Notwithstanding the provisions of the Building Code of the Town
of Hempstead, the Building Zone Ordinance of the Town of Hempstead
or any other ordinance of the Town of Hempstead regulating the use
of land or the erection of buildings and structures or the installation
of sanitary, electrical, heating or other facilities therein, land may be used and buildings or structures may be erected,
altered and used in any use district of the town, as defined by said
Building Zone Ordinance, for the purpose of fallout shelters as provided
in this chapter.
As used in this chapter:
FALLOUT SHELTER AND SHELTER
Any building or structure or part thereof designed and used
in accordance with this chapter for protection against atomic radiation
resulting from nuclear explosions.
FAMILY SHELTER
Any fallout shelter built as an accessory to a single-family
or two-family dwelling and designed for the protection of the occupants
of such dwelling.
No fallout shelter shall be occupied or used until a certificate
of completion shall have been issued by the Manager of the Building
Department certifying that it complies with this chapter.
All fallout shelters constructed or installed pursuant hereto,
whether within any building, including the cellar thereof, or outside
any building, shall conform to the following regulations:
A. Every such fallout shelter shall be constructed of such materials
and in such a manner so as to provide an attenuation factor of 100
or more; that is, that the ratio of the amount of atomic radiation
resulting from nuclear explosions that would be received by a radiation
detector within such shelter, compared to the amount it would receive
if it were unprotected, shall be a maximum of one to 1:100 as determined
by the Manager of the Building Department based on data supplied by
the office of Civil and Defense Mobilization.
B. Every such fallout shelter shall have a minimum floor area of 12
square feet and a minimum volume of 80 cubic feet for each intended
occupant.
C. No such shelter shall contain any windows.
D. The entrance to every such shelter shall have not less than one right-angle
turn constructed so as to prevent the entrance of radiation in a straight
line.
E. Every shelter shall be provided with facilities for sanitary waste
disposal. In family shelters such facilities may be provided by a
water closet, either flush or chemical type, or by disposable waste
receptacle. In group shelters there shall be one water closet, either
flush or chemical type, for each 35 intended occupants.
Every fallout shelter detached from the main building on the
premises and having an entrance which is not through such main building
shall be supplied with ventilation pursuant to this section:
A. All such shelters shall provide a fresh-air intake of five cubic
feet per minute for each intended occupant.
B. Family shelters may provide ventilation by means of hand-operated
blowers with a hooded intake and hooded exhaust sufficient to exclude
fallout particles.
C. Group shelters must provide power-driven ventilation systems with
filters sufficient to exclude fallout particles.
Every group shelter shall be provided with electric current
sufficient to operate all required facilities which must be operated
by power and to furnish adequate light, with an emergency auxiliary
power source.
No fallout shelter shall be constructed beneath any building,
and no such shelter shall be constructed outside any building, any
part of which is below the grade of the immediately surrounding land,
unless, in each case, such shelter shall have a floor elevation of
not less than 1 1/2 feet above the highest level of the groundwater
table for such location as determined from the records of the Nassau
County Department of Public Works, and all exterior walls thereof
below the elevation of nine feet above mean sea level shall be of
monolithic construction without opening, and all walls and floors
below such elevation shall be waterproofed.
No fallout shelter shall be constructed beneath any building
accessory to the main building on the same plot, and no such shelter
shall be constructed outside any building any part of which is above
the grade of the immediately surrounding land, unless it shall comply
with the setback regulations of the Town of Hempstead Building Zone
Ordinance for the use district in which the premises are located,
except that in a B Residence District, as designated by said ordinance,
if a shelter is constructed under an attached garage, the aggregate
width of the two side yards of the residence to which such garage
is attached, including such shelter, may be 12 feet, but neither such
yard may be less than five feet.
No fallout shelter shall be constructed outside of any building
except in conformity with the following regulations in addition to
the regulations relating to such shelter hereinbefore provided:
A. No such shelter shall be constructed or maintained except in a rear
yard.
B. Each such shelter shall comply with the side and rear yard setback
regulations of the Town of Hempstead Building Zone Ordinance for the
use district designated by said ordinance in which the premises are
located.
C. No such shelter shall be used for any purpose except during a period
when there is actual or anticipated and imminent danger from atomic
radiation or during a drill or practice exercise authorized or conducted
by the Nassau County Office of Civil Defense, except that a family
shelter may be used at other times for occasional recreational purposes.
D. No such shelter shall be constructed or used except as an accessory
to a main building on the same plot.
The Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals may permit the
construction on any premises as a fallout shelter not conforming to
the location or setback requirements of this chapter or of the Town
of Hempstead Building Zone Ordinance, if it shall find that compliance
with such requirements shall cause practical difficulties in the construction
of an adequate shelter upon such premises, and in granting such permission,
may impose such conditions for the protection of persons and property
affected by the proposed construction as it may deem reasonable and
in the public interest. Such permit shall be granted after application
and hearing in the manner provided by the Town Law and said Building
Zone Ordinance for granting by said Board of Zoning Appeals of variances
from the regulations of said ordinance, except that there shall be
no fee for the issuance of such permit.