Schodack City Zoning Code
ARTICLE IV
Use, Area and Bulk Regulations
§ 219-24 Schedule of Use Regulations.
A.
The general use regulations in each zoning district are set forth in the attached Schedule of Use Regulations. This schedule is supplemented, as appropriate, by other provisions of this chapter.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Use Regulations is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
Any use not listed specifically within the Schedule of Use Regulations or as allowed herein this chapter shall be considered a prohibited use in all districts under this chapter. Where permitted or special use permits are identified by generic words or descriptions, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall determine whether a specific use shall be construed to be part of such generic class. In making such determination, the Zoning Board of Appeals shall consider to what extent the proposed use is similar to the class of use indicated in the Schedule of Use Regulations. If a use is specifically listed elsewhere in the Schedule of Use Regulations, it is excluded from a generic classification.
C.
Symbols used on the Schedule of Use Regulations shall be interpreted as follows:
P | Permitted principal use in specified district. Permitted principal uses usually require a Building and Zoning Permit, certificate of use and/or certificate of occupancy from the Code Enforcement Officer in accordance with this chapter. Such uses shall also require site plan review and approval by the Planning Board unless exempt under this chapter. |
A | Permitted accessory uses in the specified district. All permitted accessory uses noted on the Schedule of Use Regulations shall meet any additional requirements for accessory uses in accordance with this chapter. |
SP | Special Use Permit is an authorization for a use which is permitted, subject to adherence to the general standards enumerated in this chapter, as long as such use is in harmony with the Zoning Law, will not adversely affect the neighborhood if such standards are met, and has been approved in a manner required by this chapter for the specified district. |
§ 219-25 Schedule of area and bulk requirements.
A.
The general area and bulk requirements in each zoning district are set forth in the attached Schedule of Area and Bulk Requirements.[1] This schedule is supplemented, as appropriate, by other provisions of this chapter.
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Area and Bulk Requirements is included as an attachment to this chapter.
B.
All land uses within the Town of Schodack shall conform to the District Schedule of Area and Bulk Regulations.
C.
Density calculation. Unless otherwise indicated, the following process shall be used to calculate the number of two-family and multifamily dwelling units that may be built on a parcel and to determine the maximum number of new parcels that may be created through subdivision:
(1)
Base density is the measurement of the capacity of a parcel or parcels to support development sites expressed as a number of dwelling units or lots.
(2)
Calculating base density. Base density shall be calculated by the following procedure:
(a)
Step 1: Determine the acreage of constrained land, which is the combined on a parcel covered by existing buildings (unless said buildings are proposed to be removed), surface water bodies, NYSDEC-regulated freshwater wetlands, federally regulated wetlands, 50% of acreage covered by 100-year floodplains, entire floodways, and lands with slopes of 15% or greater (measured over a fifty-foot horizontal distance).
(b)
Step 2: Calculate the gross buildable acreage by subtracting the constrained acreage from the total acreage of the parcel.
(c)
Step 3: Calculate the base density by dividing the gross building acreage by the Density Factor for the involved Zoning District as set forth in the attached Schedule of Area and Bulk Regulations.
(d)
Step 4: Base density having fractional units equal to or greater than 0.5 may be rounded up.
§ 219-26 Exceptions to height limitations.
The height limitations of these regulations shall not be applicable to renewable energy resources, barns and silos, grain elevators, private home antennas and the following, provided that such areas, not including solar energy devices, do not exceed 10% of the roof area to which they are a part: flagpoles, spires, belfries, chimneys, skylights, water or cooling towers and elevator or stair bulkheads. No such tower or other exception shall be used as a place for habitation or for advertising unless otherwise authorized by this chapter.
§ 219-27 Modifications to lots and setbacks.
A.
Lot depth. The required depth may be decreased by 25% at any point, provided that the average lot depth conforms to the minimum required.
B.
Required yards.
(1)
No variance shall be required if two or more existing dwellings are located within 200 feet on each side of a proposed dwelling and on the same side of the street within the same block and zoning districts said proposed dwelling need not have a greater front yard than the average setback of all existing dwellings so located.
(2)
On streets where the property boundary is less than 25 feet or at the centerline of the roadway, the front yard setback shall be measured from the center line of the existing right-of-way, and 25 feet shall be added to the required front yard setback.
C.
Any lot located in any district abutting the Residential Agriculture (RA) District or the Residential (R) District, excluding the Town Center (TC) District, shall be required to use the minimum setbacks of the more restrictive district for the portion of the shared lot line.
§ 219-28 Corner lots.
On a corner lot, each street frontage shall be deemed a front street line, and the required yard along each such lot line shall be the required front yard. The owner shall decide which of the remaining yards shall be the required side yard and the required rear yard.
§ 219-29 Sight lines at intersections.
