A.Â
Words used in the present tense include the future tense.
B.Â
Words used in the singular include the plural, and words used in
the plural include the singular.
C.Â
The word "person" includes an individual, firm, company, partnership
or corporation.
D.Â
The words "shall" or "will" are mandatory; the word "may" is permissive.
E.Â
The words "used" or "occupied" as applied to any land or building
shall be construed to include the words "intended, arranged or designed
to be used or occupied."
F.Â
Any reference to an the "R District" shall be interpreted to mean
"R1, R-2 and R-RB Districts."
For the purpose of this chapter, certain terms or words shall
be interpreted or defined as follows:
A subordinate structure located on the same lot with the
principal structure, occupied or devoted to an accessory use. Where
an accessory structure is attached to the principal structure in a
substantial manner, as by a roof, such accessory structure shall be
considered part of the principal structure.
A use customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal
use or building and located on the same lot with such principal use
or building, except as otherwise provided for off-street parking.
Any change, rearrangement or addition to or any relocation
of a building or structure; any modification in construction or equipment.
The premises or buildings used for the diagnosis, treatment
or other care of the ailments of domesticated, household animals,
which may include related facilities, such as laboratories, offices
and temporary quarters for such animals.
A system of electrical conductors that transmit or receive
frequency signals. Such signals shall include but not be limited to
radio, television, cellular, paging, digital and/or data communications,
personal wireless communications services (PWS) and microwave communications.
[Added 11-6-1997 by L.L. No. 8-1997]
An arrangement on a lot designed primarily for single-family
residential usage in which rooms located above ground are designated
by the owner/occupant for rental sleeping purposes to guests as primarily
overnight accommodations, including or with the option to include
breakfast within the residence the next morning. Said rented sleeping
accommodations, which may include private bathroom or shared bathroom
facilities, shall not include any separate cooking facilities; and
all cooking shall be done in the main kitchen of said residence.
A combination of any materials, whether portable or fixed,
having a roof, to form a structure affording shelter for persons,
animals or property. The word "building" shall be construed, when
used herein, as though followed by the words "or part or parts thereof"
unless the context clearly requires a different meaning.
The vertical distance measured from the average elevation
of the proposed finished grade at the front of the building to the
highest point of the roof for flat roofs; to the deckline of mansard
roofs; and to the mean height between eaves and ridge for gable, hip
and gambrel roofs.
A residential subdivision, designed for single-family dwelling
purposes, comprising 10 or more acres in which minimum lot areas and
minimum lot dimensions may be reduced, by a specific amount, provided
that land not used for residential lots, except streets, in the subdivision
be used for recreational or open space purposes. The phrase "clustering"
shall refer to cluster housing.
Dwelling units, in multi-unit buildings, which are individually
owned, each owner receiving a deed enabling said owner to sell, mortgage,
rent or otherwise exchange his/her dwelling unit independently of
the owners of the other dwelling units in the building or buildings.
The keeping of more than three dogs that are more than six
months old.
A restaurant wherein all patrons thereof are not required
to be seated to be served.
A building used as the living quarters for one or more families.
DWELLING UNITOne or more rooms designed for occupancy by one family for cooking, living and sleeping purposes.
SINGLE-FAMILY DWELLINGA building containing one dwelling unit and designed or used exclusively for occupancy by one family.
TWO-FAMILY DWELLINGA building containing two dwelling units and designed or used exclusively for occupancy by two families living independently of each other; or two one-family dwellings having a party wall in common.
MULTIFAMILY DWELLINGA building or portion thereof containing three or more dwelling units and designed or used for occupancy by three or more families living independently of each other.
A group of two or more dwellings located on the same lot
and having any yard or open space in common.
An increase in floor area of an existing building or an increase
in size of an existing structure or an increase in the area of land
used for an existing open space.
An increase in the amount of existing floor area used for
an existing use in an existing building.
