A.

Existing ordinance. Restriction or requirements with respect to buildings or land or both which appear in other ordinances of the Town of Rockland or are established by federal, state and county laws, and which are greater than those set forth herein shall take precedence over those herein. Otherwise the provisions of this ordinance shall apply.

B.

Buildings and uses.

1.

The use of buildings hereafter erected, enlarged, converted, structurally altered, rebuilt, or moved; and existing land shall be used only for purposes as specified in this ordinance. Furthermore, land and building uses shall be in compliance with the regulations as established herein for each district.

2.

All principal structures/buildings shall be located on a lot/unit; and only one principal structure/building shall be located, erected, or moved onto a lot/unit except in the case of planned unit developments.

3.

Every publicly sewered lot shall have a minimum of 4,000 square feet of contiguous buildable area. Every privately sewered lot shall have a minimum of 6,000 square feet of contiguous buildable area. For purposes of this requirement, contiguous shall be defined as land which is not separated by streets, ways, waterways, environmentally sensitive areas, or rights-of way owned by other persons.

4.

If a nonconforming use of a building or premises is discontinued for a period of 12 months, any future use of the building or premises shall conform to the regulations for the district in which it is located. Existing farming operations shall be exempt from these restrictions.

5.

No lot area shall be reduced so that the yards and open spaces shall be smaller than is required by this ordinance. If the lot area is less than the minimum number of square feet required for a dwelling for the district in which it is located, but was a legal lot of record and met the minimum square footage for the district it was located within prior to adoption of this ordinance, such lot may be occupied by a dwelling, provided it meets the sanitary ordinance, building code, and other pertinent town, county, and state requirements.

6.

Where the Town Zoning Administrator has issued a building permit pursuant to the provisions of this ordinance, such permit shall become null and void unless work thereon is substantially underway within six months of the date of the issuance of such permit by the Town Zoning Administrator. For purposes of this section, substantially underway shall be interpreted to mean framing of the principal structure on the site has begun. All residential dwelling unit construction shall be completed within 12 months of building permit issuance by the Town Zoning Administrator. The Town Zoning Administrator may extend this deadline by six months. Following the initial twelve months and six-month extension, only the Town Board may extend this timeline further.

Where a new building/structure or an addition is located, erected or moved onto, the lawn shall be seeded thereby covering soil within a one year period to commence from the date of the occupancy permit or building final approval from the Building Inspector.

7.

Where a building permit for a building or structure has been issued in accordance with the law prior to the effective date of this ordinance, and provided that construction is begun within six months of such effective date and diligently prosecuted to completion, the said building or structure may be completed in accordance with the approved plans on the basis of which the building permit has been issued, and further, may upon completion be occupied by the use for which originally designed and subject thereafter to the provisions of RCO 07-01.00 and RCO 18-10.00.

8.

No principal building, accessory building, or structure shall be moved from one zone district to another zone district unless so authorized by the Town Planning Commission.

9.

Uses not listed as either permitted or conditional uses in this ordinance shall be considered as not allowable, except that the Planning Commission may recommend and the Town Board may allow land uses (permitted or conditional), which, though not contained by name in a zoning district list of permitted or conditional uses, are deemed to be similar in nature and clearly compatible with the listed uses.

10.

All structures must maintain a minimum of ten feet of separation distance from each other for fire fighting purposes.

11.

All fuel storage facilities must meet all applicable state and federal regulations.

C.

Accessory buildings. In addition to the specific zoning district regulations established elsewhere in this ordinance, the following general requirements shall apply to all accessory buildings and uses.

1.

Compatibility and time of construction. Accessory buildings and uses shall be compatible with the principal use of the property and shall not be constructed or established prior to the principal structure.

2.

Setback of accessory buildings.

a.

In the RS-1 zoning district, with the exception of multi-family developments, accessory buildings shall not be located in front of, or closer, to a street right-of-way than the front building line, within the corner side lot if on a corner lot, or closer than ten feet to any interior side or rear property line.

b.

In the RR-1, ER-2, ER-5, and ER-10 zoning districts, with the exception of multi-family developments, accessory buildings shall not be located in front of, or closer to a street right-of-way than the front building line, within the corner side lot if on a corner lot, or closer than 25 feet to any interior side or rear property line.

c.

No part of the roof overhang may extend more than 24 inches into any setback.

3.

Garages. In RS-1, RR-1, ER-2, ER-5, and ER-10 zoning districts, with the exception of multi-family developments, not more than one garage (if detached, not more than 864 square feet) shall be located on a lot.

a.

Only those residential structures without an attached garage may be permitted to have a detached garage.

b.

A detached garage does not count toward the maximum square footage of accessory structures permitted on a lot as described in RCO 18-01.09(C)(4)(f).

c.

Garages, whether detached or attached, shall not exceed three stalls in width.

d.

Garages must have a minimum 4:12 roof pitch or approved by the Town Board or the Building Inspector/Zoning Administrator. This is to accommodate steel roofs.

4.

Size and number of accessory structures. Unless specified differently in an approved PDD document, accessory structures shall comply with the following regulations.

a.

All accessory structures are required to have an approved permit from the Town of Rockland Zoning Administrator prior to construction.

b.