At all street intersections, including driveways, no obstructions to vision, such as a fence, wall, hedge, structure, or planting over four feet in height, shall be erected on any lot within the sight triangle formed as follows:
A.
Intersecting streets shall have a sight triangle at every corner. Each sight triangle shall be bounded by the pavement edges and a diagonal line joining points on the pavement edges which are located 20 feet from the point of the actual or projected intersection of the pavement edges.
B.
Driveways (except one- and two-family driveways) intersecting with streets shall have two sight triangles as described in Subsection A, except that the driveway legs of the sight triangles shall be 20 feet.
C.
One- and two-family driveways intersecting with streets shall have two sight triangles as described in Subsection A, except that the street legs of the triangles shall be 20 feet and the driveway legs of the triangles shall be 15 feet.
D.
A required sight triangle may be increased by the Planning Board or the Code Enforcement Officer where a determination is made that the required sight triangle at an intersection of two streets or a driveway is insufficient to abate a traffic hazard.
§ 219-30 Structures in required yards.
A.
The following may be located in any required yard:
(1)
Chimneys or pilasters.
(2)
Open arbors or trellises.
(3)
Unroofed steps, patios or terraces not less than 20 feet from the highway right-of-way or 10 feet from any side or rear lot line, provided that the building complies with the yard requirements of this chapter.
(4)
Awnings or movable canopies not to exceed 10 feet in height.
(5)
Retaining walls, fences or masonry walls, except as limited herein.
(6)
Overhanging roof not in excess of 10% of the required yard depth.
B.
The following accessory structures may be located in any side or rear yard, subject to the limitations contained herein:
(1)
Private in-ground or above-ground swimming pools designed to be at least 24 inches deep at any point shall not be less than five feet from the side or rear lot line.
(2)
Permitted accessory buildings, provided that:
(a)
No such building shall exceed 25 feet in height.
(b)
No such building shall be set back less than five feet from any lot line nor 10 feet from the principal building.
(c)
All such structures in the aggregate shall not exceed the maximum structure coverage and shall be set back behind the minimum front yard requirement as listed in the area and bulk requirements of this code. Driveways shall be allowed in required yards.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Schedule of Area and Bulk Requirements is included as an attachment to this chapter.
(d)
Not more than three such accessory structures shall be allowed on an individual lot less than five acres unless the owner obtains a special use permit which may consider up to two additional accessory structure if all standards of this chapter are met.
§ 219-31 Flag lots.
It is recognized that property owners and land developers should have full opportunity for subdivision of land, and at the same time avoid certain restrictions such as frontage schedules that mitigate against legitimate use of rear developable acreage.
A.
A flag lot as defined in Article II, Definitions, shall have a minimum lot area equal to that of the zone within which it is located, not including the flag access strip.
B.
The flag access strip shall have a minimum width of 50 feet throughout its length.
C.
The maximum number on lots that may be served by a flag access private drive shall be one, excepting below conditions.
D.
Flag lots shall not be permitted within a new proposed major subdivision.
E.
No flag lot access strip shall be more than 600 feet long as measured from the center line of its connection to a public highway and the point/line where the flag lot is contiguous to the access strip.
F.
In the event that a variance is granted allowing more than one flag lot with a shared private drive, no certificate of occupancy shall be issued until the private drive is constructed in accordance with the following specifications. The owner shall cause to be recorded in the Rensselaer County Clerk's Office a declaration of covenants, restrictions and easements in a form acceptable to the Town/Planning Board Attorney, which shall, at a minimum, provide:
(1)
Reciprocal easements for use of said road by each owner of a lot served by said private drive.
(2)
A declaration that the Town has no responsibility for the maintenance of said private drive.
(3)
Maintenance of the private drive shall be the responsibility of and paid for by the owner(s) of the lots served and shall include normal surface repair, reconstruction, drainage, snow and ice control and any and all other costs which may be associated with said private drive.
§ 219-32 Sanitary sewage disposal.
No person shall undertake to construct any building or structure intended for human occupancy within the Town of Schodack without first meeting the requirements for a system or facilities for both a potable water supply and the separate disposal of sewage and domestic or trade wastes in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Town of Schodack, the Rensselaer County Health Department and the New York State Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation.
§ 219-33 Exception to one principal use.
A.
The Hamlet Mixed Use (HM) District shall allow more than one principal use on a parcel when one use is a one-family dwelling and the second use is a business. Both uses shall be permitted in one or more structures that may or may not be attached.
B.
Mixed Use Developments shall be permitted in accordance with the Schedule of Use Regulations and shall allow more than one principal use on each parcel. Such uses shall be permitted in one or more structures that may or may not be attached as may be approved by the Planning Board.
D.
In the Residential Agricultural (RA) District, multiple principal dwellings may be permitted on a single parcel, provided that each dwelling has enough area that it could be subdivided into a conforming lot in accordance with this chapter without any variances. No utilities shall be shared between any principal dwellings.