Business (HB) District is intended to accommodate a mix of small-scale commercial uses consisting of retail, office, lodging, and personal services in the immediate vicinity of the Hamlet of Upper Red Hook. The Town seeks to ensure that the scale of these uses and their building and site design characteristics are compatible with the Town's overall rural character and with the historic character of the Hamlet of Upper Red Hook. Through careful site plan review, the Town will require the use of traditional building form and materials, introduction of suitably landscaped and maintained buffer areas, appropriate signage and lighting, and safe and functional access controls, pedestrian and vehicular linkages and parking layout.

The Flood-Fringe Overlay (FF-O) District encompasses that land designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a "floodplain area with special flood hazards that is likely to be flooded at least once every 100 years."

The Historic Landmarks Overlay (HL-O) District is coincident with that portion of the Hudson River National Historic Landmark District within the Town of Red Hook and encompasses the large estates and other land areas of historic and environmental significance which bound the east bank of the Hudson River. The HL-O District recognizes that these estates and other land areas possess qualities conducive to contemporary development while at the same time being comprised of both existing buildings and natural areas which are significant assets linking the entire community to its heritage. Continuing estate, conservation, adaptive reuse and environmentally sensitive new development are encouraged.

The Environmental Protection Overlay (EP-O) District is intended to protect significant environmental resources, including the Town's groundwater, wetlands, stream corridors, prime farmlands, historic sites and scenic areas, from development that is considered incompatible on the basis of its scale, intensity or location.

The Scenic Corridor Overlay (SC-O) District is intended to recognize both roadways designated as "scenic" by NYSDEC under authority of the New York State Scenic Byways Law[2] and others which have been deemed locally significant in the Town's Master Plan. Within these roadway corridors, view protection regulations are imposed to preserve their overall rural character, the setting of historic properties along these routes and the irreplaceable scenic vistas which they offer.