Town of North Greenbush, NY Article II Definitions and Word Usage

§ 197-3 Definitions and word usage.

A. Except where specifically defined herein, all words used in this chapter shall carry their customary meanings. Words used in the present tense include the future; and the plural includes the singular; the word "lot" includes the word "plot"; the word "building" includes the word "structure"; the word "shall" is intended to be mandatory; and "occupied" or "used" shall be considered as though followed by the words "or intended, arranged or designed to be used or occupied."

B. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ACCESSORY STRUCTURE

A detached subordinate structure(s), the use of which is incidental to that of the principal structure and located on the same lot therewith and located in the same zoning district as the principal structure, and is without living quarters or cooking facilities.

ACCESSORY TEMPORARY APARTMENT

See "dwelling, caregiver/receiver temporary."

ACCESSORY USE

A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use of a building and located on the same lot with such principal use of a building.

ADULT USE

Any use or business that uses land, structures or premises for an adult-oriented purpose by which the provisions of the Penal Law is required to restrict the access thereto by minors. Such establishments may include but are not limited to:

(1) ADULT BOOKSTORE A commercial establishment which, as one of its principal business purposes, offers "for sale or rental for any form of consideration" any one or more of the following:

(a) Books, magazines, periodicals or other printed matter or photographs, films, motion pictures, video cassettes or video reproductions, slides or other visual representations, which depict or describe specified anatomical areas.

(b) Instruments, devices or paraphernalia that are designed for use in connection with specified sexual activities. A commercial establishment may have other principal business purposes that do not involve the offering for sale or rental of material depicting or describing specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas and still be defined as an "adult bookstore" or "adult video store" so long as one of its principal business purposes is the offering for sale or rental for consideration of the specified materials which depict or describe specific sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(2) ADULT CABARET A nightclub, bar, restaurant or similar commercial establishment which regularly features:

(a) Persons who appear in a state of nudity;

(b) Live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities; or

(c) Films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slide or other photographic reproductions, which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified anatomical areas or specified sexual activities.

(3) ADULT MOTEL A hotel, motel or similar commercial establishment which:

(a) Offers accommodations to the public for any form of consideration, provides patrons with closed-circuit television transmissions, films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or other photographic reproductions which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas, and has a sign visible from the public right-of-way which advertises the availability of this adult type of photographic reproductions;

(b) Offers sleeping room for rent for a period of time that is less than 10 hours; or

(c) Allows a tenant or occupant of a sleeping room to sub-rent the room for a period of time that is less than 10 hours.

(4) ADULT MOTION PICTURE THEATER A commercial establishment where (for any form of consideration) films, motion pictures, video cassettes, slides or similar photographic reproductions are regularly shown which are characterized by the depiction or description of specified sexual activities or specified anatomical areas.

(5) ADULT THEATER A theater, concert hall, auditorium or similar commercial establishment which regularly features persons who appear in a state of nudity or live performances which are characterized by the exposure of specified anatomical areas or by specified sexual activities.

(6) ADULT VIDEO STORE See "adult bookstore."

(7) NUDITY The appearance of a human bare buttocks, anus, genitals or full female breasts.

(8) SEMI-NUDE A state of undress in which clothing covers no more than the genitals, pubic region and areola of the female breast, as well as portion of the body covered by supporting straps or devices.

(9) SEXUAL ENCOUNTER CENTER A business or commercial enterprise that, as one of its primary business purposes, offers for any form of consideration:

(a) Physical contact in the form of wrestling or tumbling between persons of the opposite sex; or

(b) Activities between male and female persons of the same sex when one or more of the persons is in a state of nudity or semi-nude.

(10) SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESS An adult arcade, adult bookstore or adult video store, adult cabaret, adult motel, adult motion-picture theater, adult theater, escort agency, nude model studio or sexual encounter center.

(11) SPECIFIED ANATOMICAL AREAS The male genitals in a state of sexual arousal and/or the vulva or more intimate parts of the female genitals.

(12) SPECIFIED SEXUAL ACTIVITIES Any of the following:

(a) The fondling or other erotic touching of human genitals, pubic region, buttocks, anus or female breasts.

(b) Sex acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, including intercourse, oral copulation or sodomy.

(c) Masturbation, actual or simulated.

