Under normal circumstances, the minimum area required to qualify for a Planned Residential Development District shall be 25 contiguous acres of land.
The tract of land for a project may be owned, leased or controlled either by a single person or corporation or by a group of individuals or corporations. An application must be filed by the owner or jointly by owners of all property included in a project. In the case of multiple ownership, the approved plan shall be binding on all owners. Leaseholds shall be for a period of at least 50 years. All approved plans shall be binding on all successors of the applicants.
The Planned Residential Development District shall be applicable to any area of the Town where the applicant can demonstrate that the characteristics of his holdings will meet the objectives of this article.
Common open space shall comprise a minimum of 10% of the gross area of the planned residential development to be used for recreational, park or environmental amenity for collective enjoyment by occupants of the development but shall not include public or private streets, driveways or utility easements. No more than 50% of the common open space of a proposed planned residential development shall be comprised of floodplains or slopes over 35%.
Permitted uses within a PRD District shall be as follows:
A. Residential uses: detached, semidetached or attached one-family dwellings, garden apartments and townhouses.
B. Nonresidential uses: active and passive park and recreation areas, open space and facilities, including swimming pools, tennis courts, ball fields, playgrounds, walkways, bikeways, nature trails and similar structures and facilities.
C. Accessory uses: those accessory uses and structures permitted in the R-3 District.
A planned residential development plan that is in conformance with the criteria established in §§
270-92 through
270-97 hereof conserves natural amenities and is consistent with the following standards shall be deemed to have qualified for tentative approval:
A. General planning considerations.
(1) The plan may provide for a mixture of those uses set forth in §
270-96 above; provided, however, that not more than 25% of the total number of proposed dwellings shall be townhouses.
(2) No building or structure shall be more than 40 feet in height as defined in §
270-5 of this chapter.
(3) The intent of this article is to encourage excellent quality development and to take into consideration the appearance of all elevations and the arrangement of the buildings and external spaces and materials used therein.
(4) Nonresidential uses shall be designed and intended primarily for the use of the residents of the planned residential development and the immediate neighborhood, and the burden of proof shall be upon the applicant to prove that such is the case. No building designed or intended to be used in part or in whole for institutional purposes shall be constructed prior to the construction and completion of not less than 20% of the dwelling units proposed in the plan. Recreational and open space uses shall be incorporated into each phase or stage of development in the manner prescribed by the plan. Applicable recreational facilities shall be completed before construction of the next phase.
(5) Maximum residential density. In consideration of the intent of the provisions of this article, the Town Board may permit a greater number of dwelling units per acre than is permitted by this chapter otherwise applicable to the site. Applicants requesting such density increase shall be required to submit the following:
(a) A preliminary sketch plan which conforms to all standards and criteria of the effective zoning to establish the maximum permitted density.
(b) A preliminary sketch plan which conforms to all requirements of this article illustrating the planned residential development based upon the requested density increase.
B. Consideration for density increase shall be governed by the criteria listed below, which are to be treated as additive, not compounded.
(1) Open space (as defined in §
270-96) reservation shall be considered as a basis for density increases according to the following provisions:
(a) If 5% of the gross area of the planned residential development is reserved for common usable open space in addition to the minimum required open space set forth in §
270-96, the applicant shall receive a ten-percent density increase if such open space area is improved and a five-percent density increase if unimproved.
(b) If 10% of the gross area of the planned residential development is reserved for common usable open space in addition to the minimum required open space set forth in §
270-96, the applicant shall receive a fifteen-percent density increase if such open space area is improved and a seven-and one-half-percent increase if unimproved.
(c) If 20% of the gross area of the planned residential development is reserved for common usable open space in addition to the minimum required open space set forth in §
270-96, the applicant shall receive a fifteen-percent density increase if such open space area is improved and a ten-percent density increase if unimproved.
(2) Character, identity and architectural and siting variation incorporated in a development shall be considered cause for density increases not to exceed 10%, provided that these factors make a substantial contribution to the objectives of a planned residential development. The degree of distinctiveness and the desirable variation achieved shall govern the amount of density increase which the Town Board may approve. Such variations may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) Landscaping (a maximum increase of 5%), streetscaping, open spaces and plazas, use of existing landscape, pedestrian way treatment and recreational areas.
(b) Siting (a maximum increase of 2.5%), visual focal points, use of existing physical features such as topography, view, sun and wind orientation, circulation pattern, physical and environment, in building setbacks and building groups (such as clustering).
