Fleischmanns, NY - the inner workings of an upstate local government

1.1 Authority
Pursuant to the authority conferred by the Municipal Home Rule Law and by Article 7 of Village Law of the State of New York, the Board of Trustees of the Village of Fleischmanns, New York, hereby adopts and enacts as follows:
1.2 Title
This Law shall be known and may be cited as the "Village of Fleischmanns Zoning Law".

1.3 Purpose
This law is enacted in accordance with a comprehensive plan and is designed to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure from fire, panic, floods, and other dangers; to promote health and the general welfare; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of the land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks and other public requirements. The regulations contained in this law are made with reasonable consideration, among other things, as to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses, and with a view to conserving the value of the buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the Village.
1.4 Separability
If any section, subsection, or phrase of this local law is declared to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect any other portion of this law.
1.5 Effective Date
This law, and any amendment shall be in effect on the day of its publication following adoption and filing with the Secretary of State's Office.

Article II Definitions

2.1 General
For the purpose of this law, certain terms or words used herein shall be interpreted as follows:
The word "person" includes a firm, association, organization, partnership, trust, company, or corporation as well as an individual.
Words in the present tense include the future tense.
The singular includes the plural.
The words "shall" and "must" are mandatory.
The words "used" or "occupied" include the words "intended", "designed" or "arranged" to be used or occupied.
The word "lot" includes the words "plot" or "parcel".
2.2 Specific Terms
As used in this law, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, the following words shall have the following meanings:
"Accessory use or structure" means a use or structure on the same lot and of a nature customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of structures and may include alternative energy systems.
"Agriculture" means the use of the land for the raising of crops, horticulture, gardening and the necessary accessory uses for packing, treating and storing the produce.
"Alterations" as applied to a building or structure, means a change or rearrangement in the structural parts, or an enlargement, whether by extending on a side or by increasing in height, or the moving from one location to another.
"Alternative energy systems" means structures, equipment, devices or construction techniques used for the production of heat, light, cooling, electricity or other forms of energy on site and may be attached or separate from the principal structure.
"Animal hospital" means a business that treats animals and regularly houses them on the premises overnight and for extended periods for treatment.
"Automobile sales" means the use of any building, land area, or other premise for the display and sale of new or used automobiles.
"Bed and breakfast" see "Boarding or Lodging house".
"Board of Appeals" is that Board which has been created by the Governing Body to hear and and determine appeals and variances to zoning regulations.
"Boarding or lodging house" is a building other than a hotel or motel where, for compensation and by prearrangemnt for definite periods, meals, or lodging and meals, are provided.
"Buffer zone" means land area used to visibly separate one use from another or to block noise, lights or other nuisances.
"Building" means any structure which is permanently affixed to the land, has one or more floors and a roof, and is intended for shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or chattel.
"Building area" is the total ground floor area of a principal building and accessory building exclusive of uncovered porches, steps and terraces.
"Building height" means the vertical distance measured from the mean level of the ground surrounding the building to a point midway between the highest and lowest point of the roof, but not including chimneys, spires, mechanical penthouses, towers, tanks and similar projections.
"Building line" means a line parallel with the front, side, and rear property lines, respectively, beyond which a structure may not extend as determined by this law.
"Building, principal" is a building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.
"Business, convenience" means small commercial establishments catering primarily to nearby residential areas providing convenience goods and services including but not limited to grocery stores (of less than 5,000 square feet in floor area), drug stores, beauty salons, barber shops, carryout dry cleaning and laundry pickup stations.
"Campsite" includes any one or more of the following; a parcel of land designed to accommodate two or more camps, recreational vehicles or transitory living arrangements, or buildings and facilities thereon, used for the assembly of children or adults for what is commonly known as "day camp" purposes, or for overnight, weekend or longer periods of camping by organized groups.
"Carport" means a roofed structure used for the storage of one or more automobiles and will be considered an accessory building.
"Church" means any structure used for worship or religious instruction.
"Club" means any organization catering to members and their guests, or premises and buildings for recreational or athletic purposes and not open to the general public, which are not conducted primarily for gain, providing there are novending stands, merchandising, or commercial activities except as required for the membership and purposes of such club. For the purpose of this law, clubs shall include lodges, fraternal organizations, mutual benefit societies, and other like organizations.
"Clubhouse" means a building to house a club or social organization not conducted for private profit which is not an adjunct to or operated by or in connection with a public tavern cafe or other public place.
"Community Services" means a building or portion of a building owned or operated by an individual(s) or a governmental agency to provide religious, fraternal, governmental, social and/or recreational programs generally open to the public and designed to accommodate and serve significant segments of the community.
"Condominium" means a single dwelling unit under individual ownersh ip together with other purchasers of the common elements of the structure, land and appurtances, within a two-family or multiple dwelling unit structure.
"Day care center" means a building or place wher care, supervision, custody or control is provided for more than seven (7) related or unrelated children or adults for any part of a 24-hour day.
"Development" means any man-made change to improved or unimproved real estate, including but not limited to buildings or structures, mining, dredging, filling, grading, paving, excavation or drilling operations, excluding normal maintenance to roads.
"Drive-in restaurant or refreshment stand" means a place or premises used for sale, dispensing, or serving of food, refreshments or beverages to persons in automobiles, including those establishments where customers may serve themselves and may eat or drink the food refreshments or beverages on the premises.
"Dwelling" means any building or portion thereof designed and used exclusively as a residence or sleeping place of one (1) or more persons. A mobile home, including a double-wide mobile home, shall be construed as a dwelling.

