Village Of The Branch
City Zoning Code

BEGINNING at a point on the east side of Lawrence Avenue distant 400 feet from the south side of Main Street at the northwest corner of property now or formerly belonging to Smithtown Central School District No. 1; running thence along the north boundary line of said school district property north 72° 28' 50" east, a distance of 630 feet; thence south 2° 09' 40" west, a distance of 200 feet; thence south 87° 50' 20" east, a distance of 400 feet; thence south 2° 09' 40" west, a distance of 1,141.68 feet; thence south 28° 57' 50" west, a distance of 55.44 feet; thence along the south boundary line of property now or formerly belonging to George Bader and Margaret Bader, his wife, north 86° 39' 30" west, a distance of 226.08 feet to the south side of Birchbrook Drive; thence along the south side of Birchbrook Drive, north 86° 39' 30" west, a distance of 299 feet to a point at the northwest corner of property now or formerly belonging to William Roth and Johanna Roth, his wife; thence along the west boundary line of said property of Roth, south 2° 09' 40" west, a distance of 100 feet to a point; thence north 86° 39' 30" west, parallel with Birchbrook Drive, a distance of 467 feet to the east side of Lawrence Avenue; thence along the east side of Lawrence Avenue, north 3° 20' 30" east, a distance of 1,258.82 feet, to the point or place of BEGINNING.

BEGINNING at a concrete monument in the easterly line of Lawrence Avenue, located 1658.82 feet southerly from the intersection of the said easterly line of Lawrence Avenue with the southerly line of Main Street (N.Y. Highway Route 25) as measured along the easterly line of Lawrence Avenue; running thence from said point of beginning south 86° 39' 30" east 467.33 feet to a point; running thence south 2° 9' 40" west 209.75 feet to a point; thence south 65° 56' 20" west 20.66 feet to a point; running thence south 48° 3' 10" west 92.53 feet to a point; running thence south 64° 49' 20" west 66.31 feet to a point; running thence south 47° 57' 50" west 125.27 feet to a point; running thence north 43° 46' 40" west 155.44 feet to a point; running thence north 86° 39' 30" west 130 feet to a point on the easterly line of Lawrence Avenue; running thence north 3° 20' 30" east 300 feet along the easterly line of Lawrence Avenue to the point of BEGINNING.

Experience has shown that the permitted maintenance of certain nonresidential uses of property in residential areas of the Incorporated Village of the Branch, especially the offices of certain professionals located within their principal residences, has often promoted traffic hazards and congestion in such areas, especially for young children; has often disturbed the quiet repose of the community and detracted from its principal character as a residential community; and has otherwise been contrary to the best interests of the health, safety and welfare of the community. In order to correct such conditions and to eventually bring all uses of property within the comprehensive development plan of the Village, it is declared to be the public policy of the Incorporated Village of the Branch to ascertain and enumerate the existence of such nonresidential uses, to restrict their further growth and development, to provide for their eventual elimination in the Residence B District within a reasonable period of time, and to encourage the transfer of such uses to other zoning districts in the Village which are better adapted to accommodate them.

Any and all uses of buildings, structures or premises which were permitted in a residential district prior to the enactment of this chapter and which hereby are expressly or impliedly not permitted in the Residence B District are hereby declared to be nonconforming uses in said zoning district.

Except as otherwise provided in this section, no such nonconforming use shall hereafter be enlarged, extended, altered, modified or changed except by the elimination or permanent discontinuance thereof; nor shall the same be resumed after elimination or discontinuance thereof, nor the right to continue the same be transferred or assigned to another in whole or in part; nor shall one be substituted therefor in whole or in part.

All nonconforming uses regulated by this section, and all rights thereto, vested or otherwise, shall be totally eliminated and discontinued on or before the 31st day of December 1975 or upon the date when such nonconforming use shall cease being contained in the present principal residence of the person exercising such use, whichever shall first occur.

Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, no use of a building, structure or premises hereby rendered nonconforming shall be continued on or after the first day of June 1971, nor shall any right thereto be recognized thereafter as valid, unless prior to said date the person claiming the right to continue such nonconforming use as provided herein shall apply for and obtain a use permit therefor from the Building Department, which permit shall only be issued upon satisfactory proof of the legal, nonconforming status of the use in question and upon payment of the fee prescribed by § 112-16 of Chapter 112, Building Code Administration and Enforcement.

Permanent accessory building. In the Residence B District, no permanent accessory building occupying in excess of 100 square feet of ground space shall hereinafter be erected on any lot within 10 feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. No accessory building of any kind or nature shall be erected so that the building extends in front of the rear building line as extended to the side yard lines of the lot on which it is placed. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent construction, erection, installation, modification; alteration, demolition or change of a swimming pool in such a rear yard so long as all provisions of Chapter 242, Swimming Pools, of the Code of the Incorporated Village of the Branch are met with respect thereto. In the Residence B District, no permanent accessory building occupying less than 100 square feet of ground space shall hereinafter be erected within two feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. Building permits and certificates of occupancy shall be obtained by any person constructing a permanent accessory building.

Temporary accessory building. In the Residence B District, no temporary accessory building of any kind shall hereinafter be erected within two feet of any rear lot line or side lot line. No building permit or certificate of occupancy shall be necessary for any temporary accessory building.

Number and size of accessory buildings. In the Residence B District, excluding swimming pools, no improved one-family residential building lot shall contain more than one accessory building, either temporary or permanent, and such accessory building shall not be more than 300 square feet in area.

In the Residence B District, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected or altered so that any part thereof shall be more than 35 feet above ground level, except for accessory buildings, either temporary or permanent, which shall not be more than 14 feet above ground level; provided, however, that spires, belfries, cupolas and domes of churches, synagogues, temples or other places primarily devoted to public religious worship or buildings or structures owned by and used for the public purposes of the United States, the State of New York or the Incorporated Village of the Branch shall be excluded from the foregoing height limitations so long as no part thereof shall be used for human habitation.

In addition to the restrictions contained in Subsection A above, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected or altered so that the total amount of habitable space in any residential structure shall be in excess of double the habitable space of the ground floor of the residential structure.

In the Residence B District, no building or structure of any kind shall hereafter be erected, enlarged or altered on any lot unless at least the following number of off-street parking spaces shall be provided for use in connection with such building or structure, which facilities shall be located on and/or underneath the premises on which such building or structure shall be situated:

Each parking space shall have an area of not less than 200 square feet, and there shall be provided in addition thereto adequate areas for entering and leaving said parking facilities.

Except as otherwise provided in this article or any other local law or ordinance of the Incorporated Village of the Branch,[1] or except where authorized by special exception granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals of the Village, no fence, wall or hedge shall hereafter be erected, continued or maintained in the front yard of any premises, and in no event shall any fence, wall or hedge, wherever located, be more than six feet in height. On a corner plot, the front yard will be divided into two front yard zones defined as the following:

Any fence erected in the Village of the Branch which has a finished and unfinished side shall be constructed so that the unfinished side faces the fence owner's property and the finished side faces all neighboring properties.

No map or plat relating to the subdivision of land in the Residence B District for residential or other purposes shall hereafter be approved by the Planning Board of the Incorporated Village of the Branch or shall be actually filed in the office of the County Clerk of Suffolk County, nor shall any building permit hereafter be issued for any construction on property contained on such subdivision map or plat,[1] unless the owner of such property shall first either set aside and donate to the Village 10% of the land to be so developed by way of fee title or pay to the Village a sum, to be determined by the Board of Trustees of the Village, equal to the market value, at the time of the approval of such map or plat, of 10% of the land to be so developed. The land so donated to the Village shall be solely used and developed by the Village for park, playground, recreation or conservation purposes; or if moneys are donated in lieu of land, such funds shall constitute a trust fund for park, playground, recreation or conservation purposes, including acquisition and/or development.

The determination of whether to accept lands or trust fund moneys shall be in the sole discretion of the Board of Trustees. In making its determination, the Board shall consider such factors as: