The purpose of these regulations is to achieve a balance between well-designed residential development, meaningful open space conservation, and natural resource protection in the countryside by requiring conservation subdivisions instead of traditional subdivisions. These regulations apply to all properties within the Town. The use of conservation subdivisions is intended to protect tracts of environmentally and scenically significant undeveloped land in the Town, including road corridors and buffer areas, in order to maintain the historic settlement pattern and implement the "Comprehensive Plan — Village and Town of Cazenovia" (the "Comprehensive Plan"). Conservation subdivisions result in the preservation of contiguous open space and important scenic and environmental resources, while allowing compact development, more walkable neighborhoods, and more design flexibility than traditional subdivisions. Conservation subdivisions must satisfy the standards in this chapter. The procedure for approving conservation subdivisions is described in this chapter and in Chapter
146 (Note: Chapter
146 also contains the procedures for the review and approval of traditional subdivisions.). Graphics in these regulations are included for illustrative purposes and to assist the applicant. Subject to the criteria of these regulations, the implementation of conservation subdivision is the primary method of subdivision unless the findings set forth in this chapter allow for a traditional subdivision.
Open space set aside in a conservation subdivision shall be
permanently protected as required by this section. Any development
permitted on land located in a conservation subdivision that is not
protected as open space shall not compromise the conservation value
of such open space land.
A. Conservation value of open space. The open space protected pursuant to this section must have "conservation value," which shall be determined in the course of the conservation analysis in §
146A-2C.
B. Permanent preservation by conservation easement.
(1) A perpetual conservation easement restricting development of the
open space land and allowing use only for agriculture, forestry, passive
recreation, protection of natural resources, or similar conservation
purposes, pursuant to § 247 of the General Municipal Law
and/or §§ 49-0301 through 49-0311 of the Environmental
Conservation Law, shall be granted to the Town, with the approval
of the Town Board, and/or to a qualified not-for-profit conservation
organization acceptable to the Planning Board. Such conservation easement
shall be approved by the Planning Board and shall be required as a
condition of final plat approval. The Planning Board shall require
that the conservation easement be enforceable by the Town if the Town
is not the holder of the conservation easement. The conservation easement
shall be recorded in the County Clerk's office prior to or simultaneously
with the filing of the final plat in the County Clerk's office.
(2) The conservation easement shall prohibit residential, industrial,
or commercial use of open space land (except in connection with agriculture,
cultural, forestry, and passive recreation), and shall not be amendable
to permit such use. Access roads, driveways, wells, underground sewage
disposal facilities, local utility distribution lines, stormwater
management facilities, trails, temporary structures and bathrooms
for passive outdoor recreation, and agricultural structures shall
be permitted on preserved open space land with Planning Board approval,
provided that they do not impair the conservation value of the land.
Forestry shall be conducted in conformity with applicable best management
practices.
(3) A land management plan, approved by the Planning Board, shall be
included in the conservation easement. The conservation easement shall
provide that if the easement holder/grantor or Town finds that the
management plan has been violated in a manner that renders the condition
of the land a public nuisance, the easement holder/grantor or Town
may, upon 30 days' written notice to the owner, enter the premises
for necessary maintenance, and that the cost of such maintenance by
the Town shall be assessed against the landowner or, in the case of
a homeowners' association (HOA), the owners of properties within
the development, and shall, if unpaid, become a tax lien on such property
or properties.
(4) Preserved open space may be included as a portion of one or more
large lots, or may be contained in a separate open space lot. The
conservation easement may allow dwellings to be constructed on portions
of lots that include preserved open space land, provided that the
total number of dwellings permitted by the conservation easement in
the entire subdivision is consistent with applicable density limitations
of this chapter.
a. Conservation easement overlaps large lots
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b. Conservation easement land as separate parcel
Figure 3. Conservation Easement Alternative Configurations
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C. Notations on final plat. Preserved open space land shall be clearly
delineated and labeled on the subdivision final plat as to its use,
ownership, management, method of preservation, and the rights, if
any, of the owners of lots in the subdivision and the public to the
open space land. The final plat shall clearly show that the open space
land is permanently preserved for conservation purposes by a conservation
easement required by this section, and shall include deed recording
information in the County Clerk's office for the conservation
easement.
D. Ownership of open space land.
(1) Open space land shall under all circumstances be protected by a perpetual
conservation easement, but may be owned in common by an HOA (created
under New York State law), offered for dedication to Town, county,
or state governments, transferred to a nonprofit organization acceptable
to the Planning Board, held in private ownership, or held in such
other form of ownership as the Planning Board finds appropriate to
properly manage the open space land and to protect its conservation
value.
(2) If the land is owned or is to be owned in common by an HOA, such
HOA shall be established in accordance with the following:
(a)
The HOA must be established before the approved subdivision
final plat is signed, and must comply with all applicable provisions
of the General Business Law.
(b)
Membership must be mandatory for each lot owner, who must be
required by recorded covenants and restrictions to pay fees to the
HOA for taxes, insurance, and maintenance of common open space, private
roads, and other common facilities.
(c)
The HOA must be responsible for liability insurance, property
taxes, and the maintenance of recreational and other facilities and
private roads.
(d)
Property owners must pay their pro-rata share of the costs mentioned
above, and the assessment levied by the HOA must be able to become
a lien on the property.
(e)
The HOA must be able to adjust the assessment to meet changed
needs.
(f)
The applicant shall make a conditional offer of dedication to
the Town, binding upon the HOA, for all open space to be conveyed
to the HOA. Such offer may be accepted by the Town, at the discretion
of the Town Board, upon the failure of the HOA to take title to the
open space from the applicant or other current owner, upon dissolution
of the association at any future time, or upon failure of the HOA
to fulfill its maintenance obligations hereunder or to pay its real
property taxes.
(g)
Ownership shall be structured in such a manner that real property
taxing authorities can satisfy property tax claims against the open
space lands by proceeding against individual owners in the HOA and
the dwelling units they each own.
(h)
The Town's Attorney shall find that the HOA documents presented satisfy the conditions in Subsection
D(2)(a) through
(g) above, and such other conditions as the Planning Board shall deem necessary.
E. Use of private roads. A conservation subdivision may, when authorized
by the Planning Board, utilize private (nondedicated) roads. However,
in no case may a parcel considered for conservation subdivision exceed
one private road, nor may any private road serve more than five lots.
The Planning Board may modify these requirements when there is a finding
that to do so will not impair the health, safety or welfare of the
citizens of the Town. See Town of Cazenovia Private Road Standards.
The following guidelines should be considered in the process of designing and siting uses for conservation (and, where appropriate, traditional) subdivisions. When locating new structures on the land, there are many options in the siting, configuration, size and arrangement of elements in the landscape. These choices define the character of the developed landscape environment. These guidelines are examples of the preferred way to design and site structures, but they should not be considered the only acceptable solution. These guidelines shall be interpreted to be read in conjunction with Chapters
133,
146 and
165.
A. Four basic elements establish the character of a development. These
basic elements are:
(4) Circulation systems (vehicular and pedestrian).
(a)
Alignment (vertical and horizontal).
B. Landform. Landform is the signature element that is essential for
achieving an environment that has its own identity or "sense of place."
(1) In all districts, locally distinct natural landform features should
generally be left in a natural state.
(2) Natural rural landforms are typically soft and roll due to the rounding
effect of wind and water over time. Geometric landforms may also be
present in areas of shallow bedrock or seasonal flooding. The character
and diversity of the natural landform should be reflected in grading
to accommodate development.
Figure 4. Landform Character
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(3) Minimize cuts and fills. When grading is necessary, slopes should
be graded to mimic existing slopes and blend smoothly into the surrounding
landform. Graded slopes should be a maximum of 1:3 and gradually blend
into surrounding slopes.
Figure 5. Blending Grading Into Existing Landform
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(4) New development should not erase landforms that are indigenous to
the area. Instead, solutions should reflect and reinforce the area's
own topographic features.
Figure 6. Landform Preservation
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C. Vegetation. In addition to the benefits plants offer the ecological
system (soil stabilization, clean air, wildlife habitat), their presence
or absence, how they are configured or arranged, and their species
have a significant influence on development character. Every effort
should be made to:
(1) Preserve existing vegetation patterns and species mix and density.
(2) Select and place new vegetation in ways that enhance the rural indigenous
vegetation characteristics, employing native species whenever possible.
(3) In general, to protect rural character, vegetation should not be
placed in geometric patterns that are associated with an urban environment.
Desirable
a. Diverse species content and clustered vegetation patterns
are a result of natural propagation and succession and should be used
in rural settings
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Undesirable
b. Geometric alignment and designated species content
are more appropriate for urban areas.
Figure 7. Vegetation Types and Patterns
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(4) In the rural environment vegetation, not structures, is the primary
determinant of how far we can see and where we look.
(5) Use existing vegetation and topography to buffer and screen new buildings
if possible.
a. In rural areas, the massing and spacing of vegetation
determines scale of space and framing of viewshed.
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b. In urban area, siting, scale, and character of structures
determines mass/space relationship and character of viewshed
Figure 8. Framing Views
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D. Structures. The height, placement, forms and patterns of building
envelopes can establish a suburban or rural character to any development.
The intent of this section is to identify building envelopes, forms
and patterns that are complementary to and reflective of rural characteristics.
(1) Building envelopes in rural areas should be designed to maximize
the preservation of the site's natural features (e.g., landform,
vegetation); whereas in existing suburban environments, sites are
more often modified to accommodate the building.
Desirable
a. Building responds to site character and appears to
"grow" from the site.
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Undesirable
b. Existing topography is manipulated to accommodate buildings.
Figure 9. Siting of Structures
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(2) The placement of building envelopes in relationship to streets and
highways critically affects the character of a community. For example,
varied setbacks provide a different experience than a street where
buildings are placed uniformly along a street. Rural placement is
historically deeper and more varied than in suburban environments
and therefore recommended.
Figure 10. Rural Road with Varied Setbacks
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(3) When building envelopes must be placed in open fields they should
reflect the alignment and orientation of the site's natural features,
unless such orientation would prove contrary to this chapter.
Figure 11. Orient Structures to Align with Topographic
Character of Land
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(4) To the extent possible, site building envelopes so that future buildings
will be screened by treetops and crest lines of hills as seen from
public places and roads, with particular emphasis on the scenic viewpoints
identified in Chapter 2.3, § D, of the Comprehensive Plan.
Use vegetation as a backdrop (and foreground) to reduce the prominence
of the structure. Wherever possible, open up views by selective cutting
of small trees and pruning lower branches of large trees, rather than
by clearing large areas or removing mature trees.
(a)
Group building envelopes in clusters or tuck them behind tree
lines or knolls rather than spreading them out across the landscape
in a "sprawl" pattern.
a. Neighborhood Cluster
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b. Hamlet Cluster
Figure 12. Clusters
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(5) The dominant visual context from the rural roads should be of natural
and agricultural features, with structures visually subservient. Typically,
development should be interior lot development with the majority of
the immediate highway viewshed preserved.
(6) The following structural guidelines apply only to structures in conservation
subdivisions. The intent in these areas is to have the mass and roof
forms of structures contribute to the rural character of the development.
These guidelines are examples of the preferred way to design and site
uses but they should not considered the only acceptable solution,
as long as any proposed alternative contributes to the stated goals
of this chapter.
(a)
Massing of structures or structural elements influences rural
character. Historically, rural buildings were often an assemblage
of additions. Over time, these additions created a complexity of roof
forms that have become icons associated with our rural agrarian environments.
(b)
Rural roof form options include, but are not limited to, symmetrically
pitched or hip roofs with or without gables, and barn-type roof ends.
Figure 13. Roof Frames
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E. Circulation systems. Circulation systems are comprised of both vehicular
and pedestrian systems. In general, rural vehicular and pedestrian
systems are curvilinear in alignment, a pattern that evolved out of
historic systems following the lines of least resistance (e.g., stream
corridors) following natural landforms.
Figure 14. Curvilinear road alignments are created by
following the line of least topographic resistance
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(1) Whenever possible, roads (and the resultant lot layout) should be
planned and designed so that the site's cultural and environmental
features are preserved and enhanced.
(2) Vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems should retain and reuse
historic farm roads and lanes. This guideline allows a development
to build upon the site's historic context while minimizing clearing
and disruption of the landscape. Care should be taken to apply this
guideline only where its implementation would not destroy the historic
lanes, hedgerows and stonewalls it was meant to preserve.
(3) Otherwise, vehicular and pedestrian circulation systems should be
arranged to reflect the patterns of the site landform, vegetation,
water bodies and vegetation massing.
Desirable
Figure 15.a. Subdivision Roads: Form responds to and enhances
natural rural character. Features such as streams, vegetation and
landform are incorporated into the design.
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Figure 15.b. Subdivision Roads: Design using arbitrary
geometric forms that require the removal of existing vegetation and
dramatic alteration of site character and/or topography.
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(4) Minimize clearing of vegetation at the edge of the road, clearing
only as much as is necessary to create a driveway entrance with adequate
sight distance. Use curves in the driveway to increase the screening
of buildings.
(5) Rural road edges are historically unprotected (e.g., no curbs or
gutters, with only a shoulder for user safety).
(6) Trail systems connecting destination areas should be comprised of
flexible materials (e.g., asphalt, stone dust, and bark) and connect
areas of concentrated development.
(7) Trails should be naturalistic.
(8) Sidewalks should be used only to connect facilities within areas
of concentrated development.