One or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit and
using common cooking facilities, provided that, unless all members
are related by blood, marriage or adoption, no such family shall contain
over five members.
A building, accessory to dwellings, used exclusively for
the parking or temporary storage of motor vehicles boats and trailers.
Any building available to the public, operated for gain,
which is used for the storage, repair, painting, servicing or equipping
of motor vehicles and the sale of parts and accessories.
A place where gasoline, motor fuel and/or oil, grease, batteries,
tires and motor vehicle accessories may be sold, supplied and/or dispensed
at retail and where, in addition, the following service may be rendered
and sales made:
Sales and servicing of spark plugs, batteries and distributors
and distributor caps.
Tire servicing and repair but not recapping or regrooving.
Replacement of mufflers and tail pipes, water hoses, fan belts,
brake fluid, light bulbs, fuses, floor mats, seat covers, windshield
wipers and wiper blades, grease retainers, wheel bearings, mirrors
and the like.
Radiator cleaning and flushing.
Washing and polishing and sale of automotive washing and polishing
materials.
Greasing and lubrication.
Providing and repairing of pumps and lines.
Minor servicing and repair of carburetors.
Wiring repairs.
Adjusting and repairing brakes.
Minor motor adjustments.
Sale of beverages, packaged foods and similar convenience foods.
Provision of road maps and other informational material to customers;
provision of rest room facilities.
Uses permissible at a service station do not include major mechanical
and body work, straightening of body parts, painting, welding or storage
of automobiles not in operating condition. A service station is not
a repair garage nor a body shop.
An accessory use of a service character conducted within
a dwelling by residents thereof, which is clearly secondary to the
dwelling use for living purposes and does not change the character
thereof or have any exterior evidence of such use, other than permitted
sign, and which conforms to the following additional conditions:
No more than two person outside the resident family may be employed.
There shall be no exterior storage of materials used in the home occupation.
No offensive noise, vibration, smoke, dust odor, light or glare shall
be produced.
Home occupation may include dressmaking, catering, teaching
and musical instruction, practice by an artisan, television, electrical
or radio repair, barber and cosmetologist.
A home occupation shall not be interpreted to include the following:
commercial stable and kennel, animal hospital, restaurant, music or
dancing instruction to groups of three or more, convalescent home,
mortuary, garage or premises for the repair of engines or motor vehicles.
A structure containing transient and/or permanent lodging
facilities for the general public and which generally contains facilities
incidental to such occupancy, such as restaurants, meeting rooms,
accessory retail business activities and related incidental activities
designed primarily to accommodate the occupants but open to the general
public. This term shall also include motels, inns and similar commercially
oriented transient lodging facilities but excludes rooming and boarding
houses, tourist homes and bed-and-breakfast.
A place where junk, waste, discarded or salvaged materials
are bought, sold, exchanged, sorted, stored, baled, packed, disassembled,
handled or abandoned, but not including pawn shops; antique shops;
or establishments for the sale, purchase or storage of used furniture,
household equipment, clothing, used motor vehicles in a condition
capable of being registered pursuant to the Vehicle and Traffic Law
of the State of New York or machinery to be reused for the purpose
for which originally manufactured.
A parcel or plot of land occupied or capable of being occupied
by a principal building or use or a group of principal buildings or
uses that are united by a common interest or customary accessory buildings
or uses, and including such open spaces to be used in connection with
such buildings or uses.
A lot at the junction of and fronting on two or more intersecting
streets or roads.
The mean horizontal distance between the front and rear lot
lines.
A lot other than a corner lot.
The property lines bounding the lot. The front lot line shall
be the right-of-way of the street or highway giving access to the
lot. In the case of a corner lot, the owner may designate either street
lot line as the front lot line. The rear lot line shall be the lot
line most distant from the front lot line. In the case of a lot which
comes to a point at the rear, the rear lot line shall be an imaginary
line, 10 feet in length, entirely within the lot, parallel to and
most distant from the front lot line.
Any lot line which is not a front lot line or a rear lot
line.