(c) Design features (a maximum of 2.5%), street sections, architectural styles, harmonious use of materials, parking areas broken by landscape features and varied use of house types.
All streets and sidewalks must conform to the town's design standards with respect to rights-of-way, width, paving specifications, cartway design, horizontal and vertical alignment, site distances and drainage provisions, except when modified or waived by the Board. Pedestrian circulation systems must be provided as convenient, safe and attractive links between residential groupings, open space areas, recreation areas and schools.
Whenever any planned residential development is proposed, before any permit for the erection of a permanent building in such planned residential development shall be granted and before any subdivision plot of any part thereof may be filed in the office of the Schenectady County Clerk, the developer, or his authorized agent, shall apply for and secure approval of such planned residential development in accordance with the following procedures:
A. Application for sketch plan approval.
(1) In order to allow the Town authorities and the developer to reach an understanding on basic design requirements prior to detailed design investment, the development shall submit a sketch plan of his proposal to the Planning Board. The sketch plan shall be approximately to scale, though it need not be to the precision of a finished engineering drawing, and it shall clearly show the following information:
(a) The location of the various uses and their areas.
(b) The general outlines of the interior roadway system and all existing rights-of-way and easements, whether public or private.
(c) Delineation of the various residential areas, indicating for each such area its general extent, size and composition in terms of total number of dwelling units, approximate percentage allocation by dwelling-unit type (i.e., single-family detached, duplex, townhouse, garden apartments) and general description of the intended market structure (i.e., luxury, middle-income, moderate-income, elderly units, family units, etc.), plus a calculation of the residential density in dwelling units per gross acre (total area, including interior roadways) for such area based upon the method set forth in §
270-98A(5) above.
(d) The common open space system.
(e) The overall drainage system.
(f) If grades exceed 3% or portions of the site have a moderate-to-high susceptibility to erosion or a moderate-to-high susceptibility to flooding and ponding, a topographic map showing contour intervals of not more than five feet of elevation, along with an overlay outlining the above susceptible soil areas, if any.
(g) Principal ties to the community at large with respect to transportation, water supply and sewage disposal.
(h) General description of the provisions of other community facilities, such as schools, fire-protection services and cultural facilities, if any, and some indication of how these needs are proposed to be accommodated.
(i) A location map showing uses and ownership of abutting lands.
(2) In addition, the following documentation shall accompany the sketch plan:
(a) Evidence of how the developer's particular mix of land uses meets existing community demands.
(b) Evidence that the proposal is compatible with the goals of the Official Comprehensive Plan.
(c) If the development is to be staged, a general indication of how the staging is to proceed. Whether or not the development is to be staged, the sketch plan of this section shall show the intended total project.
(d) Evidence of any sort in the applicant's own behalf to demonstrate his physical and financial competence to carry out the plan and his awareness of the scope of such a project.
(e) A long-form environmental assessment shall be submitted together with a list of other permits required and involved agencies. If determined necessary, an environmental impact statement will be prepared in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act.
B. Planning Board review. The Planning Board shall review the sketch plan and other documents submitted by the applicant and shall render either a favorable or an unfavorable report to the Town Board.
(1) A favorable report shall include a recommendation to the Town Board that a public hearing be held for the purpose of considering planned unit development districting. It shall be based on the following findings, which shall be included as part of the report:
(a) The proposal conforms to the Town Comprehensive Plan.
(b) The proposal meets the intent and objectives of planned unit development, as expressed herein.
(c) The proposal meets all the general requirements of this article.
(d) The proposal is conceptually sound in that it meets a community need and it conforms to accepted design principles in the proposed functional roadway system, land-use configuration, open-space system, drainage system and scale of the elements, both absolutely and to one another.
(e) There are adequate services and utilities available or proposed to be made available in the construction of the development.
(2) An unfavorable report shall state clearly the reasons therefor and, if appropriate, point out to the applicant what might be necessary in order to receive a favorable report. The applicant may, within 10 days after receiving an unfavorable report, file an application for planned unit development districting with the Town Board. The Town Board may then determine, on its own initiative, whether or not it wishes to call a public hearing.
C. Completed application. The Chairman of the Planning Board shall certify when all of the necessary application material has been presented, and the Planning Board shall submit its report within 60 days of such certification. If no report has been rendered after 60 days, the applicant may proceed as if an unfavorable report were given to him.