(d) Excretory functions as part of or in connection with any of the activities set forth above

(13) STATE OF NUDITY See "nudity."

AGRICULTURE

The use of land for sound agricultural purposes, including farming, dairy, horse boarding, pasturing, grazing, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, timber harvesting, animal and poultry husbandry, and those practices necessary for the on-farm production, preparation, and marketing of agricultural commodities including animals or crops raised for personal consumption or recreational purposes. "Agriculture" does not include dude ranches or similar operations.

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP

Any area of land, including buildings, which is used primarily for repair and/or maintenance of motorized vehicles.

BASEMENT

A story partly underground but having at least 1/2 of its height above the average level of the adjoining ground. A "basement" shall be counted as a story for the purposes of height measurement if the vertical distance between the ceiling and the average level of the adjoining ground is more than five feet or if used for business or dwelling purposes.

BUILDING

Any structure having a roof supported by columns or by walls and intended for the shelter, housing or enclosure of persons, animals or property.

BUILDING HEIGHT

The vertical distance measured from average finished grade to average roof height.

BUILDING, ACCESSORY

A detached supplemental building, the use of which is incidental to that of a main or principal building and on the same lot therewith.

BUILDING, PRINCIPAL

A building in which is conducted the main or principal use of the lot on which said building is situated.

BUSINESS PARK

A group of flex-type or incubator one- or two-story buildings served by a common roadway system. Tenant space is flexible to house a variety of uses with the rear side of the building served by a garage door. The average mixture of uses is 1/3 office-commercial and 2/3 industrial-warehousing.

CARE-RECEIVER

Resident(s) of a caregiver/receiver temporary dwelling unit who receive care from a caregiver. It is intended that such care-receiver shall include customary family members of the owners or occupants of the single-family dwelling, such customary family members typically include grandparents, parents, siblings, children, and/or in-laws.

CAREGIVER

A person with the responsibility of providing care and/or assistance to the resident(s) of the caregiver/receiver temporary dwelling unit.

CARRIAGE HOUSE

An ancillary dwelling located on the same lot as the primary residence. The carriage house is secondary to the principal residence and further defined through the restrictions.

CELLAR

A story partly underground and having more than 1/2 of its clear height below the average level of the adjoining ground. A "cellar" shall not be considered in determining the permissible number of stories.

COMMERCIAL RECREATIONAL FACILITY

Any facility used for purposes of play, amusement or relaxation, such as a playground, ball field, conservation area, education area, gymnasium, tennis court, bowling alley or other like activities, having a minimal detrimental impact and operated with the intent of producing a profit.

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS BUILDING

A single-tenant office building housing the corporate headquarters of a company or organization and generally containing offices, meeting rooms, space for file storage and data processing, a restaurant or cafeteria and other service functions.[1]

DESIGN GUIDELINES

A set of subjective standards and recommendations governing the physical form and appearance of development within the district to which they apply. Design guidelines are to be applied by the Planning Board and are set forth in the Site Plan Review Act.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS

A set of mandatory, objective parameters to which proposed development must conform. The Building Department or Code Enforcement Officer will evaluate, in the first instance, proposed development for compliance with design requirements. The design requirements are set forth in the Zoning Law and are subject to the provisions of that law.

DUPLEX

See "dwelling, two-family."

DWELLING UNIT

Any single unit, which may include one or more rooms, providing complete independent living facilities for the use by one family, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

DWELLING, CAREGIVER/RECEIVER TEMPORARY

A permitted independent, subordinate dwelling unit, either in or added to an existing single-family dwelling unit, which may include completely separate and independent cooking, eating, sanitation, and sleeping areas. Such a dwelling unit shall be clearly accessory and incidental to the principal dwelling and shall not be deemed to be a two-family dwelling.

DWELLING, MULTIFAMILY

A structure, or group of structures, each containing three or more dwelling units and occupied or designed for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other. May include apartments, condominiums, townhouses, and cooperatives.

DWELLING, SINGLE-FAMILY

A detached building designed for or occupied by one family and containing not more than one dwelling unit, but shall not include a mobile home.

DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY

A building designed as a single structure containing two separate living units, each designed to be occupied as a separate permanent dwelling unit for one family, and each dwelling unit is entirely separated by vertical walls that are unpierced except for access to the outside or to a common cellar.

