Smithtown City Zoning Code

Except for underground septic systems, no accessory use shall be permitted unless it is on the same plot and in the same class of zoning district as an existing permitted or lawfully nonconforming principal use; further, parking spaces must be within 500 feet of the building which they intended to serve.

Except as provided for in Subsection D below, no accessory structure shall be permitted in the required front yard or side yard, regardless of whether the accessory structure is between the principal building and side property line. (See figure below.)

No outdoor storage, as that term is defined in § 322-3, shall exist except pursuant to an approved site plan.

The following accessory structures may be located within the required front or side yard, provided that they comply with all other provisions of this chapter: fences, walls, retaining walls, driveways, curbs, parking areas, drainage structures, lighting, signs, septic systems, underground fuel tanks, utility cables and pipes, litter baskets, fuel pumps and benches.

Access driveways to required off-street parking areas and truck-loading spaces shall lead to a public street over the same lot or by means of a permanent easement across an adjoining lot.

Private garage floor area within principal buildings shall not exceed 750 square feet.

(Reserved)[1]

Swimming pools shall be at least six feet from all dwellings.

Outdoor storage and display shall not be permitted in any district except as an accessory use and in accordance with the following requirements:

The harboring or stabling of horses or ponies shall be in compliance with the following requirements:

In the SCB, CB and NB Districts, game rooms shall be permitted as an auxiliary and incidental use for the following uses only: taverns, restaurants, counter service restaurants, discotheques, hotels and motels. Only one game room shall be permitted per site. The floor area of the building used as a game room shall not exceed 10% of the total building area or 250 square feet, whichever is less, and further, no sign referring to said game machines or game rooms shall be erected, affixed or maintained in such a way as to be visible from the exterior of the building.

Drive-in windows.

The installation of tires, batteries, stereo systems and car phones purchased on premises shall be permitted as a customary accessory use to any retail store exceeding 100,000 square feet gross floor area in the SCB District, provided that all of the following requirements are met:

Parking and/or storage of commercial vehicles.

Permanent outdoor dining areas. In Central Business (CB) Districts, the regulations set forth in § 322-82C(25) shall be met.

Seasonal outdoor dining is subject to a permit from the Building Department and shall comply with the guidelines in the seasonal outdoor dining application form.

No fence, wall, or berm shall exceed six feet in height; except that no fence, wall, or berm in a required front yard shall exceed four feet in height, except as otherwise provided in the Table of Dimensional Regulations located at the end of this chapter, and no fence, wall, or berm in a corner clearance triangle, as described in § 322-16 of this chapter, shall exceed two feet in height.

No retaining wall higher than 30 inches, and no fence, berm or other wall higher than four feet, shall be constructed or substantially reconstructed except in conformity with a building permit.

The height of a fence or wall shall be measured vertically from the natural or approved grade to the top of the fence or wall, including the posts and appurtenances, but not including an arbor built into any such fence or wall, provided said arbor shall not exceed eight feet in height. For purposes of this section, an arbor shall be defined as an ornamental structure forming an archway over an opening or gateway within a fence or wall. No fence or wall shall be located on a berm.

The posts and structural members shall face inward, except for residential fences abutting business and industrial land uses.

The minimum setback of retaining walls from all property lines shall be the height, of the retaining wall or three feet, whichever is greater. Fences and walls shall be set back from retaining walls one foot for every foot of height of the retaining wall.

Retaining walls may be constructed of only pressure-treated timber, mechanically stabilized segmental block (mortarless), or cast-in-place concrete. Timber walls shall not exceed four feet in height, and shall not be used in tiered retaining wall construction.

The maximum grade of berms shall be one foot vertical for every three feet horizontal. No portion of a berm shall be on public property.

All berms shall consist of only pure Long Island loam and topsoil.

The entire berm shall be stabilized with live groundcover. No tree species with a maximum typical height greater than 20 feet shall be planted on any berm.

No stormwater runoff shall be diverted by the construction of a berm in a manner that creates the need for drainage structures on adjacent properties or causes or worsens flooding on nearby property.

The Board of Site Plan Review may modify these requirements in the site plan approval process as it determines necessary to promote the purposes of this chapter.

Nothing herein contained shall restrict the height of a church spire, cupola, dome, belfry, clock tower, transmission line tower, flagpole, chimney flue, public water supply tank or any firesafety structure which may be required by the New York State Fire Safety Code.

No structure erected pursuant to Subsection A above to a height in excess of the height limit for the zone in which it is situated shall:

Notwithstanding the maximum height limits stipulated in §§ 322-8C, 322-9C and 322-10C[1] (Table of Dimensional Regulations), a public or semipublic building may be erected to a height not to exceed 50 feet, provided that its front, side and rear yards are increased above the stipulated minimum by one additional foot for each foot that such building exceeds the stipulated height limit.

All required yards shall be kept open except for:

Except for the R-6 District, decks shall observe the following setbacks:

Through lots shall provide for the applicable required front yard on each street frontage.

For garage entrances facing into a side yard area, when attached or part of the main building in any residential zone, the minimum side yard on that side of the building shall be increased to 35 feet, the other minimum side yard shall be observed and the total for both side yards shall be increased pursuant to the above.

On Town collector and arterial roadways: On a corner lot within the triangular area (see sketch) determined as provided in this section, no wall or fence, or other structure shall be erected to a height above the curb level in excess of 2 1/2 feet; no vehicle, object or any other obstruction of a height in excess of 2 1/2 feet shall be parked or placed therein; and no hedge, shrub, or other growth shall be maintained at a height in excess of 2 1/2 feet, except that trees whose branches are trimmed away to a height of at least eight feet above the curb level shall be permitted. Such triangular area shall be determined by the intersecting street center lines and a diagonal connecting two points, one on each street center line, each of whose points is 50 feet from the intersection of such street center lines.

On Town residential (neighborhood) roadways: On a corner lot within the triangular area (see sketch) determined as provided in this section, no wall or fence, or other structure shall be erected to a height above the curb level in excess of 2 1/2 feet; no vehicle, object, or any other obstruction of a height in excess of 2 1/2 feet shall be parked or placed therein; and no hedge, shrub, or other growth shall be maintained at a height in excess of 2 1/2 feet, except that trees whose branches are trimmed away to a height of at least eight feet above the curb level shall be permitted. Such triangular area shall be determined by the intersecting street center lines and a diagonal connecting two points, one on each street center line, each of whose points is 30 feet from the intersection of such street center lines.

The construction, installation, enlargement or alteration of any pool shall require a permit issued by the Chief Building Inspector, and the proposed work shall be subject to all applicable provisions of the Town of Smithtown Code and the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code.

A complete set of drawings and plans shall be submitted to the Chief Building Inspector, showing, among other things, the exact location of the pool with respect to the lot or land on which it is to be located and the applicable zone district regulation and information pertinent to the pool itself, the fence construction, the water supply system and all appurtenances, as well as detailed plans and vertical elevations. All construction shall be in conformance with such drawings and plans as approved by the Chief Building Inspector.

Water disposal. All water either overflowing or emptying from the pool shall be disposed of on the owner's land, and plans submitted shall show provisions made for preventing such water from flowing onto the land of any adjoining property owner or into any abutting street.

Fences. All pools shall be completely and continuously surrounded and enclosed by a permanent durable wall, barrier or fence, in accordance with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code requirements. In the event that the swimming pool is the above-ground type and is so constructed that it contains a wall, barrier or fence mounted on top of the pool structure installed in accordance with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code, it must be additionally enclosed with a fence around the property in compliance with § 322-13 herein.

Size and location. All pools which are accessory uses shall comply with the requirements for accessory buildings, except that the lot area occupied by such pools shall not be included in computing the percentage of the lot area which may be built upon.

One private mobile home or house trailer may be temporarily stored on the same lot with a single-family dwelling for a period not to exceed three months in any calendar year, provided that:

Applications for such temporary storage permits shall be made to the Chief Building Inspector. They shall be approved prior to the time that the mobile home or house trailer is located on the site.

Any permit issued pursuant to this section may be revoked by the Chief Building Inspector, in the exercise of his reasonable discretion, if after due investigation he deems that the permit holder has violated any of the provisions of this chapter or the conditions on which the permit was issued.

In any location on the Building Zone Map where environmentally sensitive lands are shown as not included in any zoning district, such lands shall be construed to lie with a CF District.