a. "Single-family" means a detached residential dwelling designed for and occupied by one family.
b. "Two-family" means a detached residential building containing two dwelling units, designed for occupancy by not more than two families.
c. "Multiple-family" means a residential building designed for occupancy by three or more families with the number of families in residence not exceeding the number of dwelling units.
d. "Seasonal home" means a dwelling unit intended for occupancy only during certain seasons of the year, principally for recreational use by the owner.

"Dwelling unit" means a room or rooms connected together constituting a separate, independent housekeeping establishment for owner occupancy or rental or lease on a weekly, monthly or longer basis, and physically separated from any other rooms or dwelling units which mahy be in the same structure and containing independent cooking and sleeping facilities, designed for occupancy by one family.
"Essential services" means erection, construction, alteration, operation or maintenance by municipal agencies or public utilities of telephone switching centers, electrical or gas substations, water treatment and storage facilites, pumping stations, sewerage treatment and similar facilities.
"Excavation (quarry, sand pit, top soil stripping)" means a lot or land or part thereof used for the purpose of extracting stone, sand, gravel or top soil for sale, as an industrial or commercial operation, but does not include the process of grading a lot preparatory to the construction of a building which has an approved building permit.
"Family" means one or more persons related to each other by blood, marriage, legal adoption or guardianship; or a group of individuals not related by blood, marriage, adoption or guardianship living together in a dwelling unit as a single housekeeping management plan based on an intentionally structured relationship providing organization and stability and functioning as a family unit.
"Floor area gross", for the purpose of applying the requirements of off-street parking and loading, "gross floor area" in the case of offices, merchandising or service types of uses, means the total floor area, in square feet, to be used or intended to be used by tenants, or for service to the public as customers, patrons, clients or patrons or patents, including areas occupied by fixtures and equipment used for display or sales of merchandise. It shall not include areas used principally for non-public purposes such as storage, incidental repair, restrooms, fitting or alteration rooms or general maintenance or enclosed pedestrial malls or corridors.
"Garage, private" means any accessory building not operated for gain and used in conjunction with a residential building which provides for the storage of motor vehicles and/or other household items.
"Garage, public" means any garage other than a private garage, operated for gain, available on a rental basis for the storage or repair of motor vehicles, including the supply of gasoline and oil and repairs.
"Home occupation" means any use customarily conducted entirely within a dwelling or its accessory buildings and operated only by a resident of the premises and in which not more than three nonresidents are employed or engaged, which use is clearly incidental to the use of the dwelling as a place of residence; and further provided that noidse, traffic, light, electrical interference or other characteristics shall not create a nuisance or interfere with the quiet enjoyment of the residential neighborhood. In particular, a home occupation includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Art or photographic studio
Dressmaker or seamstress
Barber or beauty shop

