Any subdivider who proposes to develop a subdivision
in the Town of Woodstock shall observe all general requirements for
land subdivision as herein provided.
A. Character of land. Land to be subdivided shall be
of such character that in the opinion of the Planning Board it can
be used safely for building purposes without danger to health or peril
from fire, flood or other menace and with a minimum of detrimental
effects on the environment.
B. Preservation of any significant existing features.
The Planning Board shall require the preservation of natural features
which add value to residential developments and to the community,
such as large trees or wooded areas, watercourses and falls, beaches,
historic spots, and similar irreplaceable assets.
C. Conformance with Official Map and Comprehensive Plan.
Subdivision plats and improvements provided shall conform to the Official
Map and Zoning Law of the Town of Woodstock and shall be in harmony
with the Comprehensive Plan.
D. Minimum lot area. No lot in a subdivision shall have less than the minimum lot area and minimum lot dimension required by the Zoning Law for the district in which it is located, unless otherwise provided in the Zoning Law or as provided by Article
VIII of these regulations.
E. Plats with access through other municipalities. Whenever
access to a subdivision is by crossing land in another municipality,
the Planning Board may require assurance from said municipality that
such access is adequately improved or that a legally adequate performance
guarantee has been duly posted and is sufficient in an amount to ensure
the construction of the necessary road or roads.
F. Replatting. Replatting of all or part of land covered
by an existing plat which has been laid out prior to compulsory subdivision
plat review, approval and filing shall comply with these regulations
as now required.
G. Topography, earthmoving and grading. Where development
involves changes to topography, including earthmoving, grading, excavation
or blasting, such procedures shall be done in accordance with all
applicable codes and regulations and shall comply with the following
standards as much as possible:
(1) Design the layout of lots, driveways, roads and all
graded areas to follow existing contours and landforms.
(2) Minimize the length of time and extent of area of
disturbance.
(3) Diminish the extent, height, depth and volume of cut
and fill.
(5) Stabilize and reclaim all disturbed areas using site-specific
materials and vegetation as appropriate.
H. Preservation of topsoil. No topsoil shall be removed
from any land subject to subdivision application in the Town, except
that in areas over which heavy equipment will be operated, the topsoil
shall be stripped and stockpiled on the property. When final grades
have been established and construction activities have been completed,
the property shall be suitably graded and, to the extent practicable,
recovered with topsoil, except that portion of the site covered by
buildings or included in the roads.
I. Watercourses. Where a watercourse separates a proposed
road from abutting property, provision shall be made for access to
all lots by culverts or other permanent drainage structures. Where
a subdivision is traversed by a watercourse, drainageway, channel,
or stream, there shall be provided a stormwater easement or drainage
right-of-way, not less than 30 feet in width. All such structures
and rights-of-way shall be of design and specification approved by
the designated Town Engineer and the Town Superintendent of Highways.
J. Floodplains. If any portion of the land within the
subdivision is subject to periodic inundation or flood hazard caused
by stormwater, this portion shall be clearly indicated on any submissions
required by these regulations. In cases of doubt, the Planning Board
may require the submission of a flood hazard study delineating the
limits of the one-hundred-year floodplain. Such study shall be conducted
by a licensed professional engineer.
(1) Land subject to flooding, and land deemed by the Planning
Board to be otherwise uninhabitable, shall not be platted for residential
occupancy nor for any such other use that may increase danger to health,
life or property or aggravate the flood hazard.
(2) Any subdivision, including all proposed improvements
and construction, must comply with all applicable provisions of the
National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, including all amendments thereto.
K. Wetlands/streams. Any construction or disturbance
within or near NYSDEC classified streams and wetlands should conform
to NYSDEC stream crossing or wetland disturbance permits. Otherwise
any crossing or rechannelization, grading, filling or other disturbance
to any surface water should be avoided whenever possible. Where necessary,
alteration or disturbance shall be done in a manner such that:
(1) Development or disturbance shall comply with pertinent
requirements and standards of the Town of Woodstock Zoning Law.
(2) Disturbance is minimized.
(3) Natural volume and flow are maintained.
(4) Adequate erosion and siltation control measures are
constructed and maintained.
(5) Proposed filling or disturbance of any wet area or
wetland under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers should
conform to pertinent standards or permitting requirements.
The subdivider shall additionally conform to all subdivision design standards as herein provided. These standards shall be considered minimum standards and shall be modified, or waived, by the Planning Board only as provided for in Article
X, §§
202-43 and
202-44 of these regulations.
A. Lots.
(1) Lots to be buildable. The lot arrangement shall be
such that, in constructing a building in compliance with the Zoning
Law, there will be no foreseeable prohibitions to development based
upon soils, topography or other natural conditions.