EXCAVATION

The removal or addition of soil or rock greater than one foot in depth covering an area of 600 square feet or 25 cubic yards, whichever is less.

FAMILY

(1) Family shall be considered one of the following:

(a) One, two or three persons occupying a dwelling unit; or

(b) Four or more persons occupying a dwelling unit and living together as a traditional family or the functional equivalent of a traditional family.

(2) It shall be presumptive evidence that four or more persons living in a single dwelling unit who are all not related by blood, marriage, or legal adoption do not constitute the functional equivalent of a traditional family.

(3) In determining whether individuals are living together as the functional equivalent of a traditional family, the following criteria must be present:

(a) The group is one which in theory, size, appearance, structure, and function resembles a traditional family unit;

(b) The occupants must share the entire dwelling unit and live and cook together as a single housekeeping unit. A unit in which the various occupants act as separate roomers may not be deemed to be occupied by the functional equivalent of a traditional family;

(c) The group shares expenses for food, rent, or ownership costs, utilities and other household expenses;

(d) The group is permanent and stable. Evidence of such permanency and stability may include:

[1] The presence of minor dependent children regularly residing in the household who are enrolled in local schools;

[2] Members of the household have the same address for purposes of voter's registration, driver's license, motor vehicle registration, and filing of taxes;

[3] Members of the household are employed in the area;

[4] The household has been living together as a unit for a year or more, whether in the current dwelling unit or other dwelling units;

[5] There is common ownership of furniture and appliances among the members of the household; and

[6] The group is not transient or temporary in nature;

(e) Any other factor reasonably related to whether or not the group is the functional equivalent of a family.

GARAGE, PRIVATE

An enclosed space for the storage of one or more motor vehicles, provided that no business, occupation or service is conducted for profit therein nor space therein for more than one car is leased to a nonresident of the premises.

GARAGE, PUBLIC

Any garage, other than a private garage, available to the public, operated for gain and which is used for storage, repair, rental, greasing, washing, servicing, adjusting or equipping of automobiles or other motor vehicles.

GASOLINE STATION

Any area of land, including structures thereon, that is used for the sale of gasoline or any other motor vehicle fuel and oil and other lubricating substances, including any sale of motor vehicle accessories, and which may or may not include facilities for lubrication, washing or otherwise servicing motor vehicles.

GENERAL HEAVY INDUSTRIAL

Typical heavy industrial facilities are limited to the manufacturing of large items and have a high number of employees per industrial plant. Sometimes such facilities are categorized as manufacturing.

GENERAL LIGHT INDUSTRIAL

Typical light industrial activities have an emphasis other than manufacturing and include printing plants, material testing laboratories, assemblers of data processing equipment and power stations. Light industrial facilities usually employ fewer than 500 persons, are usually freestanding and devoted to a single use.

GENERAL OFFICE BUILDING

A facility that houses multiple tenants where affairs of businesses, commercial or industrial organizations or professional persons or firms are conducted. An office building may contain a mixture of tenants, including professional services, insurance companies, investment brokers and tenant services such as a bank or savings and loan, a restaurant or cafeteria and retail service facilities.

GOVERNMENT OFFICE BUILDING

An individual building containing the entire function or simply an agency of a city, county, state, federal or other governmental unit and differs from a government office complex in that it is not a group of buildings which are interconnected with pedestrian walkways.

GOVERNMENT OFFICE COMPLEX

See "government office building."

HEALTH CLUB

Privately owned facilities which may include swimming pools, whirlpools, saunas, tennis, racquetball and handball courts, exercise classes, weightlifting and gymnastics equipment, locker rooms and a restaurant or snack bar.

HIGH-CUBE WAREHOUSE

Used for the storage of manufactured goods prior to their distribution to retail outlets. These facilities consist of large shells of steel buildings, are often subdivided for individual tenants and generally have a ceiling height of 24 feet to 26 feet. In addition, they are generally characterized by small employment numbers due to a high level of mechanization, have truck activities frequently outside of the peak hour of the adjacent street system and have good major highway access.

HOME OCCUPATION

An accessory use carried out for gain customarily conducted entirely within a single-family dwelling or its accessory buildings by the resident owners thereof, which is clearly secondary to the use of the dwelling for living purposes and does not change the character thereof or have any exterior evidence of such secondary use other than that permitted. Such home occupations may include, but are not limited to:

(1) Professional engineer.