"Hotel" or "motel" means a building or portion thereof, or a group of buildings, used as a transient abiding place which may or may not serve meals and wherein such establishments are disignated as a hotel, inn, automobile court, motel inn, motorlodge, motor court, tourist cabin, tourist court, or other similar designation.
"Light manufacturing" means those industrial uses whose activities do not usually constitute a fire hazard or emit smoke, glare, noise, odor or dust in other ways constitute a nuisance and/or are not detrimental to neighboring properties.
"Lot" means a parcel or area of land, the dimensions and extent of which are determined by the latest official records or recordings.

a. "Corner lot" means a lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting streets.

b. "Through lot" means an interior lot having frontage on two parallel or approximately parallel streets.

"Lot coverage" that portion of a lot that is covered by buildings or structures.
"Lot depth" means the mean distance from the center line of the street to its opposite real line measured in the general direction of the side lines of the lot.
"Lot frontage" means the front of a lot shall be construed to be the portion nearest the roadway. For the purposes of determining yard requirements on corner lots and through lots, all sides of a lot adjacent to roadways shall be considered frontage, and yards shall be provides as indicated under "Yards" in these definitions.
"Lot line" means any boundary line of a lot.
"Lot width" means the horizontal distance between side lot lines, measured at the required fron setback line.
"Mobile home" means any portable vehicle which is designed to be transported on its own wheels or those of another vehicle, which is used, designed to be used, capable of being used as a detached single-family residence; and which is intended to be occupied as a permanent living quarters containing sleeping accommodations, a flush toilet, a tub or shower, kitchen facilities, and plumbing and electrical connections for attachment to outside systems. The definition of mobile home includes any additions made subsequent to installation. This definition does not include modular housing placed on a standard foundation nor does it include travel trailers.
"Mobile home park" means any site, lot, field, plot, parcel or tract of land on which two (2) or more mobile homes are parked or located and for which use said premises are offered to the public or to any person for a fee of any type, including cost sharing.
"Modular home" means a factory manufactured home which incorporates structures or components designed for residential occupancy, is constructed by a method or system of construction whereby the structure or component is wholly or in substantial part manufactured in a manufacturing facility and is intended for permanent installation on a building site.
"Motor vehicle repair shop" means a building, or portion of a building, arranged, intended or designed to be used for making repairs to motor vehicles.
Non conforming building" means a building existing at the time of enactment of this local law or any ammendment thereto which does not conform to regulations of the district zone, excepting use regulations, in which it is situated and which was legally constructed, altered, or enlarged under any prior zoning law or was in existence before any zoning law was enacted by the Village.
"Office" means a building or a portion of a building wherein services are performed involving predominantly administrative, professional, or clerical operations.
"Open porch" means a porch open on one or more sides, except for wire screening. A porch shall not be considered open if enclosed by either permanent or detachable glass sash.
"Parking space" means space available for the parking of one motor vehicle and having an area of not less than 200 (10 x 20) square feet exclusive of passageways and driveways giving access thereto.
"Parking space, off-street" means an off-street area or berth with an appropriate means of vehicular access to a street, intended for temporary storage of vehicles.
"Permitted use (or use of right)" means a land use allowed under the regulations of this local law.
"Personal Services" Establishments primarily engaged in providing services involving the care of a person or his or her apparel.
"Public right-of-way" means land set aside for use as a street, alley, or other means of travel.
"Residential Care Facility" A facility licensed or supervised by an appropriate Local, State, or Federal agency to provide resident services and minimum supervision. Such a facility is headed by an agency-approved staff and functions as a single housekeeping unit. The term Residential Care Facility shall include family care homes, foster homes, and group homes serving elderly, physically handicapped, mentally ill, mentally retarded or other developmentally disabled persons not constituting a family.
"Restaurant" means any establishment, at which food is sold for consumption to patrons seated within a building or on premises. A snack bar, refreshment stand, or vendor at a public or quasi-public recreational facility for the convenience of the patrons of the facility shall not be deemed to be a restaurant.
"retail store" A building or portion opf a building that houses an occupation, employment, or enterprise that is carried on for profit by the owner, lesee, or licensee.
"Retail gasoline outlet" means any establishment that sells gasoline to the public.
"Setback, front" means the required open unoccupied space between the centerline and the nearest part of the main structure, but not including open porches, entrance steps and other similar structures on the front of the main structure.
"Setback, rear" means the required open unoccupied space measured from the rear lot line to the nearest part of the main or accessory structure.
"Setback, side" means the required open unoccupied space measured from the side lot lines to the nearest party of the main or accessory structure.
"Sign" means any device, structure, or object for visual communication that is used for the purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the attention of others.
"Sign area" means the area defined by the edge of a sign. Where there is no geometric edge of the sign, the area shall be defined by the projected, enclosed four sides (straight sides) geometric shape which most closely outlines the sign.
"Sign, directional" means signs limited to directional messages, principally for pedestrian or vehicular traffic, such as "one-way", "entrance", and "exit".
"Sign, temporary" means a sign or advertising display constructed of closth, canvas, fabric, plywood or other lightweight material and designed or intended to be displayed for a short period of time.
"Site plan" means a plan of a lot or subdivision on which is shown topography, location of all buildings, structures, roads, parking areas, rights-of-way, boundaries, all essential dimensions and bearings and any other information deemed necessary the the Planning Board in conforance with this law.
"Site plan review" means a review and approval process, conducted by the Planning Board, whereby Site Plans are reviewed utilizing criteria stated in this local law.
"Solar access" means a space open to the sun and clear of overhangs or shade.
"Special permit uses" means those particular uses which are specifically permitted in a given district only when criteria enumerated in this law are met.
"Street, centerline" means the midpoint of the traveled road surface.
"Structure" means anything constructed or erected with a fixed location on the ground or attached to something having a fixed location on the ground. Among other things, structures include buildings, mobile homes, walls, fences, signs, billboards and poster panels.
"Swimming pool" means any body of water, or receptacle for water, having a capacity of (500) five hundred gallons or more, used or intended to be used for swimming, bathing, or wding and installed or constructed either above or below ground.
"Tavern" means an establishment used primarily for the serving of liquor by the drink to the general public and where food or packaged liquors may be served or sold only as accessory to the primary use.
"Tourist home" See "Boarding or lodging house".
"Use" means the specific purposes for which land or a building is designed, arranged, intended, or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
"Variance" means the authorization by the Board of Appeals to vary or modify the application of any provisions of this law relating to the use, construction, or alteration of buildings or structures, or the use of land, so that the spirit of this law is observed, public safety and welfare secured and substantial justice done.
"Yard, front" means the space extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the least distance between the street right-of-way and the front of the building setback.
"Yard, rear" means the space extending across the full width of the lot, the depth of which is the least distance between the rear lot line and the rear setback line.
"Yard, side" means the space on the same lot with a principal building between that principal building and the side lot line, extending through from the front yard to the rear yard.
"Zoning district" means the area that is zoned as set forth on the Official Zoning Map filed of record.
"Zoning Enforcement Officer" is the person authorized and empowered by the governing body to administer the requirements of this law.

Article III Application of Regulations

Except as hereinafter provided:
A. No building shall be reected and no existing building shall be moved, altered, added to or enlarged, nor shall any land or building be designed, used, or intended to be used for any purpose or in any manner other than as permitted in the district in which such building or land is located.
B. No building shall be erected, reconstructed or structuarally altered to exceed in height the limit hereinafter designated for the district in which such building is located.
C. No building shall be erected, no existing building shall be altered, enlarged or rebuilt, nor shall any open space surrounding any building be encroached upon or reduced in any manner, except in conformity to the yard, lot area, and building location regulations hereinafter designated for the district in which such building or sopen space is located.
D. No yard or other open space provided around any building for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this law shall be considered as providing a yard or open space on one lot shall be considered as providing a yard or open space for any building or any other lot.
E. If a use of building is not specifically permitted, as a principal use or use by Special Permit, it shall be deemed prohibited.

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