A lot in which the front lot line and the rear lot line abut
a street or road.
The least horizontal distance across the lot between side
lot lines, measured at the front of a principal structure erected
or to be erected on such a lot or at a distance from the front lot
line equal to the required depth of the front yard.
A structure, transportable in one or more sections, which,
in the traveling mode, is eight feet or more in width and 40 body
feet or more in length, or, when erected on site, is 320 or more square
feet, and which is built on a permanent chassis and designed to be
used as a dwelling, with or without a permanent foundation and includes
the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning and electrical systems contained
therein. It does not include recreational vehicles or travel trailers.
Any lawful building or structure or any lawful use of land,
premises, building or structure which does not conform to the regulations
of this chapter for the district in which such building, structure
or use is located either at the effective date of this chapter or
as a result of subsequent amendments thereto.
The unoccupied area open to the sky on the same lot with
a principal building or structure and/or any accessory building exclusive
of parking areas or driveways. "Open space" also refers to a parcel
or parcels of land or an area of water or a combination of land and
water within a site with any or all of such features as common outdoor
recreation area, woodland area, parks, play fields, playgrounds, golf
courses, tennis courts, skiing facilities, nature trails, formal gardens,
lakes and swimming pools, camping facilities, unoccupied area in a
natural state and similar open area exclusive of streets, roads and
parking areas.
The above- and partially below-grade support for the base
of a building or structure extending completely around the perimeter
or base of said building or structure.
A single-family detached residence in which the residential
occupant has a professional office, such as an architect, accountant,
chiropractor, dentist, doctor of medicine, engineer, insurance agent,
landscape architect, land surveyor, lawyer, osteopath, physiotherapist,
planning consultant, podiatrist, psychologist, realtor or tax specialist,
which is clearly secondary or accessory to the one-family dwelling
use for living purposes and does not change the residential character
thereof, and where not more than two persons outside the family is
employed.
A system of water supply and distribution by Erie County
Water Authority or its successors and a municipal sanitary sewage
system complete with Health Department approved facilities for waste
disposal.
Replacement or renewal, excluding additions, of any part
of a building, structure, device or equipment, with like or similar
materials or parts, for the purpose of maintenance of such building,
structure, device or equipment.
A temporary storage space for a vehicle waiting for service
or admission.
An area or strip of land, either public or private, on which
an irrevocable right-of-way passage has been recorded for the use
of vehicles or pedestrians, or both.
The minimum horizontal distance from any existing or proposed
building or structure to the nearest point in an indicated lot line
or street/road line.
Any device for visual communication that is used for the
purpose of bringing the subject thereof to the attention of the public
and includes billboards.
A sign which directs attention to a business, commodity,
service or entertainment conducted, sold or offered elsewhere than
upon the same lot on which the sign is located.
A flashing sign is any moving or animated sign or any illuminated
sign on which the artificial or reflected light is not maintained
stationary and constant in intensity and color at all times when in
use. Any revolving illuminated sign shall be considered a flashing
sign.
Any sign designed to give forth any artificial light or designed
to reflect light from one or more fixed sources.
A plan, prepared to scale, showing accurately and with complete
dimensioning, the boundaries of a site and the locations of all buildings,
structures, uses and principal site development features proposed
for a specific parcel of land.
That portion of a building between the surface of any floor
and the surface of the floor next above it or, if there shall be no
floor above it, then the space between any floor and the ceiling next
above it. A basement shall be counted as a story, for purposes of
height measurement, if the basement ceiling is more than five feet
above the average adjoining ground level or if used for business or
dwelling purposes. A half-story is a story under a sloping roof, having
a ceiling height of seven feet or more for an area not exceeding 1/2
the floor area of the next lower full story in the building.
Any road, avenue, lane, alley or other way which is an existing
public way or which is shown on an approved plat or any private right-of-way
or easement approved by the Town Board.