No environmentally sensitive land shall be used to calculate the permitted density, building coverage, floor area or minimum lot area.

Except as provided for in Subsection F, no environmentally sensitive land shall be altered by excavation, storage, compaction, construction activities, vegetation removal or the placement of fill or other activity.

No structure, including but not limited to buildings, decks, garages, sheds, swimming pools, fences, walks and driveways, shall be constructed, enlarged, altered or replaced within 100 feet from any wetland, escarpment, natural surface water feature or significant wildlife habitat.

No structure shall be constructed, enlarged, altered or replaced within 10 feet of any slope higher than five feet and having a slope greater than 25% or any A or V Flood Hazard Zone.

In areas where the only environmentally sensitive land that will be impacted is land where depth to the seasonal high water table is less than 10 feet, the following actions shall be exempt from Subsection C:

In order to assure orderly and compatible relationships between residence and nonresidence districts along their common boundaries, the provisions of this section are general requirements to be applied as indicated in specific districts. They do not take precedence over special requirements indicated for particular uses or for special exception uses in the other sections of this chapter.

Required setbacks and buffer yards adjoining a residence district:

Required buffer screen adjoining a residence district. In the CB, SCB, NB, OB, WSI, LI and HI Districts, a six-foot screen fence (stockade, metal posts) shall be erected at the side and rear property lines on metal fence posts fixed in concrete footings, in accordance with Town specifications. The fence posts shall not face residential property and, in addition, a ten-foot-wide protective planting strip shall be established and maintained in accordance with Town specifications immediately inside the fence along the residence district boundary.

Landscaping.

(Reserved)[1]

All roof equipment must be screened from view from the street(s) adjoining the property.

In individual building plans, wings of the same buildings which are substantially parallel to each other shall be not less than 30 feet apart.

Principal buildings in a group development shall be not less than 30 feet apart at their nearest point to each other.

Groups of accessory structures, such as a garage compound, or individual accessory structures equivalent in floor area to principal buildings, shall be not less than 30 feet from the nearest point on a principal building.

Minor accessory structures shall meet the requirements of § 322-12A.

A research laboratory or nonnuisance industry shall not be deemed to include any use prohibited in § 322-11, any open storage of waste or scrap materials or any open storage of materials, products or equipment over an area exceeding the area of the principal building.

Permitted open storage areas shall be screened from view from the property line.

All materials processing and/or manufacturing of products shall be done indoors.

Water used in processing where a pollutant or any additive is accumulated in the process water shall not be disposed of on the premises. Pure process water may be disposed of on the premises by discharging into the sanitary waste disposal system or into a stormwater recharge basin, provided that such facilities have adequate capacity for the additional water.

There shall be no more than 50 employees per acre of site area on the site at any one time.

In the WSI, LI and HI Districts, application may be made for a planned industrial park status. (See § 322-3, definition of "planned industrial park.") Such application shall be accompanied by the proposed subdivision master plan for the entire site area showing streets, lots, building areas, parking areas and landscaping, among other things required by the Town of Smithtown Subdivision Regulations[1] for a subdivision submission.

The Planning Board, in its consideration of the proposed subdivision plans through the statutory public hearing, shall also determine whether the area is suitable for development as a planned industrial park within the meaning of this chapter, whether the proposed planned industrial park is consistent with the use of surrounding property and is designed to promote and benefit the welfare of the Town and whether it complies with all the provisions of this chapter for such park.

The Planning Board, in its consideration of the overall master plan for a planned industrial park, may require larger front, side or rear yards around the perimeter of the park than indicated in the Table of Dimensional Regulations, § 322-10C.

In approving a planned industrial park, the Planning Board may require changes in the proposed subdivision plan as it deems necessary and desirable for the proper utilization of the subject property and the protection of property values.

The Planning Board shall require the actual construction by the industrial developer of streets, drainage facilities, landscaping and other improvements in the same manner as for residential subdivisions.

There shall be no loading area located in any front yard area, whether an actual or required front yard. Loading areas located in a side yard area, if visible from any street, shall be screened with a wall and/or plant material.

Any outdoor lighting of any use shall be arranged in such a way that no direct glare is cast toward any highway or adjacent property, and luminary devices shall be hooded and/or arranged so that the source of the illumination is not visible from such highway or residential use.

In business and industrial districts, outdoor lighting other than for a permitted sign shall be limited to the illumination of the building for security purposes and to the lighting of parking areas and accessways as necessary for the same movement of pedestrians and vehicular traffic. Lighting intensity shall be limited to that which is necessary to afford the minimum adequate illumination for the purposes set forth in this section. The location, intensity and design of all luminary devices shall be subject to approval of the Board of Site Plan Review.[1]

In all districts, flashing, intermittent, moving or chaser lights or lighting of varying intensity shall be prohibited, except for the period between November 15 and January 15.

All schools shall be on sites having not less than five acres and not less than 300 feet of frontage on public streets.

All principal and accessory buildings shall be set back at least 100 feet from all property lines. For the expansion or renovation of a nonconforming structure, the Board of Site Plan Review may reduce this setback requirement so that it equals the existing setback of the nonconforming structure.

The gross floor area shall not exceed 10% of the total site area.

All parking and loading areas shall be set back 50 feet from all streets and 75 feet from residential parcels.

Not more than two curb cuts shall be permitted. They shall be at least 75 feet apart and shall be at least 75 feet from any residence district.

Densely planted buffer areas at least 25 feet in depth shall be provided adjacent to residence districts.

The following actions shall be subject to the LWRP: zone changes, subdivisions, site plans, building permits for new buildings, special exceptions, permits for any actions requiring the following variances; land use, height, signage, parking, density or environmentally sensitive lands, and shall not be approved, authorized, issued or altered until the Town Board determines in writing, pursuant to Chapter 151, Art. II of the Town Code, that the action is consistent with the LWRP policies, standards and conditions.

The land use of all nonresidential districts in the local coastal area shall not be expanded, intensified or changed, except to water-dependent uses, unless the Town Board determines that no water-dependent use is feasible and further finds that such change, expansion or intensification of use is consistent with the policies, standards and conditions described in § III of the LWRP.

Natural vegetation shall be preserved and street trees and new plant materials shall be installed for all structures constructed and/or enlarged after the effective date of this provision so that at least 75% of the building that would otherwise be visible from any surface water in the coastal area shall be screened at the time of completion of construction.

Buildings in the local waterfront area shall conform to the requirements specified in the following table:

In all districts:

In residence districts:

In business and industrial districts, ground-mounted antennas exceeding 10 feet in diameter shall comply with all dimensional requirements for principal buildings.[1]

The use of the premises shall be limited to the rental of indoor space for dead storage, except that one accessory apartment, for use as manager's quarters and leasing office, shall be permitted as a customary accessory use. Other uses, and the storage of toxic or hazardous materials as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall be prohibited.

All buildings shall be at least 42 feet apart. No building shall exceed the maximum height or the floor area ratio of the district in which the building is located.

All exterior building materials shall have flat earth-tone finishes or other color scheme approved by the Board of Site Plan Review.

No storage unit door shall be visible from any residential property or any public street. Any wall higher than one story which is visible off site shall be enhanced by providing relief, such as pilasters, corbeled cornices or similar ornamentation.

Except for one access drive nearly perpendicular to the street, all paved areas shall be enclosed by buildings or six-foot-high dense evergreen plantings. No fence shall be permitted in the required front yard(s).

The use shall not be permitted within 500 feet of CB zoned property.

The building shall be at least 500 feet from any residence district, park, playground, school, church or similar place of public assembly.

The building shall be at least 500 feet from any other adult use.

The building shall have the same colors, finishes and materials of recently approved site plans in the vicinity as determined by the Board of Site Plan Review.

In addition to the authority to grant and require area variances to facilitate cluster development in subdivisions simultaneously with final plat approval as previously delegated to the Planning Board by the Town Board in 1954 pursuant to § 278 of the Town Law, the Planning Board shall have the additional authority to grant area variances simultaneously with final plat approval, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

In making its determination as to granting any area variance, the Planning Board shall grant the minimum variance that it shall deem necessary and adequate and at the same time preserves and protects the character of the neighborhood and the health, safety and welfare of the community. In making such determination, the Planning Board shall consider and render a determination in accordance with the following standards and criteria:

Rifle and shooting ranges.

Bowling alleys.

Ice skating rink.