(2) Corner lots. Corner lots shall be of sufficient dimensions
so that any structure placed thereon shall conform to the greater
of front or side building setback lines on both roads for the zoning
district in which the lot is located.
(3) Minimum lot size. Except as provided by Article
VIII of these regulations regarding cluster development, and other exceptions and modifications provided in the Zoning Law, each lot shall be no smaller than the minimum lot area and lot dimensions required by the Zoning Law for the district in which it is located.
(4) Access from suitably improved roads.
(a)
The subdivision of land shall be such as to provide each lot with satisfactory access, via suitably improved private or public roads, for routine and emergency purposes from the community's system of roadways. For design standards for accessways, refer to Article
VII, §
202-30, Driveway standards, and §
202-32, Roads.
(b)
However, a lot with less than 300 feet fronting
on a county or state highway shall be designed as to share a common
curb cut with an adjacent lot. When four or more such lots are proposed
or could possibly be subdivided from a parcel with frontage on a county
or state highway, frontage for all such lots shall be on internal
streets, not on the county or state highway. Each lot permitted to
front on a county or state highway shall provide for an improved on-site
turnaround so as to prevent any vehicle from backing onto such highway.
Similar provision on Town highways shall be required at the discretion
of the Planning Board for reasons of traffic safety.
(5) Access from private roads. Access from privately owned and maintained shared driveways and roads, as may be authorized under § 280-a of the Town Law, shall be deemed acceptable only if such roads are designed and improved in accordance with Article
VII, §§
202-30 and
202-32 of these regulations or the current road specifications for the Town of Woodstock. A satisfactory ownership arrangement shall be provided to the Planning Board to delineate the long-term ownership and maintenance of said privately owned and maintained roads.
B. Parks and public open space. Adequate lands for parks
and other public open space purposes shall be provided in any subdivision
of land for residential purposes in the Town of Woodstock.
(1) Amount of land set aside. In general, the Planning
Board shall require that not less than 5% nor more than 10% of the
total land area within the subdivision be set aside and shown on the
plat for park and public open space purposes. All lands designated
on the plat as park or public open space must be deemed suitable for
this purpose by the Planning Board based upon analysis of the land's
topographic, geologic, hydrological and locational characteristics.
The Planning Board may establish such conditions on the subdivision
concerning access, use, and maintenance of such park and public open
space lands as deemed necessary to ensure the preservation of the
lands, in perpetuity, for their intended purposes. Such conditions
shall be clearly noted by the licensed land surveyor and/or professional
engineer on the plat prior to final plat approval and subsequent recording
of the plat in the office of the Ulster County Clerk.
(2) Information to be submitted. In the event that an
area to be used for park or public open space is required to be shown,
the subdivider shall submit, prior to final plat approval, to the
Planning Board drawings at a scale of not less than 20 feet to the
inch of such area and the following features thereof:
(a)
The boundaries of said area, giving length and
bearings of all straight lines and radii, lengths, central angles
and tangent distances of all curves.
(b)
Existing features such as streams, ponds, clusters
of trees, rock outcrops and structures, existing and proposed.
(c)
Existing and, if applicable, proposed changes
in grade contours of said area and of the area immediately adjacent,
for a distance of not less than 100 feet, with such contours to be
at an interval of not more than two feet.
(d)
Plans for improvements of said area, including
but not limited to grading, seeding, fencing, landscaping, the provision
of play and related equipment, and improvements relating to the protection
of the public health and safety.
(e)
Identification of significant plant and animal
habitats.
(3) Payment in lieu of dedication. If, because of the
size, topography, or location of a subdivision, or because of the
size of the individual lots provided within a subdivision, an offer
of land dedication or the requirement for land reservation for parks
and other public open space purposes could be deemed unreasonable
or undesirable by the Planning Board, the Board may alternatively
require, under § 277 of the Town Law, that a payment be
made into a special fund for Town open space or recreation site acquisition
in lieu of such land dedication or reservation within the subdivision.
Such payment shall be a condition of approval of the final plat and
shall be assessed in accordance with the subdivision fee schedule.
No final plat shall be signed by the Chairman of the Planning Board
until such payment has been received by the Clerk of the Planning
Board.