(2) Licensed surveyor.

(3) Attorney.

(4) Certified public accountant.

(5) Licensed realtor.

(6) Web designer.

(7) One-chair owner-operated hair stylist/barber.

INDUSTRIAL PARK

Industrial parks are areas containing a number of industrial or related facilities and are characterized by a mix of manufacturing, service and warehouse facilities. Parks can have a wide variation in proportion of each type of use from one location to another, some with a large number of small businesses and others with one or two dominant industries.

JUNKYARD

A lot, land or structure or part thereof used for the collecting, storage and sale of wastepaper, rags, scrap or discarded material or for the collection, dismantling, storage and salvaging of machinery or vehicles not in running condition and for the salvage or sale of parts thereof.

LOT

A parcel of land occupied or capable of being occupied by one building and the accessory buildings or uses customarily incident to it, including such open spaces as are required by this chapter.

LOT COVERAGE

The portion of a lot expressed as a percentage of the total lot area that is impervious (i.e., does not absorb water) and shall include but is not limited to all areas covered by buildings, structures (including accessory buildings or structures), parking lots, driveways roads, sidewalks, and any area of concrete asphalt.

[Added 5-10-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018]

LOT LINES

The lines bounding a lot as defined herein.

LOT, WIDTH OF

The mean width measured at right angles to its depth along the rear line of the required front yard.

MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing facilities are sites where the primary activity is the conversion of raw materials or parts into finished products with the size and type of facility varying from one facility to another. In addition to the actual production of goods, manufacturing facilities generally also have office, warehouse, research and associated functions.

MEDICAL/DENTAL OFFICE BUILDING

A facility which provides diagnoses and outpatient care on a routine basis but which is unable to provide prolonged in-house medical/surgical care. Such facility is generally operated by one or more private physicians or dentists.

MINI-WAREHOUSE

A building in which a storage unit or vault is rented for the storage of goods. Each unit is physically separated from other units and access is usually provided through an overhead door or other common access point.

MOBILE HOME

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 and capable of being used as a detached single-family residence; and which is intended to be occupied as 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.

MOBILE HOME PARK

Any parcel of land which is planned and improved for the placement of two or more mobile homes which are used as dwellings and for occupancy of more than 90 consecutive days.

MOTEL

A building or a group of two or more detached or semidetached buildings containing rooms or apartments with automobile parking or storage space serving such rooms or apartments provided directly or closely in connection therewith, which building or group of buildings is designed, intended or used primarily for the providing of sleeping accommodations for travelers, including groups designated as auto cabins, motels, motor lodges and by similar designations.

NONCOMMERCIAL PARKING

Parking used in conjunction with an allowed use in a district, but does not include parking where consideration or fees are provided in exchange for parking accommodations.

NONCONFORMING USE

A building, structure or use of land existing at the time of enactment of this chapter which does not conform to the regulations of the district or zone in which it is situated.

OFFICE PARK

Generally suburban subdivisions or planned unit developments containing general office buildings and support services such as banks, savings and loan institutions and restaurants, arranged in a park or campus-like atmosphere.

PARKING SPACE

An off-street space available for the parking of one or more motor vehicles and having an area of not less than 162 square feet and minimum dimensions of nine feet by 18 feet, exclusive of passageways and driveways appurtenant thereto and giving access thereto, and having direct access to a street or alley.

PROFESSIONAL

An attorney admitted to practice in the State of New York or as otherwise duly admitted under the laws of the State of New York, or a certified public accountant, professional engineer, an architect, a landscape architect, a physician, a dentist, a speech pathologist, an audiologist, a chiropractor, a podiatrist, a physical therapist, or an individual licensed to practice psychology, all as defined in the Education Law of the State of New York, or those engaged in otherwise legal business and/or personal services.

PUBLIC RECREATIONAL FACILITY

Any facility used for purposes of play, amusement or relaxation, such as a playground, ball field, conservation area, education area, gymnasium, tennis court, bowling alley or other like activities, having a minimal detrimental impact upon the environment and operated on a nonprofit basis.