Accessory structures in the RS-1, RR-1, ER-2, ER-5 and ER-10 zoning districts must have a minimum 4:12 roof pitch or approved by the Town Board or the Building Inspector/Zoning Administrator. This is to accommodate steel roofs.

c.

All floors of accessory buildings with a minimum of six feet of height shall be counted toward the total floor area.

d.

Two-family residential dwellings may be permitted one accessory structure per unit, provided they meet all the requirements of RCO 18-01.09(4)(f).

e.

Any pool house that does not exclusively contain pool equipment shall be counted toward a property owners' accessory structure square footage.

f.

Non-farm accessory buildings shall not occupy more than 30 percent of the buildable area of a rear yard, and shall not exceed the maximum square footage of accessory buildings as follows:

Table 18-01.09—Accessory Building Sizes

g.

There shall be no maximum number of floor area for accessory farm structures within the Estate Residential—Ten-Acre (ER-10) zoning district, provided they are used as a part of a legitimate agricultural operation.

h.

Multi-family structures and on lots zoned B-1, B-2, IN, I-1, or I-2, the number and floor area of accessory structures shall comply with a Town-approved site plan.

D.

Area regulations.

1.

Lot size shall comply with the required regulations of the established district.

2.

No building permit shall be issued for a lot that abuts on a half street.

3.

Manure storage facilities are allowed by conditional use in Estate Residential—Ten Acre (ER-10), Agricultural—Farmland Preservation (AGFP) and Non-Participating Working Lands Initiative (NPWLI) as accessory structures with 75-foot setbacks from all property lines.

E.

Height regulations.

1.

Except as otherwise provided in this ordinance, the height of any building hereafter erected, converted, enlarged, or structurally altered shall be in compliance with the regulations established herein for the district in which such building is located.

2.

Farm structures, belfries, chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, fire towers, monuments, silos, tanks, water towers, spires, masts or aerials, telephone poles and lines, wireless telecommunication poles, wind turbines, and power transmission poles and lines, are hereby exempted from the height regulations of this ordinance.

3.

Churches, schools, hospitals, sanitariums and other public and quasi-public buildings may be erected to a height not exceeding 60 feet, provided the front, side and rear yards required in the district in which such building is to be located are each increased at least one foot for each foot of additional building height above the height limit otherwise established for the district in which such building is to be located.

4.

Residential uses may be erected to a height exceeding those listed for each zoning district provided the front, side, and rear yards required in the district in which said building is to be located are each increased at least one foot for each foot of additional building height above the height limit otherwise established for the district in which such building is to be located. Measurements shall be taken from the building setback line.

F.

Front, side, and rear yard regulations.

1.

No front yard shall be used for open storage of registered boats, licensed vehicles, or any other equipment except for vehicular parking on driveways.

2.

Buildings on through lots and extending from street to street may waive the requirements for a rear yard by furnishing an equivalent open space on the same lot in lieu of the required rear yard provided that the setback requirements on both streets are complied with; and further provided that no accessory building shall extend within the setback line on either street.

3.

Detached accessory buildings may be located in the rear yard, or the side yard of a main building provided such accessory building meets district requirements and the requirements of RCO 18-01.09(C).

G.

Fences, walls, hedges, trees and berms.

1.

A fence, wall, hedge, berm, or shrubbery may be erected, placed, maintained or grown along a lot line on residentially zoned property or adjacent thereto to a height not exceeding eight feet above the ground level. No fence, wall, hedge, berm, or shrubbery which is located in a front or corner side yard shall exceed a height of three feet.

2.

No fence, wall, hedge, berm, or shrubbery shall be erected, placed, maintained, or grown along a lot line on any non-residentially zoned property, adjacent to residentially zoned property, to a height exceeding eight feet, unless used as a buffer between zones as approved by the Town Board.

3.

In any district no fence, wall, hedge, berm, or shrubbery shall be erected, constructed, maintained, or grown to a height exceeding three feet above the street grade nearest thereto, within 35 feet of the intersection of any street lines or of street lines projected.

4.

The owner of a fence, wall, hedge, berm, or shrubbery shall provide proper maintenance and repair, as appropriate. The finished side of a fence shall face the neighboring property. Dead or diseased plants, limbs, or other plant material associated with a hedge or berm shall be replaced.

5.

No plantings shall be placed in utility easements which will exceed eight feet in height when mature. Should said plantings be damaged, disturbed or removed due to utility installation etc., replacement will be at the expense of property owner.

H.

Driveways.

1.

In the RS-1, RR-1, ER-2, ER-5, ER-10, NPWLI, AG-FP, AB, and IN zoning districts, driveways must be located a minimum of six feet from the property line or as otherwise regulated by the Town of Rockland.

I.

Residential Design Standards.

1.

All one- and two-family residential structures shall have a roofline pitch of not less than 6:12 and at least one projecting roofline toward the street.

(Ord. No. 2013-7, 12-16-2013; Ord. No. 2015-2, 4-6-2015; Ord. No. 2016-06, 12-5-2016; Ord. No. 2021-01, §§ 6)—10), 9-7-2021; Ord. No. 2022-01, 4-4-2022)