C. Public improvements and utilities.
(1) Placement. Underground improvements required by the Planning Board in accordance with Article
VI, §
202-22 and public franchise utilities shall be placed in the road right-of-way between the road paving and the right-of-way line. Where topography makes such placement impracticable, perpetual unobstructed easements at least 20 feet in width shall be provided along lot frontages abutting the road lines, with satisfactory access to the road. Wherever possible, easements shall be continuous from block to block and their layout shall be as regular as possible. Subject to the discretion of the Town Board, an underground public improvement or utility operated for revenue by the Town or by a special district may be installed by the Town in a private road, provided that a public easement of satisfactory size is obtained for such improvement or utility. Before the road is paved, the subdivider shall install underground service connections for all required improvements and utilities to the property line of each lot within the subdivision.
(2) Service connections.
(a)
Water. Where an appropriate public water main
already exists and is physically and legally accessible, the subdivider
may connect into said main and provide a water connection for each
lot in accordance with Article 12 of the Town Law, the Public Health
Law, and other applicable laws, rules and regulations. Where an appropriate
water main does not exist or is not accessible, the subdivider shall
install at his own expense such main together with all necessary valves,
cutoffs, fire hydrants, pumps, storage tanks, meters and other equipment
necessary to make such water system conform to the standards of the
Town.
(b)
Sanitary sewers. Where an appropriate public
sanitary sewer system is reasonably physically and legally accessible,
the subdivider shall install at his expense the necessary connections
into the system and provide a sewer connection for each lot.
(c)
Storm drainage system.
[1]
The subdivider shall install all necessary storm
drainage sewers and appurtenant facilities at his expense, in accordance
with standards of the Town and of all authorities having jurisdiction.
Where an appropriate storm drainage system is reasonably accessible,
the subdivider shall make proper connection thereto. Otherwise the
subdivider shall provide appropriate means and methods for stormwater
runoff satisfactory to the Planning Board and all other authorities
having jurisdiction. The storm drainage facilities provided shall
be fully consistent with storm drainage design standards which may
be promulgated and from time to time reviewed and modified by the
Planning Board. The drainage system shall be large enough to accommodate
potential runoff from the entire upstream drainage area whether inside
or outside of the subdivision. The designated Town Engineer shall
approve the design and size of facilities based on anticipated runoff
from a twenty-five-year storm under conditions of total potential
development permitted by the Zoning Law in the Watershed.
[2]
The subdivider's engineer shall also study and
report on the effect of each subdivision on the existing downstream
drainage system outside the area of the subdivision and this report
shall be reviewed by the designated Town Engineer. When it is anticipated
that the additional runoff incident to the development of the subdivision
will overload an existing downstream drainage facility during a twenty-five-year
storm, the Planning Board shall not approve the plat until provision
has been made for the improvement of said condition.
D. Pedestrianways. Adequate provision shall be made for
the convenient and safe movement of pedestrians and bicyclists in
any subdivision of land for residential purposes throughout the Town
of Woodstock.
(1) Pedestrianways on collector roads. All roads designated
as collector roads shall have an improved pedestrian path, sidewalk
or bikeway provided on at least one side of the road. Any such sidewalk
or pedestrian path shall be so placed that there will be a distance
of not less than four feet between the sidewalk and the road pavement.
A bikeway, or combined bicyclist-pedestrian path, not less than four
feet in width, may be situated adjacent to the road pavement and be
visually separated therefrom by striping on both its inner and outer
edges.
(2) Provision for pedestrian destinations. To the extent
considered practicable and in consideration of public health, safety
and convenience, the Planning Board may require that additional or
alternatively located pedestrianways be provided within a residential
subdivision to provide access to parks or public space, school sites,
neighborhood shopping facilities, or similar destinations. Any such
pedestrianway may be situated within either a public right-of-way
or established within a suitable easement.
E. Private water supply and sewage disposal facilities.
Where public water supply and/or sewage disposal facilities are not
available, the Planning Board shall ascertain as a part of subdivision
plat review and approval that each prospective lot and dwelling unit
may be adequately served by acceptable water supply and sewage disposal
facilities. These facilities shall be designed and installed in accordance
with the requirements of the Ulster County Health Department. Facilities
on properties within the New York City watershed shall be designed
in accordance with requirements of the Bureau of Water Supply, New
York City Department of Environmental Protection.
F. Road trees and seeding.
(1) The Planning Board may require the planting of trees
on both sides of a newly installed roadway, in locations approved
by the Planning Board. Trees shall generally:
(a)
Be located near the property line and be spaced
approximately 50 feet apart, subject to variations made necessary
by driveways and road corners as well as by the species of trees planted;
and
(b)
Have caliper of two inches or larger measured
at the height of at least six feet above ground level and shall have
a minimum height of 12 feet from the ground level. The species of
trees will be approved by the Planning Board.
(2) All embankments and disturbed areas shall be seeded
with crown vetch or conservation mix.