QUARRY, SANDPIT, GRAVEL PIT OR TOPSOIL STRIPPING

A lot or land or part thereof used for the purpose of extracting stone, sand, gravel or topsoil for sale as an industrial operation and exclusive of the process of grading a lot preparatory to the construction of a building for which application for a building permit has been made.

RECREATIONAL COMMUNITY CENTER

Public or nonprofit-organization-owned facilities similar to and including YMCAs, often including classes and clubs for adults and children, day care or nursery school, meeting rooms, swimming pools and whirlpools, saunas, tennis, racquetball and handball courts, exercise classes, weightlifting and gymnastic equipment, locker rooms and a restaurant or snack bar.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER

Facilities or groups of facilities devoted nearly exclusively to research and development activities.

RESTAURANT, DRIVE-THROUGH

An eating establishment, such as a fast-food restaurant or snack bar or refreshment stand, so designed and constructed to allow consumers to be served while in a vehicle outside of the building and generally from a designated travel lane. Such service shall be from a window or counter where food is sold to be taken from the premises for consumption, primarily off-site.

RESTAURANT, FAST-FOOD

An establishment whose principal business is the retail sale of food from a counter-type installation from which quickly prepared or prepared foods are taken away by customers in a ready-to-consume state for consumption on or off the premises at the option of the consumer and whose design or principal method operation includes:

(1) Use of a menu generally containing a limited number of special items;

(2) Sale of foods, primarily in paper, plastic or other disposable containers;

(3) Service and clean-up are primarily performed by the consumer; and/or

(4) The percentage of the restaurant's floor area devoted to customer seating is less than 60% of the gross floor area of such restaurant.

SETBACK

The distance perpendicular from the nearest edge of the street right-of-way or easement to the building or structure. For curved streets, "setback" shall be determined from the nearest tangent to the curve.

SHOPPING CENTER

An integrated facility occupying one or more structures and consisting of three or more stores, shops and similar entities which provide parking, internal roads and other infrastructure within one site, with a minimum combined square footage of 50,000 square feet gross floor area.

SINGLE-TENANT OFFICE BUILDING

A building which contains the offices, meeting rooms and space for file storage and data processing of a single business or company with other possible service functions such as restaurant or cafeteria.

SNACK BAR/REFRESHMENT STAND

An eating establishment with similar characteristics to a fast-food restaurant, except for the following:

(1) Generally seasonal in operation;

(2) Generally with counter-type service;

(3) Generally with limited or no indoor customer table space or seating;

(4) Generally with outdoor table and seating space.

STANDARD RESTAURANT

An establishment whose principal business is the sale of food to customers in a ready-to-consume state and whose principal method of operation includes one or both of the following characteristics:

(1) Customers, normally provided with an individual menu, are served their food and beverage by a restaurant employee at the same table at which food and beverage are consumed;

(2) A cafeteria-type operation where food and beverage generally are consumed within the restaurant building.

STORY

That portion of a building included between the surface of any floor and the surface of the floor next above it, or, if there be no floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next above it.

STREET

Includes streets, roads, avenues, lanes or other trafficways between right-of-way lines.

SWIMMING POOL

A structure intended for bathing, swimming or diving purposes, made of concrete, masonry, metal or other impervious materials, and provided with a recirculating and/or controlled water supply.

TRUCK TERMINAL

Facilities where goods are transferred between trucks, trucks and railroads or trucks and ports.

TWIN HOMES

See "dwelling, two-family."

UNITED STATES POST OFFICE

A federal building housing service windows for mailing packages and letters, post office boxes, offices, sorting and distribution facilities for mail and vehicle storage area.

USE

The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed, arranged, intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained. The term "permitted use" or its equivalent shall not be deemed to include any nonconforming use.

WAREHOUSING

Warehouses are primarily devoted to the storage of materials; however, they may also include office and maintenance areas.

YARD, FRONT

An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, between the front line of the building and the front line of the lot and extending the full width of the lot.

YARD, REAR

An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, between the rear line of the building and the rear line of the lot and extending the full width of the lot.

YARD, SIDE

An open, unoccupied space on the same lot with a building, situated between the building and the side line of the lot and extending from the front yard to the rear yard. Any lot line not a rear line or a front line shall be deemed a side line.

[1] Editor's Note: The former definition of "coverage," which immediately followed this definition, was repealed 5-10-2018 by L.L. No. 3-2018. See now the definition of "lot coverage."