A line separating a lot from a street or road. In any case
where a future street/road line has been established or approved by
the Town Board, such future street or road line shall be considered
as a street/road line for the purposes of determining lot area and
setback requirements.
Any change in the supporting members of a building or other
structure, such as bearing walls, columns, beams or girders.
Anything constructed or erected, which requires permanent
location in or on the ground or attachment to something having such
location, but not including a trailer or mobile home.
See definition in Chapter 92, Subdivision of Land.
Towers and/or antennas and their accessory structures together
used in connection with the provision of cellular telephone service,
personal communications services, digital and/or data communications
services, paging services radio and television broadcast services
and similar broadcast services. (Also referred to as "facilities"
or "equipment.") The aforementioned accessory structures are nonhabitable
buildings or structures being used in conjunction with a tower or
other telecommunications facility and which are usually located on
the same lot as those facilities. Examples of such structures include
utility or transmission storage sheds or cabinets.
[Added 11-6-1997 by L.L. No. 8-1997]
A dwelling in which overnight accommodations are provided
or offered for transient guests for compensation.
A structure designed to support antennas. It includes, without
limit, freestanding towers, guyed wires, monopoles and similar structures
which do or which do not employ camouflage technology.
[Added 11-6-1997 by L.L. No. 8-1997]
A building or dwelling designed for or occupied by no more
than one family and attached to other similar buildings or dwellings
by not more than two common walls, extending from the foundation to
the roof, and providing two direct means of access from the outside.
A townhouse is individually owned, an owner receiving a deed enabling
the owner to sell, mortgage or exchange this dwelling unit independently
of the owners of any other dwelling unit attached thereto by a common
wall.
A vehicle, other than a mobile home, used as sleeping or
living quarters, whether self-propelled or towed, or a camper body
mounted on a motor vehicle. A trailer shall also include any vehicle
towed or used for carrying goods, equipment, machinery or recreational
vehicles or as a site office.
The specific purpose for which land or a building is designed,
arranged or intended or for which it is or may be occupied or maintained.
Any species of animal whose natural or usual habitat within
the State of New York is in the wild or in a zoo, as opposed to a
domesticated environment animal. For purposes of this article, such
animals shall include but not be limited to deer.
[Added 5-9-2002 by L.L. No. 1-2002]
That portion of a lot extending open and unobstructed from
the ground upward along a lot line.
A buffer area extending forward from the front setback line
to the front right-of-way. In the case of flag and unusually shaped
lots, the front yard buffer area shall be that area 50 feet rearward
from the first parallel line to the right-of-way having a width as
set forth in the applicable district regulations.
That portion of a rear yard of a through lot extending along
a street/road line and from the street/road line for a depth equal
to a required front yard. Any front yard equivalent shall be subject
to the regulations of this chapter which apply to front yards.
A yard extending across the full width of the lot and abutting
the rear lot line, the required depth of which yard is a prescribed
minimum distance between the rear lot line and a line parallel thereto
on the lot.
A buffer area having a depth or width set forth in the applicable
district regulations. Such width or depth shall be measured perpendicular
to lot lines.
A yard extending from the front yard to the rear yard and
abutting the side lot line; the required width of which yard is a
prescribed minimum distance between the side lot line and a line parallel
thereto on the lot.
A composite of sectional maps, including all areas of the
Town of Colden, New York plus an Index Location Sheet and a Legend
of Zoning Map Districts with descriptions and symbols used on said
sectional maps. Scales used on the sectional maps vary. Affixed to
each sectional map is a stamp which identifies said map as a section
of the Zoning Map of the Town of Colden and indicates the number of
said map to correspond with its number and location as shown on the
Index Location Sheet. Each of said sectional maps includes, in whole
or in part, an area in the Town of Colden. Any zoning district described
on said sectional maps is described by district boundary and by appropriate
district symbols as indicated in the aforesaid Legend of Zoning Map
Districts.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: The Zoning Map is included in a pocket at the
end of this volume.